US President Donald Trump says he’s “optimistic” a ceasefire deal in Gaza could be agreed next week after Hamas announced that it had “submitted a positive response” to a proposal for a 60-day truce with Israel. “We have to get it over with,” Trump said Friday. “We have to do something about Gaza.” Israel and Hamas have long had conflicting ...

Russia has become the first nation to recognize the Taliban government of Afghanistan since it took power in 2021, announcing on Thursday it has accepted an ambassador from the Islamist group. “We believe that the act of official recognition of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our ...

Two alleged fraudsters accused of swindling an elderly woman out of tens of thousands of dollars in cash have been arrested by Australian police investigating a spate of “Chinese blessing scams.” Chinese blessing scams have been reported worldwide for the last 25 years or so, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand. Offenders typically target ...

Russia launched a record number of drones at Ukraine overnight into Friday, striking multiple buildings and residential areas, hours after US President Donald Trump said he had made “no progress” towards a ceasefire deal in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. At least 23 people were wounded in the attack, which lasted 13 hours, according to Kyiv ...

Two female tourists in Zambia were killed by an elephant Thursday while on a walking safari in a national park, police said. Eastern Province Police Commissioner Robertson Mweemba said the victims – 68-year-old Easton Janet Taylor from the United Kingdom and 67-year-old Alison Jean Taylor from New Zealand – were attacked by a female elephant that was with a calf. ...

South Korea has recently been hit by another surge of lovebugs. But romance is certainly not in the air for residents of Seoul and neighboring Incheon city, who have been plagued by these pesky insects in recent weeks, as rising temperatures due to climate change spur their spread. On Friday, dozens of government workers were sent to Gyeyangsan, a mountain ...

A teenage pilot, who is attempting to fly all seven continents solo, hit a patch of rough air this weekend when Chilean authorities detained him for changing his flight plan without their permission and landing in Antarctica. Chilean prosecutors say American influencer Ethan Guo, 19, broke “multiple national and international regulations” by changing his flight plans without prior notice, landing ...

UK lawmakers voted Wednesday to ban Palestine Action, a UK-based group that aims to disrupt the operations of weapons manufacturers supplying the Israeli government. Members of Parliament voted 382 to 26 in favor of the measure against the group after two Palestine Action activists broke into Britain’s largest air base in central England, damaging two military aircraft. The draft proscription ...

Rescuers were searching Thursday for 38 people missing in rough seas overnight after a ferry sank near Indonesia’s resort island of Bali. Another four people died and 23 have been rescued, according to the Surabaya Search and Rescue Agency. The KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya sank almost half an hour after leaving East Java’s Ketapang port late Wednesday, the National Search ...

Bangladesh’s ousted and self-exiled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to six months in prison by the country’s International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday in a contempt of court case, a top prosecutor said. Hasina has been facing multiple cases since she fled to India after deadly student-led protests in August, but it was the first time the former leader was ...