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Real Madrid duo Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo were recalled to the Brazil squad by coach Carlo Ancelotti on Wednesday for upcoming friendlies against South Korea and Japan. Published Date: 2025-10-02 12:52:23 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick insisted his team must learn how to defend better after conceding a last-gasp winner against Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain. Published Date: 2025-10-02 12:47:03 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Erling Haaland said Manchester City must show more energy to end their miserable run on the road in the Champions League after twice blowing the lead in draw at Monaco. Published Date: 2025-10-02 12:36:15 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) answers questions while childhood cancer survivors and their families gather in the Oval Office at the White House on September 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. [AFP] US President Donald Trump has made it clear he wants the Nobel Peace Prize when it is announced next week but experts predict he has little chance against those toiling on forgotten causes outside the limelight. The prestigious prize will be announced on Friday, October 10 but before that, Trump’s assault on science is likely to stir debate when the laureates for the medicine prize are revealed on Monday,…

British anthropologist Jane Goodall holds a baby Cariblanco monkey in Santiago, on November 23, 2013. [Hector Tetamal, AFP] British primatologist Jane Goodall, who transformed the study of chimpanzees and became one of the world’s most prominent wildlife advocates, has died at the age of 91, her institute announced Wednesday. Goodall “passed away due to natural causes” while in California on a speaking tour of the United States, the Jane Goodall Institute said in a statement on social media. “Dr Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural…

His resurgence will be put to the test at the Singapore Grand Prix this week as the Red Bull driver tries to turn the Formula One world championship into a three-horse race. Published Date: 2025-10-01 15:29:30 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Liverpool started the season with seven straight wins as they threatened to sweep all before them but consecutive defeats underscore pressing issues that Arne Slot must address. Published Date: 2025-10-01 15:26:18 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said Rodri will need much more time to find his top form after struggling with fitness problems on his return from a serious knee injury. Published Date: 2025-10-01 11:12:57 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Jose Mourinho insisted fond memories of his time at Chelsea were not enough to satisfy him after Benfica were beaten 1-0 on his return to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. Published Date: 2025-10-01 11:01:46 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Yamal has made over 100 appearances for Barcelona, scoring 27 goals, and winning two LaLiga titles since his debut at 15 in 2023. Published Date: 2025-10-01 10:58:13 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Saliba, 24, had been expected to extend his stay at the Emirates despite earlier reported interest from Real Madrid. Published Date: 2025-09-30 13:56:35 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

The United Nations Security Council holds a meeting on the “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question” at UN headquarters in New York on September 23, 2025. [AFP] The United Nations Security Council will vote on Tuesday on whether to beef up a UN-backed security mission in gang-dominated Haiti into a full-fledged force with troops. Currently just 1,000 police officers, mostly from Kenya, are deployed in Haiti under the Multinational Security Mission (MSS) to support the overwhelmed Haitian police in their fight against rampant gang violence. But the mission, which was approved in 2023, has had deeply…

US President Donald Trump (right) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a joint news conference in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on September 29, 2025. [AFP] YouTube has agreed to pay $22 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump after the company suspended his account over the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, according to a court filing Monday. The online video platform, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, is the latest Big Tech firm to settle with Trump after he lodged legal cases challenging his broad deplatforming after…

Anne-Marie Lim (centre), widow of former Cambodian opposition lawmaker Lim Kimya who was shot dead in Bangkok, holds his portrait before the first witness hearing in the trial at the Criminal Court in Bangkok on September 30, 2025. [AFP] An alleged gunman went on trial Tuesday in Bangkok over the murder of a Cambodian opposition politician whose widow called for a full accounting of who was behind the killing. French national 73-year-old Lim Kimya, a former opposition lawmaker in Cambodia, was shot dead on January 7 by a motorcyclist as the ex-MP arrived in the Thai capital. A Thai citizen,…

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) arrive for a press conference in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC on September 29, 2025. [AFP] President Donald Trump said Monday that he had Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s backing for a wide-ranging Gaza peace plan that would bring an immediate ceasefire. The plan, which Trump has circulated to Arab leaders, was released after Trump met Netanyahu in Washington. Trump told a press conference that Netanyahu had agreed to the plan, which calls for an immediate ceasefire, followed by disarmament of Hamas and Israeli…

Lewis Hamilton has revealed he made the “hardest decision” of his life to put his 12-year-old bulldog Roscoe to sleep. Published Date: 2025-09-29 19:51:48 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin inspects the “Zapad-2025” (West-2025) joint Russian-Belarusian military drills at a training ground in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast on September 16, 2025. [AFP] Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday called up 135,000 men for routine military service, the country’s biggest autumn conscription drive since 2016. Russia calls up men aged between 18 and 30 for compulsory military service each spring and autumn. Conscripts are expected to serve for a year at a military base inside Russia, not to fight in Ukraine, although there have been reports…

