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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…

US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on religious liberty in education at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, on September 8, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) US President Donald Trump faced accusations of downplaying the seriousness of domestic violence Monday after he suggested some incidents were “lesser” crimes that should not be included in statistics. The Republican leader, who claims to have restored order in Washington by deploying federal agents and soldiers, was criticizing his opponents for allegedly inflating crime figures to tarnish his record. “Much lesser things, things that take place in the…

US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on religious liberty in education at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, on September 8, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) A lewd birthday letter that Donald Trump allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 — which the US president claimed did not exist — was published Monday by a congressional panel investigating the late financier’s sex crimes case. The letter, a type-written message inserted into the sketched outline of a nude woman, was one of many notes sent by Epstein’s friends that his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, now imprisoned,…

European Council President Antonio Costa speaks during a joint press conference with Ukraine’s President in Uzhhorod on September 5, 2025. [Photo by AFP] President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that any Western forces deployed to Ukraine would be “legitimate” targets for Russia’s army, as Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky said “thousands” could be sent as part of a peacekeeping force. Two dozen countries, led by France and Britain, pledged Thursday to join a “reassurance” force on land, at sea and in the air to patrol any agreement to end the war, unleashed by Russia’s February 2022 invasion. Tens of thousands have…

US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin at a joint press conference in Helsinki in 2018. [AFP] US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would speak soon with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, after his call earlier in the day  with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders. “I will be, yeah,” Trump told a reporter asking if he would speak with the Russian leader in the near future, on the sidelines of a dinner with prominent US tech executives at the White House. Trump’s call with European leaders came after a summit in Paris aimed at firming up plans for…

A nun prays at the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis, an adolescent who spent his life spreading his faith online, earning the moniker “God’s Influencer”, in the Shrine of the Renunciation in Assisi, part of the Church of Saint Mary Major, on April 3, 2025. [AFP] An Italian teenager dubbed “God’s Influencer” for his efforts to spread the Catholic faith online will become the first millennial saint Sunday at a canonisation attended by thousands of pilgrims. Computer whiz Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 aged 15, will be raised to sainthood by Pope Leo XIV in a solemn…

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky during the Coalition of the Willing Summit at The Elysee presidential Palace, in Paris, on September 4, 2025. [AFP] US President Donald Trump urged European countries Thursday to put economic pressure China because of its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House said. Speaking by video conference with European leaders gathered in Paris, Trump also said “Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil that is funding the war,” a senior White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who also took part in the meeting, said earlier that Trump is…

  The number of investment scams is mushrooming as the cryptocurrency sector flourishes on both sides of the Atlantic. In the United States crypto currencies, the most well known of which are Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether, accounted for 26 percent of fraud losses reported by consumers in connection with payments methods in 2024, compared with just nine percent in 2020, according to the Federal Trade Commission data analysed by AFP. Most of the victims are between 30 and 60, technology keen and are looking to invest, according to the FBI which puts at more than $400 million the losses avoided…

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (R) listens during a bilateral meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Polish President Karol Nawrocki in the Oval Office at the White House on September 3, 2025 in Washington, DC.[AFP] The World Trade Organization and the International Labour Organization told AFP on Thursday that they no longer figured among entities targeted in the White House’s latest round of foreign aid cuts. US President Donald Trump’s Republican administration announced last Friday that it was cancelling $4.9 billion of congressionally-approved foreign aid, sparking outrage among Democrats. In a memo detailing the cuts, the administration…

US President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC on August 26, 2025.[AFP] President Donald Trump’s administration asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday for an expedited ruling preserving the tariffs that have roiled global markets, saying a lower court ruling against it has already damaged trade negotiations. Solicitor General John Sauer urged the court in a filing to “expedite resolution of this case to the maximum extent feasible, given the enormous importance of quickly confirming the full legal standing of the President’s tariffs.” The petition comes after a…

Players should not be vilified for forcing through transfer moves, former England star Rio Ferdinand tsaid on Wednesday following the Alexander Isak saga Published Date: 2025-09-03 16:53:44 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Charismatic veteran coach Marcelo Bielsa is on the brink of guiding a third team to World Cup qualification as Uruguay take on Peru on Thursday needing only a draw to secure their ticket. Published Date: 2025-09-03 11:39:54 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

This undated trial evidence image obtained December 8, 2021, from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York shows British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and US financier Jeffrey Epstein.  (Photo by Handout / US District Court for the Southern District of New York / AFP)  A US House of Representatives committee released a first batch of documents on Tuesday from the investigation into notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a case that has become a political lightning rod for the Trump administration. More than 33,000 pages of records related to Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell were uploaded to…

9mm pistol gun and bullets. [Courtesy/GettyImages] Kids as young as five will be taking a gun safety class this year in Republican-run Tennessee, the first US state to pass such a law. A bill mandating these courses was passed in 2024 by the state legislature and the law takes effect in public schools with the start of the new academic year as the summer ends. The state education department has put out guidelines stating that pupils from age five to eight should, for instance, be able to tell a fake gun from a real one. They also need to learn…

