A Kiev-bound Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 plane crashed after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board. The victims include 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three British nationals, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister. The airline also confirmed that ... Read More »
‘Never seen anything like it’: The Australia bush fires are generating vast areas of violent weather
Among the many apocalyptic scenes from the Australian bush fires has been the presence of explosive, towering clouds appearing in the skies above the fire zones of southeastern Australia. These clouds, the most fearsome of which is known as pyrocumulonimbus, or pyroCb for short, are fire-generated thunderstorms. Their presence is ... Read More »
Japan says it has sought help from Lebanon over fugitive Ghosn
Japan has asked Lebanon for help regarding Carlos Ghosn, a top Japanese official said on Tuesday, calling the former auto executive’s escape to Beirut “regrettable” but stopping short of spelling out what Tokyo was seeking from local authorities. The former Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201.T) and Renault SA (RENA.PA) chairman ... Read More »
Future of US military presence in Iraq in question amid confusion in Washington
US defence secretary says no decision made to evacuate despite letter to contrary as thousands gather in General Qassem Suleimani’s home town The future of the US military presence in Iraq is in question amid scenes of confusion in Washington, as the Trump administration scrambled to respond to Iraqi ... Read More »
Algeria appoints new government amid worst political crisis in decades
Algeria appointed a new government on Thursday, as the country faces its biggest political crisis in decades and a raft of economic problems caused by falling energy revenues. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was elected last month and appointed Abdelaziz Djerad as prime minister on Saturday. They have kept several important posts ... Read More »
Technology in 2050: will it save humanity – or destroy us?
Futurism is a mug’s game: if you’re right, it seems banal; if you’re wrong, you look like the founder of IBM, Thomas Watson, when he declared in 1943 that there is room in the world “for maybe five computers”. David Adams knew these risks when he wrote about the future ... Read More »
Iran’s Khamenei says anti-U.S. resistance to increase after Soleimani death: TV
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday the assassination of Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani would double the motivation of the resistance against the United States and Israel, state television reported. “All Enemies should know that the jihad of resistance will continue with a doubled motivation, and a ... Read More »
Now that Carlos Ghosn is free, he has tales to tell and scores to settle
Carlos Ghosn has spent more than a year trapped in a Japanese legal odyssey that’s transfixed the automotive world and thrown his life into chaos. Now, having pulled off an escape from Japan to Lebanon, he’s an international fugitive. But the executive is also free to speak his mind ... Read More »
Mass evacuation as ‘columns of fire’ threaten Australian holiday area
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated on Monday as “columns of fire” fueled by extreme heat and high winds bore down on a popular tourist region in Australia’s southeast. Wildfires that have plagued the country’s eastern coast for weeks flared again to danger levels in Victoria state’s East Gippsland, ... Read More »
North Korea’s Kim urges ‘positive and offensive’ security ahead of nuclear talk deadline
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called at a ruling party meeting for “positive and offensive measures” to ensure security ahead of a year-end deadline he has set for denuclearization talks with the United States, state media KCNA said on Monday. Kim convened a weekend meeting of top Workers’ Party ... Read More »