Palestinians check the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, on September 28, 2025. [AFP] US President Donald Trump will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday for high-stakes talks aimed at pushing an elusive Gaza peace plan over the line. Trump says a deal to end the nearly two-year war in Gaza, free hostages held by Hamas and disarm the Palestinian militant group is effectively done following talks with Arab leaders last week. He teased a possible breakthrough on Sunday, saying on…

Igor Dodon, the leader of Socialist Party, addresses protesters in front of the Central Electoral Commission, alleging electoral fraud, in Chisinau, Moldova on September 28, 2025. [AFP] Moldova’s ruling pro-EU party won parliamentary elections with the backing of more than half of voters, according to near-complete results on Monday for polls overshadowed by accusations of Russian interference in the ex-Soviet country. The small European Union candidate nation, which borders Ukraine and has a pro-Russia breakaway region, has long been divided over whether to move closer with Brussels or maintain Soviet-era relations with Moscow. Sunday’s elections were seen as crucial for…

Israeli security forces gather at the scene of a reported ramming attack at the Jit junction, west of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on September 28, 2025. [AFP] Pressure is building on Germany to join steps to sanction Israel over the Gaza war, sparking heated debate in a country that has long been at pains to atone for the Holocaust. Berlin, a steadfast supporter of Israel in the post-World War II era, has grown increasingly isolated as many of its Western allies have recognised a Palestinian state. While they have universally condemned the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas…

A woman casts her ballot in the parliamentary elections, in Chisinau on September 28, 2025. [AFP] Moldovans were voting on Sunday in parliamentary elections that could see the country neighbouring Ukraine swerve from its pro-European path towards Moscow, with the government and the EU accusing Russia of “deeply interfering”. Moldova, a European Union candidate country, has long been divided over closer ties with Brussels or maintaining Soviet-era relations with Moscow. Most surveys ahead of the vote showed the pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), in power since 2021, in the lead. But analysts say the race is far from…

Ukrainian law enforcement officers at the site of an air attack at an undisclosed location in the Kyiv region, on September 28, 2025. [AFP] Ukraine said Sunday that Russia pounded the country with “hundreds” of drones and missiles overnight, killing at least four people in the capital alone, as neighbouring Poland scrambled jets to secure its airspace. The attacks came after Russia warned NATO against taking sterner action in response to alleged incursions into airspace covered by the military alliance. The barrage also followed the revelation by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Kyiv had received a US-made Patriot air defence…

US President Donald Trump exits Air Force One in Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on September 26, 2025. [AFP] Iran on Sunday condemned as “unjustifiable” the reinstatement of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear programme, after the collapse of talks with Western powers and Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear sites. The measures, which bar dealings linked to the Islamic republic’s nuclear and ballistic missile activities, took effect overnight after Western powers triggered the so-called “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 nuclear accord. “The reactivation of annulled resolutions is legally baseless and unjustifiable… all countries must refrain from recognising this illegal…

Manchester United have lost three of their six Premier League games this season, winning just twice, and are languishing in 13th place. Published Date: 2025-09-27 19:29:48 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Caption Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose government has championed Hamas, said Friday he backed any ceasefire in Gaza after US President Donald Trump voiced optimism for a deal. “Any agreement that can stop this tragedy, that can save lives and stop women and children suffering from hunger, we would support wholeheartedly,” Pezeshkian told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Pezeshkian voiced horror over Israel’s relentless campaign in Gaza since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas. “How can human beings behave like this?” he said. “I am a doctor and even some images I cannot see.” Follow…

A worker places finished jeans in a trolley inside the United Aryan textile factory at the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in Nairobi on February 4, 2025. [AFP] A Kenyan factory making jeans for US stores will start firing hundreds of workers this week as American lawmakers failed to renew Africa’s duty-free access in time, its boss said Friday. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been a cornerstone of trade relations for 25 years, allowing the United States to buy billions of dollars of duty-free cars, clothes and other items from select African countries each year. .fade-out-overlay { position:…

