World News Hub

Specsavers pays £12m dividend to parent company as profits soar

Pre-tax profits rose at high street opticians to £429.7m in the year to February while sales increased 7% to £4.3bnSpecsavers has paid £12m to its parent company controlled by founders Doug and Dame Mary Perkins after the high street opticians’ profits soared by more than a quarter.The group operates nearly 3,000 optometry, audiology and ophthalmology businesses globally in at least eight countrie...

One geography, two states: Saudi Arabia’s security approach to Sudan

Riyadh sees Sudan’s unity and stability as inseparable from its own security across the Red Sea.

84-year-old woman found alive in rubble three days after Indonesia quake

In an inspiring turn of events, an 84-year-old woman named Paulina Pobi was successfully rescued after enduring three harrowing days trapped under rubble in Nitunglea village on Flores island. Against the odds, she survived without sustenance, while rescue teams faced significant obstacles from landslides and damaged infrastructure. This incredible story of survival emerged as a beacon of hope ami...

US man sentenced to 77 years for child sexual abuse tied to online extremist group

Kyle Spitze of Tennessee faced federal charges for targeting girls online as part of ‘764 network’ investigated by FBIA 27-year-old Tennessee man described by the US justice department as a “nihilistic violent extremist” was sentenced to 77 years in prison on Wednesday for his targeting of girls online as part of the 764 network, an online group the FBI calls a form of “modern-day terrorism”.Kyle ...

US deports 20 people to Liberia, the first of 1,200 migrants under Trump deal

Agreement is among largest third-country deportations driven by Trump administration’s immigration crackdown The United States sent 20 deportees to Liberia, who arrived on Thursday as part of 1,200 migrants that the African country will receive under a new deal.The deportees arrived at the Roberts international airport outside Monrovia. The Liberia-US agreement is among the largest third-country d...

Deadly Russian missile barrage hits Kyiv in hours-long overnight attack

Russia launched a hours-long overnight barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones across Kyiv.

Boat capsizes in northwestern Nigeria, leaving dozens of people dead

A boat has capsized in a river in Nigeria’s northwestern Sokoto state, leaving more than 40 people dead

Ukrainian publishers call for support after Russian attacks destroy 10m books

The country risks ‘the collapse of the entire book ecosystem’ following destruction of warehouses in July and August, say Ukrainian publishersThe Ukrainian Book Institute has called on the international publishing community to support Ukrainian publishers after Russian attacks in July and early August destroyed about 10m books and a significant share of the country’s book production capacity.The i...

Gunmen seize tanker off Yemen amid resurgence of Somali piracy

UK maritime security monitor says Seamull tanker diverted towards Somalia, as wave of piracy sweeps the Gulf of Aden.

US Waffle House cook's rap praising chain topped 1 mn TikTok views; weeks later, he was fired

Edric Riley, known as “Rockstar Riley” and the “King of Waffle House”, went viral after his rap song “Waffy Options” praising the restaurant chain crossed 1 million TikTok views. Weeks later, Waffle House fired him, citing repeated violations of its rules on filming promotional content on company property. Riley says he was promoting a company he loved.

Russian drones threaten civilians and aid work in Ukraine, UN aid chief warns

Tom Fletcher said the UN needs more than €1.7 billion for its prioritised humanitarian response in Ukraine this year, with winter among his biggest concerns.

Can US, Middle Eastern powers unite Libya 15 years after Gaddafi overthrow?

The US government is intensifying efforts to unify the country's two rival governments.

Help us: 4 Indian-origin teens from New Jersey call 911 during Mount Lafayette hike; they will have to pay a hefty fine for 'unprepared' adventure

EU’s von der Leyen warns of ‘escalating campaign of threats’ as Romania destroys naval drone – as it happened

Device was near country’s Neptun Deep gas platform in the Black SeaRomania’s military has destroyed a marine drone spotted just “a few hundred meters” from the Neptun Deep platform, a major offshore gas project in the Black Sea.The drone, spotted just “a few hundreds of meters” from the gas extraction works at the Neptun Deep platform located some 80 miles east of the city of Constanța, was destro...

‘Starve the beast’? The $40tn cost of Republicans’ false promises to cut spending

The enormous US debt under Trump will hobble the next Democratic administration – just as the GOP plannedYou could pin the US’s staggering $40tn in government debt to Donald Trump’s Keystone Cops-style governance. Tariffs he sold as a new source of revenue were struck down by the supreme court, forcing the government to return tens of billions of dollars to importers. Elon Musk’s “department of go...

North Korea launches missiles, Seoul says, after Trump floats Kim meet

North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, the South said, and Pyongyang mocked US "servant" Seoul, after President Donald Trump suggested he would meet Kim Jong Un this year. The latest launches from the nuclear-armed North come as South Korea and the United States hold a shorter edition of their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises, following an order from Tr...

French PM announces creation of unit to combat cyberattacks

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has announced the creation of a specialised unit to strengthen the fight against cyberattacks. It follows a series of hacks on the websites of French government services that have highlighted vulnerabilities in IT security. So what tools are available to take down cyber attackers – and do they go far enough?

Stars and Stripes publisher could be fired before planned retirement, sources say

Max Lederer, longtime head of the US military news outlet, says his ‘philosophy of leadership’ differs from defense’sThe long-serving publisher of the Stars and Stripes could face an early dismissal just days after the taxpayer-funded military news outlet’s reporting revealed deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, according to a news report.Pentagon officials hav...

Spain expands Ceuta migrant shelters to ease crisis

The Spanish government announced on Thursday the creation of shelters for 1,800 migrants in Ceuta in a bid to relieve the humanitarian crisis there following last month's influx from Morocco. Some 72,000 migrants breached the border in an unprecedented and deadly rush into the north African territory on July 30-31, with 70,000 having since returned to Morocco, according to Spanish government figur...

Hundreds of migrants relocated to temporary shelters following Ceuta border crisis

Spanish authorities have cleared the El Trampolín beach area in Ceuta, relocating around 1,500 migrants and asylum seekers according to official government figures. This large-scale operation addresses the humanitarian crisis triggered when thousands of migrants crossed the border from Morocco on 30 and 31 July.

Togo charges two French journalists over incorrect documents, rights group says

Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani's detention is "unjustified and disproportionate", Reporters Without Borders says.

"F**k Chega": British band shows controversial message at CA Vilar de Mouros festival

The British punk rock duo shouted and urged the crowd to yell "f**k Chega" while the message "Fuck Chega" was shown on the screen above the stage.

Separated by Hamas in Oct 7 attack, Israeli couple reunites to marry 10 months after engagement

AI has failed to win people's trust. Its makers? Even less trusted

Surveys on both sides of the Atlantic reveal a public more wary than wowed by AI, with distrust extending well beyond the technology and onto the tech executives promoting it.

Landslide kills 13 at illegal gold mine in Colombia’s southwest

Mining activity caused a deadly slope collapse in Narino, claiming 13 lives and injuring seven others.