World

Police are investigating the deaths as an "apparent homicide". The Los Angeles Police Department has not publicly named the deceased, but the couple were identified in a family statement and were also named in statements from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom. The Los Angeles Fire Department said it responded to a medical aid request shortly after 3.30pm local time on Sunday and found a 78-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman dead inside the residence. A law enforcement official briefed…

Jose Antonio Kast won Chile’s presidency with about 58% of the vote, becoming the country’s most right-wing leader since the return to democracy 35 years ago. He defeated Jeannette Jara, a communist who headed a broad leftist coalition, after campaigning on a sweeping security and immigration crackdown and a promise to jump-start the economy. “Chile wanted change,” Kast told supporters, vowing to “restore respect for the law.” He has pledged to expel more than 300,000 immigrants in the country illegally, seal the northern…

HONG KONG — Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was found guilty Monday on two counts of foreign collusion and one count of seditious publication, a landmark verdict under Hong Kong’s national security law that could send the 78-year-old founder of the shuttered Apple Daily newspaper to prison for life. Lai, who has been jailed since 2020, listened impassively with folded arms as a panel of national security judges delivered the verdict in one of the Chinese territory’s most closely watched trials since Beijing imposed the…

In the hills of Cox’s Bazar, inside a shelter pieced together with bamboo and tarpaulin, Nur Haba unwraps a bundle of keepsakes. At its center is a faded photograph of Mariam. “She was shot dead in front of me,” Nur says quietly. The picture is one of the few belongings she salvaged from their home in Myanmar’s Rakhine State before, she recalls, soldiers torched it and the family fled. In the chaos of escape, as they waded across a river, her two-year-old son, Mohammed, was swept away and drowned. For the Rohingya—described…

Zelensky offers to drop NATO bid in Berlin talks with U.S. envoys as ceasefire plan advances BERLIN — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered to drop Ukraine’s longstanding aspiration to join NATO during hours of talks with U.S. envoys in Berlin, a significant shift in Kyiv’s wartime posture as negotiators work toward a ceasefire with Russia. The meetings, hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, stretched for more than five hours and will resume tomorrow morning, Dmytro Lytvyn, an adviser to Zelensky, told…

SANTIAGO — Jose Antonio Kast won Chile’s presidency with about 58% of the vote, becoming the country’s most right‑wing leader in 35 years and capitalizing on public anger over crime and migration to defeat leftist rival Jeannette Jara. “Chile wanted change,” Kast told thousands of supporters, vowing to “restore respect for the law” after a campaign built on promises to expel more than 300,000 immigrants, seal the northern border, take a hard line on soaring crime and jump‑start a stalled economy. Jara, a communist who headed…

SYDNEY — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese proposed tougher gun laws after a father and son opened fire on a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people before the older man was shot dead, in what officials called a targeted anti-Semitic attack. The death of the 50-year-old father brought the toll to 16, police said. His 24-year-old son was critically wounded and remains in hospital. Albanese said his government would take “whatever action is necessary,” adding that firearms licensing rules need tightening. “People can be…

Sydney — A bystander who wrestled a weapon from a gunman during the Bondi Beach shooting is being hailed as a “genuine hero,” as Australia reels from its worst mass shooting in years. Video posted on social media shows a man grabbing one of the gunmen as he fires on civilians, grappling with him and wrenching the firearm free before briefly pointing it back as the attacker retreats. Local broadcaster 7News identified the bystander as Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, a fruit seller, and reported he suffered two gunshot wounds during the…

Hamas says Israel’s assassination of a senior commander has imperiled Gaza’s fragile ceasefire, urging U.S. President Donald Trump to pressure Israel to abide by the truce terms as rival factions maneuver over the enclave’s future security architecture. The group identified the slain commander as Raed Saed, killed alongside three associates. Thousands of supporters massed in central Gaza City for Saed’s funeral, chanting “Martyrs are dear to God” as coffins draped in green Hamas flags moved through one of the largest public…

Europe is bringing back the citizen-soldier. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a growing number of European governments have moved to reintroduce conscription or expand voluntary national service, reversing three decades of reliance on smaller, professional armies. Germany and France are the latest to join the shift, betting that wider training for young adults is the fastest way to rebuild reserves, harden deterrence and prepare for a long era of insecurity. The trend marks a significant recalibration.…