President Donald Trump said Thursday he would consider moving 2026 World Cup games from US cities he regards as a security risk. Published Date: 2025-09-26 09:46:09 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Inter Miami’s former Barcelona and Spain star Sergio Busquets said Thursday he will retire from football at the end of the 2025 Major League Soccer season. Published Date: 2025-09-26 09:39:37 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, DC, on September 25, 2025. [AFP] US President Donald Trump’s administration dramatically raised the stakes Thursday in a clash over a possible government funding shutdown, telling federal agencies to prepare for new mass firings if it goes ahead. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) warned in a memo that it would go beyond the usual practice of temporary furloughs during previous shutdowns, where Congress cannot agree on spending plans. Republican Trump is in a…

Displaced Palestinians move with their belongings southwards on a road in the Nuseirat refugee camp area in the central Gaza Strip on September 23, 2025. [AFP] Three children play with sand and pebbles among the tombstones in a southern Gaza cemetery, while a teenage boy, barefoot, carries two buckets of water through the graveyard before vanishing into a tent. These macabre scenes are a daily reality for some displaced Palestinians, who, unable to find shelter elsewhere, have resorted to pitching tents in a cemetery in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. “We had no other choice,” said Randa Musleh…

JICA President Akihiko Tanaka. [Courtesy] Japan’s international aid agency said Thursday it will cancel a friendship exchange programme with African nations after false beliefs spread that it would open the door to waves of migrants. The Japan International Cooperation Agency said it would scrap the “JICA Africa Hometown” initiative, which was designed to foster cultural and social exchanges between four African countries and as many regional Japanese cities. But the announcement triggered a flood of emails and phone calls to the participating cities from anxious people who believed the programme was a new immigration policy. Local officials became so overwhelmed…

England captain Zoe Aldcroft believes it is “our time now” as her side bid to end more than a decade of Women’s Rugby World Cup heartache in Saturday’s final against Canada. Published Date: 2025-09-25 15:49:57 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy after the verdict in his trial for illegal campaign financing from Libya for his successful 2007 presidential bid, at the Tribunal de Paris courthouse in Paris, on September 25, 2025. [AFP] A Paris court on Thursday sentenced former French president Nicolas Sarkozy to five years and ordered him to go to prison after finding him guilty of criminal conspiracy over accusations the late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi helped fund his victorious 2007 presidential run. The court ordered that Sarkozy should be placed in custody at a later date, with prosecutors given one month to inform…

Spotify on Thursday unveiled several measures to encourage artists and publishers to be more transparent about their use of artificial intelligence, as well as to limit certain abuses. The Swedish platform is recommending that musicians and producers comply with a new standard developed by the Digital Data Exchange (DDEX), a consortium of leading media companies, music licensing organizations, digital service providers and technology firms that develops standards for the creative industries. Since the beginning of the year, DDEX has allowed tracks to be labeled as entirely, partially, or not at all created with AI in their descriptions. Follow The Standard…

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen speaks during the “Climate Summit 2025” on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York City on September 24, 2025. [AFP] The European Union criticised China’s targets for cutting planet-warming gases Thursday, saying they fell “well short” of what the bloc thought was “both achievable and necessary” for the world’s top polluter. Beijing announced its first-ever absolute climate targets at a UN summit on Wednesday, pledging to reduce economy-wide emissions by 7-10 percent by 2035 relative to the year of the country’s peak emissions, believed to…

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a video speech to the United Nations Climate Summit 2025 held in New York on Sept. 24, 2025. [AFP China vowed Wednesday to cut its emissions by 7–10 percent over the next decade, a cautious commitment to climate action from the world’s top polluter, as the United States doubles down on fossil fuels and Europe falters. The pledge, delivered via video by President Xi Jinping to a  UN climate summit where some 120 nations will outline plans to curb global warming, comes as disasters intensify worldwide — from catastrophic floods in Pakistan to raging wildfires…

PSG star Achraf Hakimi, who is being investigated over an alleged rape, said he has “peace of mind” and expects to be cleared of the accusations. Published Date: 2025-09-25 13:25:18 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

France’s ex-president Sarkozy convicted in Libya trial. [AFP] A Paris court on Thursday convicted former French president Nicolas Sarkozy on charges of criminal conspiracy but acquitted him of corruption and accepting illegal campaign financing in his trial into accusations that late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi helped fund his victorious 2007 presidential run. The trial is the latest in a string of legal troubles for the right-wing ex-leader, 70, who denies the charges. Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012, has already been convicted in two separate cases and stripped of France’s highest honour. Judge Nathalie Gavarino said Sarkozy, as…

Barcelona star Lamine Yamal will be driven to greater heights after being beaten to the Ballon d’Or by Ousmane Dembele, the club’s coach Hansi Flick said Wednesday. Published Date: 2025-09-24 16:01:43 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank says England captain Harry Kane is welcome to return to the north London club if he ever leaves Bayern Munich. Published Date: 2025-09-24 15:51:35 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

