Europe is waking up to one of those rare moments when astronomy becomes a mass event — and the scramble for eclipse glasses is showing just how badly people want to experience it. A total solar eclipse is crossing parts of Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, Spain and a small part of Portugal today, while much…
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak has crossed a grim milestone: more than 2,000 people have died, with health authorities reporting 4,381 confirmed cases and 2,011 deaths. The outbreak, declared less than three months ago, is now being described as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record. But the most alarming part is not…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow would retaliate if Western countries seize Russian commercial vessels, raising the stakes in an already increasingly aggressive campaign against Russia’s so-called shadow fleet. Putin’s warning comes as Western governments have become more willing to intercept and seize vessels suspected of helping Russia circumvent sanctions. The UK, for…
FIFA President Gianni Infantino is facing one of the most serious challenges of his presidency after UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) jointly accused him of “deception” and a breach of trust over a controversial plan involving the commercialization of the World Cup. But despite the dramatic language, this is not yet a…
Syria has sentenced former President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, alongside his brother Maher, while his cousin and former Daraa security chief Atef Najib also received a death sentence. The ruling is a landmark moment for a country still dealing with the consequences of the 2011 uprising and the war that followed. But the…
Reports of a missile attack on a Saudi-linked commercial vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, reportedly killing three crew members, two Pakistanis and one Indonesian, are the latest warning that the Red Sea shipping crisis is becoming harder for commercial operators to ignore. The details of the reported incident are still developing, and there has…
Mark Zuckerberg is making a big bet on an AI future where superintelligence is not controlled by a handful of governments or technology companies, but is placed directly in the hands of ordinary people. In a new vision for Meta, Zuckerberg argues that advanced AI should focus on individual empowerment, invention and a balance of…
The latest tensions in the Middle East are revealing a problem that could become more important than the fighting itself: the countries involved increasingly disagree on what an acceptable end to the conflict actually looks like. US President Donald Trump has backed a 15-point framework for Gaza that would involve Hamas disarming, followed by a…
A deadly shooting at a school near Bangkok has renewed difficult questions about how Thailand can protect students from gun violence, particularly when a young person is able to access a firearm. A 14-year-old student opened fire at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province on Friday, August 7. Initial reports said three teachers and three…
Nigeria and Canada have taken a major step towards direct air travel, signing an expanded Air Transport Agreement that allows airlines from both countries to operate scheduled flights between the two countries for the first time. The agreement provides for up to 14 passenger flights and 10 cargo flights per week in each direction, with…
