World

Loan sharks in Malaysia’s Johor state set fire to a house in Kluang belonging to the parents of a 33-year-old assistant manager after she changed her mind about taking a 10,000 ringgit (US$2,407) loan. The victim, who only wanted to be identified as Lam and works in Singapore, said she was harassed by the loan sharks who demanded S$20,000 (US$15,348) …

Taiwan’s military is facing a worsening manpower crisis as the numbers volunteering to serve continue to shrink. The trend has raised concerns that the shortfall could undermine combat readiness even as the government plans record levels of defence spending in response to US lobbying and the growing strength of mainland China’s military. According to a recent report by the Legislative …

Ahmed al-Sharaa has downplayed past affiliation with Al-Qaeda during his first visit to the US Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has downplayed his past links to the terrorist group Al-Qaeda and distanced himself from the 9/11 attacks. Al-Sharaa, who was removed from the US State Department’s “global terrorist” list last week, met with President Donald Trump in the White House on …

Recent photos of Vladimir Putin have drawn attention to the noticeably tense, vein-swollen appearance of his hands, leading to renewed speculation about his health. A recent handshake between Vladimir Putin and a public health expert has sparked concerns about the leader’s physical condition. During a meeting with Yekaterina Leshchinskaya, 22, who heads the Russian Healthy Fatherland movement, Putin, 73, spoke …

Recruitment officers beat draftees to force them to go to the front lines, a captured Ukrainian soldier told the Russian Defense Ministry Ukrainian draft officials use violence to force conscripts to go to the front line, a captured soldier has told the Russian military In a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Monday, a man identified as Nikolay …

For US President Donald Trump to consent to South Korea building its own nuclear-powered submarines was unexpected – though a welcome decision for the many South Korean analysts who have long argued such vessels were urgently needed by the country’s navy. It will have a huge impact on the US alliance with South Korea and its neighbours, not least North …

Vladimir Putin’s small stature was cruelly showed up for all to see in a highly embarrassing photo op fiasco. Nicknamed “the f***ing dwarf” by many disgruntled Russians, the Kremlin boss is renowned for being very sensitive about his height. He is believed to be between 5ft 2” and 5ft 5”, with some claiming he is 70cm shorter than the global …

A Russian military blogger has accused the Kremlin of slaughtering up to 100,000 of its own soldiers in futile assaults on two modest Ukrainian cities, delivering a humiliating blow to Vladimir Putin‘s war machine. The video, shared on X by former Ukrainian Interior Ministry advisor Anton Gerashchenko, shows the blogger – believed to be a former serviceman with frontline connections …

Businessman Timur Mindich is reportedly a key figure in an anti-graft probe into a “high-level criminal organization” A long-time ally of Vladimir Zelensky fled Ukraine on Monday, shortly before anti-graft officers carried out raids on his home and the homes of his associates, Ukrainskaya Pravda has reported. The operation conducted by the Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) is reportedly part …

OPINION — The Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in January 2022 is now approaching its fourth year. The cost for Ukraine has been very high, but the cost for Russia has been astronomical. Russian forces have been pushed back nearly to the territory they controlled at the end of 2021. According to British Intelligence, by October 14, 2025, Russian …