Global News

By Hyeyoon Cho Reuters | Posted by TOE North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed the deepening of ties with Russia in a message to President Vladimir ​Putin as Pyongyang marked the anniversary of independence from Japan’s ‌colonial rule, KCNA state news agency said on Sunday. Kim was replying to a message of congratulations from Putin marking Saturday’s 81st anniversary of Tokyo’s surrender in World War ​Two. The Russian leader said the bond was forged as ​Soviet soldiers fought against Japan and that cooperation would continue “in ⁠all the sectors”. The North Korean leader expressed hope for the future of ​ties that had “carried forward the history of common struggle for justice and ​precious traditions of friendship”. Pyongyang and Moscow have grown closer since the reclusive state began  deploying troops and weapons  to support Russia’s  war against Ukraine  in what has been Pyongyang’s most ​...

By Olivia Le Poidevin Reuters | Posted by TOE More than 650,000 refugees ‌and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing food aid access within weeks due to a severe funding shortfall, potentially forcing some to return to war-torn Sudan in search of help, the U.N. warned on Friday. South Sudan faces  one of the ​world’s worst hunger crises , the World Food Programme and the U.N. refugee agency said. More than ​7.8 million people, over half the country’s population, are experiencing acute food insecurity, while ⁠2.2 million children are acutely malnourished. It is also receiving about 3,000 refugees and returnees a week ​from neighbouring Sudan, where a conflict that erupted in 2023 has triggered one of the world’s largest displacement ​crises following  mass killings, rape and deliberate starvation , according to the U.N. The last food distributions for the most vulnerable 240,000 refugees in South Sudan — out of the 650,000 who had previous...

By Reuters and Posted By TOE Flights at Catania airport in Sicily will remain suspended ​until early Saturday because of ‌ash from Mount Etna’s ongoing volcanic activity, which has forced hundreds of flights ​to be cancelled or rerouted ​over the past week. All arrivals at ⁠the island hub, Italy’s fifth-busiest ​airport by passenger traffic, will be ​suspended through 2 a.m. local time (0000 GMT) on August 15, airport operator SAC said ​in a statement late on ​Thursday. Passengers were advised to check the status of ‌their ⁠flights with their airlines before travelling to the airport. The prolonged restrictions come at the height of the ​summer holiday ​season, ⁠affecting thousands of passengers, and have placed additional  pressure on ​Sicily’s other airports . Mount Etna, Europe’s ​highest ⁠and most active volcano, frequently disrupts operations at Catania airport, whose ⁠operator ​launched  the sale of a ​stake  of at least ...

By Margaux BERGEY AFP | Posted by TOE Millions of people will turn their gaze towards the heavens on Wednesday to witness one of nature’s greatest spectacles — a rare total solar eclipse — as it sweeps over mainland Europe to briefly turn day into night. The Moon is first expected to blot out the Sun, leaving only the shimmering glow of its outer corona, in Russia’s remote Arctic north, before parts of Greenland and Iceland are enveloped in the arc of its eerie shadow. Excitement was highest in Spain, where tourists thronged the streets of normally quiet villages to experience the dramatic natural phenomenon as the eclipse’s narrow path cuts across the Iberian Peninsula from the northern Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean Sea in the south. Mainland Europe has not experienced a total solar eclipse for 20 years while Spain has not witnessed one in more than a century. Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, however, has not seen a total sola...

By Maher al-Mounes AFP | Posted by TOE A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death after a trial in absentia, convicting him of atrocities committed during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war. It is the first such ruling under Syria’s transitional leaders, who ousted Assad in December 2024, vowing to provide justice and accountability for crimes committed under his rule. Assad fled to Moscow as Islamist-led forces closed in on Damascus after a lightning offensive. At a court in Damascus on Tuesday, Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan convicted Assad of crimes including “premeditated murder, the intentional killing of more than one person, the intentional killing of children under 15 years… torture, torture leading to death, and deprivation of liberty on multiple occasions — classified as crimes against humanity and war crimes”. “He is therefore sentenced to death,” the judge said. Syria in ...

BY ASTRID SUÁREZ, MANUEL RUEDA and MEGAN JANETSKY AP | Posted by TOE Search and rescue efforts were underway early Tuesday in dozens of cities and towns in western  Colombia  after a powerful  earthquake  struck the region, killing at least 132 people and leaving many trapped under the debris of damaged and destroyed buildings. Monday’s 7.4 magnitude earthquake  rattled Cali, Quibdo, Pereira and numerous other cities and towns. Around 1,600 buildings were reported damaged or collapsed. Soldiers, rescue personnel and families picked through the rubble, removing and passing large pieces of concrete by hand down lines of volunteers. President Abelardo de la Espriella said Monday afternoon at least 132 people had died. Families posted information about  missing loved ones  on citizen-run websites. By Monday night, more than 2,700 people had been reported missing. Dana Carolina Zamora posted an image of her missing 60-year-old uncle, Miguel Ángel Zam...