World

More than 150,000 people took shelter in coastal provinces of the Philippines on Monday as powerful Typhoon Kalmaegi made landfall in a region hit by some of the country’s deadliest storms. The typhoon, with winds of 150km/h (93 mph) and gusts of up to 205km/h, made first contact in Dinagat Islands province, part of the Visayas island chain, before 11pm …

Belgium earlier refused to back the EU’s “reparations” plan meant to tap frozen funds for Ukraine’s recovery, citing legal risks The EU could have to provide Russian sovereign funds frozen in Belgium as collateral to the IMF in order to secure continued funding for Ukraine, Politico reported on Monday citing sources in Brussels. Ukraine, which relies heavily on Western aid …

Hong Kong reported its third locally acquired chikungunya infection on Monday, with health authorities saying that there could be a second source of the disease as this case was not related to the two detected earlier. Authorities said they would screen about 1,500 households near the patient’s home in Tsing Yi, but believed the risks of transmission were not high …

A Costa del Sol resort has received a major boost to its economy thanks to a new employment training centre. Nerja lies in Spain’s Axarquía, an area to the east of Malaga province, that is characterised by a varied landscape of stunning coastlines and towering mountains. The resort is famous for its beaches and the Nerja Caves that were discovered …

A leaked video from 2024 allegedly shows Israeli soldiers at a detention site sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner The leak of a video allegedly showing Israeli soldiers sexually abusing a Palestinian prisoner is the “most serious public relations attack against Israel,” Benjamin Netanyahu has said. The footage, filmed at the Sde Teiman base near the Gaza border, showed soldiers leading …

A police car smashed into a family’s minivan, killing two young boys and seriously injuring their three sisters. The horrific accident happened just after 7pm on October 23 at an intersection in the US city of Baytown, east of Houston. At the time of the collision, the police officer Michael Hightower was responding to an emergency call about “persons with …

Budget airline HK Express removed two passengers before take-off from a Hong Kong-bound flight from Da Nang in Vietnam, after their fight over accusations of seeing prostitutes and physical abuse turned chaotic. The low-cost unit of Cathay Pacific Airways confirmed that the pair were engaged in disruptive behaviour on Sunday while boarding the flight from Da Nang to Hong Kong, …

The African state’s government has warned that any foreign troop deployment on its soil without consent would be “diplomatically inappropriate” Nigeria has rejected any unilateral US military intervention in fighting Islamist insurgents, declaring that external help must come with full respect for the West African country’s sovereignty. Daniel Bwala, the spokesperson for Nigeria’s president, made the remarks on Sunday after …

An immensely powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake has killed at least 20 people after  hitting parts of northern Afghanistan during the early hours of Monday morning. Local officials are reporting that more than 300 people have been injured in the natural disaster. The epicentre was close to the town of Khulm in the Hindu Kush region, with houses and buildings scattered across …

Malaysian police have charged controversial rapper and filmmaker Namewee with drug possession following media reports that he was found in a Kuala Lumpur hotel room where a Taiwanese influencer was later discovered dead. The 42-year-old celebrity, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, was arrested on October 22 at a hotel in the city centre, police said in a statement …