French police arrested 101 Roma fans, some with weapons, in Nice on Tuesday, a day before the teams were due to meet in the Europa League, the local prefecture announced. Published Date: 2025-09-24 15:27:43 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Hugo Ekitike has apologised to Liverpool fans after he was sent off for removing his shirt following his late League Cup winner against Southampton. Published Date: 2025-09-24 13:12:41 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

People walk past toppled barriers in Lei Yue Mun after Super Typhoon Ragasa hit Hong Kong on September 24, 2025. [AFP] Fierce winds, pounding rain and high seas battered Hong Kong on Wednesday as Super Typhoon Ragasa headed into southern China after causing a lake burst that killed at least 14 people in Taiwan. The Chinese finance hub saw scores of fallen trees and flooding in multiple neighbourhoods, with the storm surge smashing the glass doors of an upscale hotel and flooding its lobby, according to footage circulated online. Ragasa is churning away from Hong Kong gradually around noon (0400…

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the United Nations Security Council ministerial meeting on Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York on September 23, 2025. [AFP] Ahead of Moldova’s parliamentary elections on Sunday, deepfake videos and unsubstantiated accusations targeting pro-EU President Maia Sandu are spreading online, with analysts warning the country has become Moscow’s “testing ground” for information warfare in Europe. The vote is seen as crucial in deciding whether the EU candidate country of some 2.5 million people will deepen its ties with the bloc or drift back towards Moscow, from which it gained independence in 1991. Most polls so…

A vehicle on the edge of a hole in the ground after a road collapsed near a hospital in Bangkok on September 24, 2025. [AFP] A portion of a busy road in Thailand’s capital caved in early Wednesday, leaving a hole dozens of meters deep in front of a main hospital and forcing people nearby to evacuate. Just outside a local police station and Vajira Hospital in a residential district of Bangkok, a roughly 50-meter (160-foot) hole pulled down power lines and exposed a burst pipe gushing water, AFP journalists saw. Dozens of police and city officials cordoned off the…

US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres (R) on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 23, 2025. [AFP] US President Donald Trump blasted the United Nations and Europe on his return to the world body Tuesday, warning that Western countries were “going to hell” because of migration and calling climate change a “con job.” In a blistering speech during his first UN General Assembly appearance since his White House comeback, Trump also accused the world body of failing to help him as he tried to…

This illustration picture shows the US multinational technology and Internet-related services company Google logo behind a European flag on February 14, 2020 in Brussels. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP) The European Union on Tuesday demanded Big Tech players including Apple and Google explain what action they are taking against financial scams online, as Brussels seeks to show it is not shying away from enforcing its rules. The European Commission sent a request for information under the Digital Services Act to the companies, including Microsoft and Booking, “on how they make sure that their services are not being misused by…

With U.S. President Donald Trump on board, the Marine One presidential helicopter sprays water from the East River as it lands at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport on September 22, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP) US authorities charged a man who shone a laser pointer at the presidential helicopter as it departed the White House with President Trump aboard, according to a court filing Monday. A Secret Service officer saw Jacob Samuel Winkler, 33, shine a red laser beam from the sidewalk outside the White House grounds,…

Dembele, 28, edged out Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal to succeed Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri, who took the trophy in 2024. Published Date: 2025-09-23 10:34:51 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

US television host Jimmy Kimmel arrives for “An Evening With Jimmy Kimmel” at the Roosevelt hotel in Hollywood on August 7, 2019. (Photo by Chris Delmas / AFP) Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show, which was abruptly pulled from the air last week after the US government threatened broadcasters, will be back on Tuesday, Disney announced Monday. The sudden suspension by ABC, which is owned by Disney, came after conservative complaints about comments Kimmel had made in the wake of the shooting of Christian activist Charlie Kirk. “Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to…

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer (right) and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas at 10 Downing Street in London on September 8, 2025. [AFP] Britain, Australia and Canada on Sunday recognised a Palestinian state in a seismic shift in decades of western foreign policy, triggering swift Israeli anger. Portugal was also to recognise Palestinian statehood later Sunday, as Israel came under huge international pressure over the war in Gaza triggered almost two years ago by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. “Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises…

