An explosion occurred outside the offices of Hellenic Train in Athens, Greek police said on Friday, adding there were no immediate reports of injuries. Police cordoned off the area after two Greek media organizations received warning calls that an explosive device would go off within 35 minutes, police officials said. A suspicious-looking bag was spotted outside the building which was ...

Voters in oil-rich Gabon headed to polling stations on Saturday in a presidential election that the country’s military rulers hoped would legitimize their grip on power. It’s the first election since a 2023 military coup ended a political dynasty that lasted over 50 years. Analysts have predicted an overwhelming victory for the interim president who led the coup. Some 920,000 ...

Japan’s largest yakuza crime syndicate has pledged to end its longstanding war with a rival faction and refrain from causing “trouble,” authorities said, as the mafia-like groups contend with falling membership and increased police crackdowns. The Yamaguchi-gumi, one of the world’s largest and wealthiest crime gangs, has been embroiled in a bloody feud with splinter groups since 2015, when more ...

A major Australian IVF clinic has apologized for giving the wrong embryo to a woman who then gave birth to another couple’s baby, blaming the mix-up on “human error.” Monash IVF, which operates more than 100 clinics across Australia, said in a statement staff were “devastated” by the mistake, believed to be the first of its kind in Australia. It’s ...

Taiwan prosecutors on Friday for the first time charged a Chinese ship captain with intentionally damaging undersea cables off the island in February, after a rise in sea cable malfunctions alarmed Taiwan officials amid tensions with China. Prosecutors say the man was captain of the Chinese-crewed Hong Tai 58, registered in Togo, which Taiwanese authorities detained after suspecting the ship ...

Ukraine’s key allies are meeting in Brussels on Friday with a noticeable absence at the table: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is only attending virtually. The Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which was created by former US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during the Biden administration, is a group of roughly 50 nations that meet regularly to discuss bolstering military support ...

Ecuadorians will head to the polls on Sunday in a runoff presidential election, choosing between a conservative incumbent or a leftist lawyer as the country struggles with a cocaine-fueled security crisis. President Daniel Noboa is vying for a full four years in office after winning a special election in 2023 to complete his predecessor’s term. He will be running against ...

What was supposed to be a historic, era-defining trade war launched by US President Donald Trump against a range of countries has, for now, narrowed in on a singular target: China. On Wednesday, Trump announced a three-month pause on all the “reciprocal” tariffs that had gone into effect hours earlier – with one exception, deepening a confrontation set to dismantle ...

Panama promotes itself “as the bridge of the world, heart of the universe” but lately the narrow Central American Isthmus and its namesake canal that joins the Atlantic to the Pacific have become the setting for a bitter clash between the world’s two preeminent economic superpowers. The escalating war of words between the US and China over the canal has ...

New Zealand politicians broke out in song Thursday after striking down a right-wing-backed proposal that opponents feared would erode indigenous rights. Tens of thousands of people – predominantly from the Māori community – had already taken to the streets to oppose the bill, which sought to redefine the terms of a treaty that British colonialists signed with the indigenous group ...