Top World News
They Said No To Musk, Built Next-Gen AI That Outperforms OpenAI, DeepSeek
Sapient Intelligence's prototype with only 27 million parameters outperformed systems from OpenAI, Anthropic, and DeepSeek on complex tasks including advanced Sudoku puzzles, maze-solving, and the ARC-AGI benchmark.
Afghan Man Arrested After He Threatened To Bomb Building In Texas
The Afghan national, who was arrested a day before the Wednesday shooting near White House, has been charged at the state level with making a terrorist threat in Texas, Fox News reported.
EPA urged to ban spraying of antibiotics on US food crops amid resistance fears
Use of 8m pounds of antibiotics and antifungals a year leads to superbugs and damages human health, lawsuit claimsA new legal petition filed by a dozen public health and farm worker groups demands the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stop allowing farms to spray antibiotics on food crops in the US because they are probably causing superbugs to flourish and sickening farm workers.The agricultural industry sprays about 8m pounds of antibiotic and antifungal pesticides on US food crops annually, many of which are banned in other countries. Continue reading...
Fears for UK security as Foreign Office moves to scrap unit on conflict and refugee crises
MPs warn axing FCDO’s migration and conflict directorate amid staff cuts risks undermining peace work and expertiseThe Foreign Office has been warned that a plan to axe its dedicated unit on emerging conflicts and refugee crises is a “real error” that “undermines UK security” as the department grapples with swingeing cuts.The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) migration and conflict directorate, which employs about 100 civil servants, is being abolished at the end of this year and its work subsumed by the rest of the department. Continue reading...
Video Shows India's Chetak Choppers Rescuing Civilians In Flood-Hit Lanka
The video captures personnel lowering ropes, harnesses, and inflatable rafts to reach those trapped in floodwaters. Survivors are seen swimming towards the rescue lines and being hoisted to safety.
UN Report Condemns Hamas Attack, Accuses Israel Of Torture As State Policy: 10 Points
The UN Committee against Torture has issued its findings on Israel and three other nations - Albania, Argentina, and Bahrain - and raised concerns on each country's implementation of the Convention against torture and degrading treatment.
Gutting of key US watchdog could pave way for grave immigration abuses, experts warn
Former oversight officials alarmed by dismantling of DHS system that oversees complaints about civil rights harmsThe federal watchdog system at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that oversees complaints about civil rights violations, including in immigration detention, has been gutted so thoroughly that it could be laying the groundwork for the Trump administration to “abuse people with impunity”, experts warn.Former federal oversight officials have sounded the alarm at the rapid dismantling of guardrails against human rights failures – at the same time as the government pushes aggressive immigration enforcement operations.Border Patrol agents in Arizona forcibly removed a detained man from a cell, handcuffed him and then injected him with ketamine to sedate him in 2023, according to a CRCL document confirming the watchdog’s investigation into the allegation. A Guardian reporter had saved that document just weeks before it was scrubbed from the DHS’s website.Guards at a privately owned Louisiana detention center systematically mistreated detained immigrants, according to a CRCL document. This included an investigation into a 2024 incident during which correctional staff pepper sprayed around 200 detained immigrants who were staging a hunger strike in protest of detention conditions. Guards then allegedly locked the men in the unit and cut the power and water for hours. A majority of the men were allegedly denied medical care, the original complaint, submitted to the CRCL by RFK Human Rights, said.In a Florida jail, a 33-year-old immigrant woman with mental health problems was forcibly stripped naked, strapped to a restraint chair and mocked by male guards, according to a CRCL complaint submitted by the ACLU of Florida and RFK Human Rights. The woman was allegedly left with “contusions and marks on her body” after hours in the restraint chair. The whistleblower declaration said the CRCL had launched an investigation into the case.Agents violated due process during the arrest and detention of Palestinian student and Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, according to the whistleblower complaint. Continue reading...
Hong Kong mourns as apartment fire death toll rises to 146
Rescue teams find more bodies in burnt-out buildings of Wang Fuk Court complex after Wednesday’s fireThe death toll in Hong Kong’s apartment complex fire has risen to 146 after investigators discovered more bodies in the burnt-out buildings. A steady stream of people placed bouquets of flowers at an ever-growing makeshift memorial at the scene of the disaster, among the worst in the city’s history.The Hong Kong police’s disaster victim identification unit has been going through the buildings of the Wang Fuk Court complex meticulously and has found bodies both in apartment units and on the roofs, the officer in charge, Cheng Ka-chun, said on Sunday. Continue reading...
Sri Lanka’s capital hit by floods as cyclone death toll nears 200
Hundreds of people still missing after heavy rain and mudslides in country’s deadliest natural disaster for yearsEntire areas of Sri Lanka’s capital are flooded after a powerful cyclone triggered heavy rains and mudslides across the island, with authorities reporting nearly 200 dead and dozens more missing.Officials said the extent of the damage in the country’s worst-affected central region was slowly becoming clear on Sunday as relief workers cleared roads blocked by fallen trees and mudslides. Continue reading...
Bridge to the past: JR to wrap Pont Neuf again, 40 years after artistic forebears
Exclusive: French artist planning to cover bridge over Seine in tribute to Christo and Jeanne-ClaudeThe enigmatic French artist JR will undertake what he says is his biggest ever challenge next year when he “wraps” Pont Neuf, the oldest standing bridge across the Seine River in Paris, in a tribute to a monumental art project by Christo and Jeanne-Claude.For three weeks next June, the 232-metre (761ft) long bridge will be wrapped in fabric, 40 years after the married artists known for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations did the same thing. Continue reading...
Pope Leo XIV arrives in Beirut in bid to ease Mideast tensions
Pope Leo XIV arrives in Beirut in bid to ease Mideast tensions
Japan ‘One Piece’ singer stopped mid-performance as Japan-China relations sour
Axing of Maki Otsuki performance in Shanghai the latest in spate of cancelled cultural events involving Asia’s two biggest economiesJapanese “One Piece” singer Maki Otsuki was forced to halt her performance on stage in Shanghai, her management said, one of the latest events hit by a diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Beijing.Otsuki, known for the theme song of the popular anime, had been slated to perform for two days from Friday at the Bandai Namco Festival 2025 in the Chinese city. Continue reading...