Kenyas Lilian Odira clinches 800m gold at World Championships in Tokyo in 1:54.62, breaking the 1:54.68 record set by Jarmila Kratochvílová in 1983. Published Date: 2025-09-21 13:53:13 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Kenyans Sabastian Sawe and Rosemary Wanjiru won the men’s and women’s editions of the Berlin Marathon on Sunday, both breaking through for the first time in the German capital. Published Date: 2025-09-21 13:14:58 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi added the world crown to his laurels with a hard-fought victory in the men’s 800m in Tokyo. Published Date: 2025-09-20 16:42:04 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Beatrice Chebet produced a devastating burst of speed to edge teammate Faith Kipyegon for victory in the women’s 5,000m in Tokyo Published Date: 2025-09-20 15:54:35 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Elephants eat jackfruit leaves at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala on February 16, 2025. [AFP] Sri Lanka’s High Court sentenced an elephant keeper to 15 years in prison on Friday, in a landmark case involving trafficking of wildlife protected by strict environmental laws. The three-judge court in Colombo found Niraj Roshan guilty on two counts of keeping a stolen baby elephant and falsifying records to show he had obtained it legitimately. The verdict, which includes a fine equivalent to $68,600 and the elephant’s confiscation, comes six years after the case first went to court. “This is the first case…

The United Nations Security Council will vote on Friday on reimposing deep economic sanctions on Iran over its resurgent nuclear program.[AFP] The United Nations Security Council will vote on Friday on reimposing deep economic sanctions on Iran over its resurgent nuclear program. Britain, France and Germany — signatories to a 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) intended to stop Tehran obtaining nuclear weapons — allege that Iran has broken its promises under the treaty. Diplomatic sources said the resolution before the Security Council was unlikely to get the nine votes needed to uphold the status quo…

Kenya are hoping legend Faith Kipyegon and Emmanuel Wanyonyi deliver two gold medals on the penultimate day of the World Athletics Championships on Saturday. Published Date: 2025-09-19 10:01:43 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Former Barcelona presidents that payments the club made to a former refereeing chief during their time at the helm were not corrupt. Published Date: 2025-09-19 09:57:12 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

An appellate court in Buenos Aires has indicted Maradona’s former lawyer, Matias Morla, and two of his assistants for suspected fraudulent handling of the player’s assets. Published Date: 2025-09-19 09:49:30 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Mourinho will soon face reunions against former sides Chelsea and Porto, in the Champions League on September 30 and in the Primeira Liga on October 5 respectively. Published Date: 2025-09-18 18:33:25 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Lyles claimed bronze in Sunday’s 100m in Tokyo and immediately turned his attention to the 200m, which he called his “bread and butter”. Published Date: 2025-09-18 16:08:00 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Faith Kipyegon and Beatrice Chebet, who have won world titles in the 1,500 and 10,000m in Tokyo this week, will face off in the 5,000m for the chance of a championships double. Published Date: 2025-09-18 14:59:27 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

From left: Britain’s Queen Camilla, King Charles III, US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, on September 17, 2025, [AFP] Armed with signs and shouting slogans, thousands of anti-Donald Trump protesters descended on central London on Wednesday to decry the US president’s unprecedented second state visit to the UK. London’s Metropolitan Police estimated that there were around 5,000 people at the protest, which culminated in a rally in front of parliament. With Trump receiving the red-carpet treatment at Windsor Castle, around 22 miles (35 kilometres) west of London, demonstrators marched in the heart…

Live Live Live Live Live Live Live Live Live Live Published Date: 2025-09-18 00:00:00 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Portugal’s Isaac Nader outsprinted Briton Jake Wightman to claim a surprise gold in the men’s 1,500 metres at the world championships on Wednesday. Published Date: 2025-09-17 17:27:09 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Growth in global innovation funding has fallen to its lowest rate since 2010, UN projections showed Tuesday, as high inflation eats into research and development spending and as venture capital deals slump. In its annual ranking of the world’s most innovative economies, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) placed Switzerland at the top of the list for the 15th consecutive year. Sweden and the United States retained their second and third place positions for the third year running, while China edged its way one spot higher and into the top 10. Follow The Standard channel on WhatsApp But while the…

Several dozens of people protest with rainbow flags outside the Hungarian embassy in Oslo against the ban of Pride parades in Hungary, on March 28, 2025. [AFP] Intersex people are increasingly facing violence and harassment, the EU rights agency said on Wednesday, adding levels were “alarming” as disinformation “campaigns” target them. The EU’s rights agency (FRA) published its second report following an online survey of 1,920 intersex people in 30 EU and Western Balkan countries in 2023. “Intersex people in the EU experience alarming levels of exclusion, discrimination and violence,” FRA director Sirpa Rautio said, calling for “an urgent response”.…

