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Long-lost Rubens painting depicting crucifixion sells for $2.7m
VERSAILLES, France (AP) -- A long-lost painting by Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens, which was hidden for more than four centuries, sold at 2.3 million euros ($2.7 million) at an auction Sunday in Versailles. The painting was recently found in a private townhouse in Paris. It depicts the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It was part of a French collection and was initially thought to be from one of the many Rubens workshops that existed at the time. The artwork was rarely valued at more than 10,000 e
Dec. 1, 2025 -
Netanyahu submits pardon request in Israel corruption cases
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on trial facing corruption charges, announced Sunday he had submitted a pardon request, saying the long-running cases were tearing the country apart. US President Donald Trump wrote to Israeli President Isaac Herzog earlier this month, asking him to pardon Netanyahu, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the ongoing court cases. "The trial in my case has been ongoing for nearly six years, and is expected to continue for many more years," Netanyahu sai
Nov. 30, 2025 -
Floods hit Sri Lanka's capital as cyclone deaths near 200
Entire areas of Sri Lanka's capital were flooded on Sunday after a powerful cyclone triggered heavy rains and mudslides across the island, with authorities reporting nearly 200 dead and dozens more missing. Officials said the extent of the damage in the country's worst-affected central region was only just being revealed as relief workers cleared roads blocked by fallen trees and mudslides. The Disaster Management Centre said at least 193 people had died following a week of heavy rains brought o
Nov. 30, 2025 -
Indonesia, Thailand race to find missing as flooding toll rises to 480
Indonesian and Thai authorities raced on Sunday to clear debris and find hundreds of people still missing after devastating floods and landslides that killed at least 480 people across Southeast Asia. Heavy monsoon rain overwhelmed swaths of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia this week, leaving thousands of people stranded without shelter or critical supplies. At least two cities on Indonesia's worst-affected Sumatra island were still unreachable on Sunday, and authorities said they had deployed t
Nov. 30, 2025 -
Anger simmers over Hong Kong deadly blaze as Beijing warns against 'disruption'
HONG KONG (Reuters) -- Anger over a deadly blaze at a Hong Kong high-rise apartment complex simmered on Sunday as Beijing warned against attempts to use the disaster to disrupt the city, while people across the financial hub continued to mourn for the more than 128 vicitms. Police on Saturday detained one person who was part of a group that launched a petition demanding government accountability, an independent probe into possible corruption, proper resettlement for residents, and a review of co
Nov. 30, 2025 -
Trump says Venezuelan airspace should be viewed as closed. Maduro government slams 'colonial threat'
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- US President Donald Trump on Saturday said that the airspace "above and surrounding" Venezuela should be considered as "closed in its entirety," an assertion that raised more questions about the US pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. His government accused Trump of making a "colonial threat" and seeking to undermine the South American country's sovereignty. The White House did not respond to questions about what Trump posted on his Truth Social platform
Nov. 30, 2025 -
Guinea Bissau junta forms government as ousted president lands in Brazzaville
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissay (AFP) -- Guinea-Bissau's junta formed a government on Saturday days after taking power in a coup, as ousted President Umaro Sissoco Embalo arrived in Congo's capital Brazzaville. The military took control of the Portuguese-speaking nation on Wednesday -- a day before the provisional results of national elections were due to be announced -- and Embalo had initially left for neighboring Senegal. On Saturday the junta tapped 28 people, including five army officers and four wom
Nov. 30, 2025 -
Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza ministry says
Gaza Strip (AP) -- The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza's Health Ministry said Saturday, while a hospital said that Israeli fire killed two Palestinian children in the territory's south. The toll has continued to rise after the latest ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10. Israel still carries out strikes in response to what it has called violations of the truce, and bodies from earlier in the war are being recovered from the rubble. The Health Minist
Nov. 30, 2025 -
Hong Kong tower fire toll rises to 128, 200 remain missing
Hong Kong authorities on Friday said rescue operations following a blaze that ripped through a high-rise apartment complex had concluded, with the death toll in the city's worst fire in nearly 80 years now at 128 and 200 still missing. The fire in the Wang Fuk Court development in the northern district of Tai Po started on Wednesday afternoon and rapidly engulfed seven of the eight 32-storey blocks in the complex. "We do not rule out the possibility that more bodies could be discovered when poli
Nov. 28, 2025 -
Hong Kong government says fire death toll rises to 65
Hong Kong's government said on Thursday the death toll from a fire that tore through an apartment complex in the city had risen to 65. "... the fire had claimed 65 lives and injured 70 people" by 8 pm local time, a government spokesperson told AFP, citing fire service figures, adding that 10 firefighters had been injured since the fire broke out on Wednesday. (AFP)
Nov. 27, 2025 -
Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau appear on state television saying they have seized power
Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau appeared on state television Wednesday saying they have seized power in the country, following reports of gunshots near the presidential palace, three days after national elections. The president told French media he had been deposed and arrested. It is the latest of several coups in recent years in West Africa. “The High Military Command for the re-establishment of national and public order decides to immediately depose the president of the republic, to suspend, until
Nov. 27, 2025 -
2 National Guard members shot in an ambush attack just blocks from the White House
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two West Virginia National Guard members who deployed to the nation’s capital were shot Wednesday just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence that the mayor described as a targeted attack. FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said they were hospitalized in critical condition. The rare shooting of National Guard members comes as the presence of the troops in the nation’s capital and other cities around the country has been a flashpoint issu
Nov. 27, 2025 -
IMF, Ukraine reach staff-level agreement on $8.2 billion, four-year program
The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday it reached a staff-level agreement on a new four-year, $8.2 billion program for Ukraine as the country faces mounting wartime fiscal pressures. The IMF said the agreement, which replaces the existing $15.6 billion Extended Fund Facility approved in March 2023, is meant to help Kyiv maintain macroeconomic stability and strengthen public finances as the war against Russia continues to strain its budget. "The program is expected to catalyze large-sc
Nov. 27, 2025 -
Israel returns 15 more Palestinian bodies
Israel handed over the bodies of 15 Palestinians Wednesday, a day after Hamas returned the remains of an Israeli hostage. This is the latest exchange as part of a US-brokered ceasefire reached last month, whose first phase is winding down even as violence continues in Palestinian territories. The remains of two hostages, one Israeli and a Thai national who were abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel that ignited the war, are still to be returned. Hamas said it's committed to han
Nov. 27, 2025 -
Trump urged Japan PM to avoid escalation
TOKYO (Reuters) -- US President Donald Trump asked Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi avoid further escalation in a dispute with China during a call this week, two Japanese government sources with knowledge of the matter said. Takaichi sparked the biggest diplomatic bust-up with Beijing in years when she told parliament earlier this month that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger Japanese military action. That drew a furious response from Beijing, which claims democratically
Nov. 27, 2025