Faith Kipyegon produced a trademark devastating last lap to win an unprecedented fourth world women’s 1,500 metres title in Tokyo on Tuesday. Published Date: 2025-09-16 16:34:19 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Japan political party to install AI leader. [Courtesy] An upstart Japanese political party said Tuesday it will install an artificial intelligence as leader after its maverick founder quit following a disastrous showing in recent elections. The Path to Rebirth party, which was launched in January by Shinji Ishimaru, a former mayor of a small city in western Japan, does not have a policy platform and its members are free to set their own agendas. Ishimaru unexpectedly came second in the 2024 Tokyo gubernatorial election thanks to a successful online campaign but he quit the party after it failed to pick…

The defendant Sulaiman A covers his face with a folder in the courtroom of the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart-Stammheim, southwestern Germany, on September 16, 2025, for his trial verdict for murdering a police officer in a jihadist-motivated attack. [File, Standard] An Afghan man was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for a jihadist stabbing spree in Germany  last year that killed a police officer and left five people wounded. The 26-year-old, only partially named as Sulaiman A. and found to be an adherent of the Islamic State group, committed the knife attack in May 2024 in the western…

France repatriates 3 women, 10 children from Syrian camps. [Courtesy] France on Tuesday repatriated three women and 10 children from Syrian prisons for alleged jihadists, anti-terror prosecutors said — a move that remains divisive a decade after the 2015 attacks in Paris. More than five years after the Islamic State group’s territorial defeat in the region, tens of thousands of people are still held in Kurdish-run camps and prisons in northeastern Syria — many with alleged or perceived links to IS. The women are aged between 18 and 34. Two of them have been taken into police custody, while the…

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump in a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 18, 2025. [AFP] President Donald Trump will likely meet Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky next week and still hopes to broker a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday. Trump has repeatedly threatened sanctions against Russia if President Vladimir Putin does not compromise. But he has not followed through even as Russia ramps up attacks, frustrating Ukraine. Trump has had “multiple calls with Putin, multiple meetings with Zelensky, including probably…

US President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing a Presidential Memorandum in the Oval Office, in Washington, DC, on September 15, 2025.  [AFP] US President Donald Trump said Monday that he is bringing a $15 billion “defamation and libel lawsuit” against the New York Times. “The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding the lawsuit was being brought in Florida. AFP has contacted the New York Times for comment. Follow The Standard channel on WhatsApp Trump…

US President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing a Presidential Memorandum in the Oval Office, in Washington, DC, on September 15, 2025.  [AFP] US President Donald Trump said Monday that he is bringing a $15 billion “defamation and libel lawsuit” against the New York Times. “The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding the lawsuit was being brought in Florida. AFP has contacted the New York Times for comment. Follow The Standard channel on WhatsApp Trump…

Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk speaks in front of the newly unveiled all-electric battery-powered Tesla’s Cybertruck with shattered windows at Tesla Design Center in Hawthorne, California, on November 21, 2019.  (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP) CEO Elon Musk bought about $1 billion worth of shares in Tesla, according to a regulatory filing, sending the share price up six percent on Monday. According to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the billionaire, who also owns social media platform X and space company SpaceX, on Friday acquired 2.57 million shares at prices ranging from $371 to $396.…

Elon Musk buys $1 billion in Tesla shares Published Date: 2025-09-15 19:16:55 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani (right) and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Doha, on September 14, 2025, on the sidelines of the 2025 Arab-Islamic extraordinary summit. [AFP] Qatar’s prime minister urged the international community on Sunday to reject “double standards” and hold Israel accountable, speaking on the eve of an emergency summit called in response to an unprecedented Israeli strike on Hamas members in Doha. The deadly attack — carried out by one US ally on the territory of another — sparked a wave of criticism, including a rebuke from President Donald…

Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir produced a dramatic, lung-busting final 100m sprint to outpace Ethiopa’s Tigst Assefa for gold in the women’s marathon at the world championships in Tokyo. Published Date: 2025-09-14 10:27:41 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

A demonstrator shouts slogans during a protest demanding police reform and the dissolution of the parliament, in Bandung, West Java, on September 1, 2025. [AFP] In removing Indonesia’s finance minister and U-turning on protester demands, the leader of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is scrambling to restore public trust while seizing a chance to install loyalists after deadly riots last month, experts say. Demonstrations that were sparked by low wages, unemployment and anger over lawmakers’ lavish perks grew after footage spread of a paramilitary police vehicle running over a delivery motorcycle driver. The ensuing riots, which rights groups say left at…

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on September 13, 2025. [AFP] Top US diplomat Marco Rubio began a visit to Israel on Sunday, after expressing the Trump administration’s unwavering support for its ally in the war with Hamas despite a strike in Qatar that drew broad criticism of Israel. The trip is taking place after President Donald Trump rebuked Israel over the unprecedented attack against Hamas leaders meeting in Doha on Tuesday. It marked Israel’s first such strike against US ally Qatar and has put renewed strain on diplomatic efforts to…

Nepal’s former chief justice Sushila Karki was sworn in Friday as the country’s prime minister. [AFP] Nepal’s former Chief Justice Sushila Karki was sworn in on Friday as the country’s Prime Minister to lead a six-month transition to elections, after deadly anti-corruption protests ousted the government. The previous prime minister quit on Tuesday as parliament was set ablaze. “I, Sushila Karki… take an oath in the name of the country and the people to fulfil my duty as the prime minister,” the 73-year-old Karki, Nepal’s first woman chief justice, said as she was sworn into office by President Ram Chandra Paudel.…

Kipyegon is fancied to win a fourth world 1,500m title and draw level with Moroccan legend Hicham El Guerrouj. Published Date: 2025-09-12 09:45:00 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

  Law enforcement officials, including members of the FBI, investigate a wooded area near the crime scene where political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 11, 2025. [AFP] The gunman who shot dead US right-wing youth leader Charlie Kirk in a targeted killing remained at large Thursday but authorities said they have video images of the suspect and have recovered a “high-powered” rifle. Kirk, a 31-year-old superstar on the Republican right who was credited with helping Donald Trump return to the presidency last year, was shot while addressing a large…

 U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend a September 11th observance event in the courtyard of the Pentagon September 11, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. [AFP] More than 100 international media groups and industry bodies urged Washington on Thursday not to slash the time foreign journalists can stay in the United States, saying the planned change would hurt its image abroad. President Donald Trump’s plan would “reduce the quantity and quality of coverage coming from the US” and “damage, not enhance, America’s global standing”, AFP news agency and 117 other signatories to a joint statement wrote. Backers of…

British Labour Party politician Peter Mandelson sacked as ambassador. [AFP] UK leader Keir Starmer sacked his ambassador in Washington, Peter Mandelson, on Thursday following fresh revelations about the diplomat’s friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Dubbed the “Prince of Darkness” during his years as a media spin doctor, Mandelson was twice forced to resign from Tony Blair’s Labour government in the late 1990s and early 2000s over allegations of misconduct. In a statement, the foreign ministry said the prime minister had asked Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to withdraw Mandelson as ambassador “in light” of newly revealed emails he…

Qatar says funeral to be held Thursday for people killed in Israeli strike. [AFP] Qatar said it would hold funerals on Thursday in the capital Doha for those killed in an Israeli strike that targeted Hamas figures in the Gulf country earlier this week. “The Ministry of Interior announces that the funeral prayer for the martyrs of the Israeli targeting… will be held on the afternoon of Thursday, September 11, 2025, at Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque, and they will be buried in the Mesaimeer Cemetery,” it said in a statement on X. On Tuesday, Israel struck Doha, targeting…

This combination of pictures created on September 10, 2025 shows, L/R, Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation, in Tokyo on April 9, 2014 and Elon Musk in Washington, DC on November 13, 2024. (Photo by TORU YAMANAKA and Allison ROBBERT / various sources / AFP) Billionaire Elon Musk is at risk of losing his title as the world’s wealthiest person to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, whose software giant is poised for massive AI riches. Ellison, 81, amassed about $100 billion in additional wealth Wednesday as Oracle shares skyrocketed after the nearly 50-year-old company forecast massive revenue growth amid the artificial…

Activists from Pakistan’s Islamic political Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party during a protest against the Israeli air strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar, in Lahore on September 10, 2025. [AFP] In a stunning development, Israel launched a surprise air raid targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar’s capital Doha Tuesday, killing six people including the son of the group’s lead negotiator in ceasefire talks. While Israel has not disclosed the results of the operation, Hamas said its senior officials survived the barrage, while several others were killed. Here is a breakdown of the details of the strike on the tiny Gulf state that has…

Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo said he would let his legs do the talking in his battle with brash American Noah Lyles at the World Championships in Tokyo. Published Date: 2025-09-10 11:56:40 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Lawmakers vote in the Legislative Council Chamber for a decision on whether to grant limited rights to same-sex couples in Hong Kong on September 10, 2025. [AFP] Hong Kong lawmakers rejected on Wednesday a bill that would have granted limited rights to same-sex couples, with the legislature’s conservative pro-Beijing voices prevailing to deal a major blow to the city’s LGBTQ community. Hong Kong’s government proposed legislation this summer to recognise some rights for same-sex partners, but only for those whose unions are registered abroad. Despite LGBTQ activists decrying its limitations, the proposal drew near-universal criticism from the pro-Beijing politicians that…

Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (centre) is escorted into a police van outside the Supreme Court in Bangkok on September 9, 2025, after he was sentenced to a year in prison. [AFP] Thailand’s influential ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra began his first full day in prison Wednesday after a court ruled that he had improperly served a previous jail term in hospital. Shinawatra’s political clan has for two decades been the key foe of Thailand’s pro-military, pro-royalty elite who view their populist brand as a threat to traditional social order. The dynasty’s momentum is flagging after a litany of legal…

An Army personnel walks past the charred remains of government vehicles inside the premises of the Parliament building in Kathmandu on September 10, 2025. [AFP] Nepali soldiers patrolled the streets of Kathmandu on Wednesday, seeking to restore order after protesters set parliament ablaze and forced the prime minister to quit in the worst violence to hit the Himalayan nation in two decades. Protests had began Monday in the Nepali capital against the government’s ban on social media and over corruption, but escalated into an outpouring of rage nationwide with government buildings set on fire after a deadly crackdown claimed at…

Firefighters putting out a fire at an industrial enterprise in Kyiv region following Russian drone strike on September 8, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [AFP] Poland said Wednesday it had scrambled aircraft alongside allies to shoot down “hostile objects” violating its airspace during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine, a first for a NATO country during the war. “Aircraft have used weapons against hostile objects,” Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on social media, adding: “We are in constant contact with NATO command.” The incursion came as Russia unleashed a barrage of strikes across Ukraine, including in the western…

Smoke billows after explosions in Doha, Qatar, on September 9, 2025. [AFP] US President Donald Trump gave Benjamin Netanyahu a rare slap on the wrist Tuesday over Israel’s strikes against Hamas in Qatar, as he insisted he played no role in the attack by one close US ally against another. Trump said he was not notified in advance of the Israeli attack on the Gulf state, a crucial broker in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas on ending the Gaza war and securing the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants. “I’m not thrilled about the whole situation,” Trump told…

Uncollected garbage at the Nakuru Wakulima Wholesale Market in Nakuru on July 9, 2019. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard] EU lawmakers gave a final green light Tuesday to a law on slashing back the mountains of food wasted in Europe each year, and curbing the environmental impact of so-called fast fashion. Brussels estimates the 27-nation bloc generates around 130 kilogrammes of food waste per person each year — adding up to 60 million tonnes — as well as around 15 kilos of textile waste. By curbing food waste, the EU aims by extension to cut the amount of water, fertiliser and energy…

A firefighter works at a heavily damaged residential building following Russian drone and missile strikes in Kyiv on September 7, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [AFP] A Russian strike on Tuesday in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region killed at least 20 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media post, the latest massive deadly strike amid stalled peace efforts. Moscow has claimed the industrial region as part of Russia despite not having full control over it, and Kyiv says the Kremlin has massed 100,000 troops at a key part of the front line for a fresh offensive.…

Passengers walk during the inauguration day of the newly built Techo International Airport in Kandal province, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, on September 9, 2025. (Photo by TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP) A $2 billion (Sh258 billion) Chinese-built airport in Cambodia opened its runways to the first planes on Tuesday, bringing hopes for a tourism revival but beset by accusations of land evictions. Officials hope the facility — which replaces Phnom Penh’s old airport as the capital’s main aviation transport hub — will boost Cambodia’s struggling tourism industry. Built by a major state-owned Chinese construction firm, the Techo International Airport…

Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli waves after casting his vote in an election for Nepal’s new president in Kathmandu on October 28, 2015. (Photo by Prakash MATHEMA / AFP) Nepal’s veteran prime minister resigned on Tuesday after youth protesters demanded he quit, a day after one of the deadliest crackdowns in years in which at least 19 people were killed. The protests, which began on Monday with demands that the government lifted a ban on social media and tackled corruption, reignited despite the apps going back online. Protesters on Tuesday attacked and set fire to KP Sharma Oli’s house, the…

France’s Prime Minister Francois Bayrou (centre) speaks with French politician of the Democratic Movement (MoDem) Bruno Millienne (right) after the result of a confidence vote over the government’s austerity budget, at the National Assembly in Paris on September 8, 2025. [ AFP] French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou was on Tuesday to submit his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron after parliament ousted the government, with the French leader rushing to find a successor and stave off a new political crisis. On Monday, Bayrou suffered a crushing loss in a confidence vote he had himself called, plunging France into fresh uncertainty and…