Fox News reporter Peter Doocy shows US President Donald Trump his phone as makes an announcement in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 2, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) From manipulated images to out-of-context photos, false claims that Donald Trump is seriously ill — or even dead — have swirled online, with the misinformation persisting even after the US president publicly rejected it on Tuesday. At a White House press conference, Trump dismissed social media rumors about his health as “fake news,” following the 79-year-old’s noticeable absence from public appearances and press…

Screengrab of someone using ChatGPT. [Courtesy/AFP] American artificial intelligence firm OpenAI said Tuesday it would add parental controls to its chatbot ChatGPT, a week after an American couple said the system encouraged their teenaged son to kill himself. “Within the next month, parents will be able to… link their account with their teen’s account” and “control how ChatGPT responds to their teen with age-appropriate model behavior rules”, the generative AI company said in a blog post. Parents will also receive notifications from ChatGPT “when the system detects their teen is in a moment of acute distress”, OpenAI added. Matthew and…

Afghans walk past damaged houses, after earthquakes at Mazar Dara village in Nurgal district, Kunar province, in Eastern Afghanistan, on September 1, 2025. [AFP] Rescuers desperately searched Tuesday for survivors in the rubble of homes flattened by an earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 800 people. The 6.0-magnitude earthquake, followed by at least five aftershocks, hit remote areas in mountainous provinces near the border with Pakistan around midnight Sunday. The head of the Kunar Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Ehsanullah Ehsan, told AFP that “operations continued throughout the night”. Follow The Standard channel on WhatsApp He said there were…

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (left) before departing from Pyongyang by special train to visit China, on September 1, 2025. [AFP]. Around 2,000 North Korean soldiers deployed to help Russia fight Ukraine are estimated to have been killed, Seoul’s spy agency said Tuesday, according to a lawmaker. Seoul’s National Intelligence Service said in April “the number of war dead was at least 600. But based on updated assessments, it now estimates the figure at around 2,000,” lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters after a briefing from the spy agency. South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have said the North sent…

Pakistan’s army and rescue personnel evacuate flood-affected victims from Kasur district in Punjab province on August 31, 2025. [AFP] A thousand villages in India’s Punjab state are marooned by deadly floods, with thousands forced to seek shelter in relief camps, government authorities say. Flooding across the northwestern state killed at least 29 people and affected over 250,000 last month, with the state’s chief minister calling it “one of the worst flood disasters in decades”. The region is often dubbed India’s breadbasket, but more than 940 square kilometres (360 square miles) of farmland are flooded, leading to “devastating crop losses”, Punjab’s…

The potential abuse of consumer AI tools is raising concerns, with budding cybercriminals apparently able to trick coding chatbots into giving them a leg-up in producing malicious programmes. So-called “vibe hacking” — a twist on the more positive “vibe coding” that generative AI tools supposedly enable those without extensive expertise to achieve — marks “a concerning evolution in AI-assisted cybercrime” according to American company Anthropic. The lab  — whose Claude product competes with the biggest-name chatbot, ChatGPT from OpenAI — highlighted  in a report published Wednesday the case of “a cybercriminal (who) used Claude Code to conduct a scaled data…

This photo illustration taken in Washington, DC, on July 14, 2025, shows images on the internet and social media of AI bikini-clad women conducting street interviews. (Photo by STAFF / AFP) The videos are strikingly lifelike, featuring bikini-clad women conducting street interviews and eliciting lewd comments — but they are entirely fake, generated by AI tools increasingly used to flood social media with sexist content. Such AI slop — mass-produced content created by cheap artificial intelligence tools that turn simple text prompts into hyper-realistic visuals — is frequently drowning out authentic posts and blurring the line between fiction and reality.…

Cameroon forward Bryan Mbeumo scored his first Premier League goal for Manchester United in a dramatic 3-2 home win against Burnley at the weekend. Published Date: 2025-09-01 12:59:39 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin on September 1, 2025. [AFP] Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin took turns Monday to swipe at the West during a gathering of Eurasian leaders for a showpiece summit aimed at putting Beijing front and centre of regional relations. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), comprising China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, is touted as a non-Western style of collaboration and seeks to be an alternative to traditional alliances. Xi told…

A residential building heavily damaged three days ago during a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack, in Kyiv on August 31, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [AFP] Russian President Vladimir Putin sought on Monday to defend his Ukraine offensive to Moscow’s allies, blaming the West for triggering the three-and-a-half year war that has killed tens of thousands and devastated much of eastern Ukraine. “This crisis was not triggered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but was a result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West,” Putin said at a summit of the the…

People take pictures of a flower installation commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory over Japan and the end of World War II in Beijing on August 31, 2025. China will hold a major military parade in Beijing on September 3 to mark the anniversary. [AFP] North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is set to visit China this week, a rare step beyond his country’s borders, for prospective meetings with President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The trip could be Kim’s bid to “formalise” his budding ties with Pyongyang’s two main allies — and potentially play a…

Statkraft Head of Zero Carbon Grid Solutions Guy Nicholson stands by a flywheel at Statkraft’s new Greener Grid Park in Liverpool, north-west England, on August 7, 2025. [AFP] Britain’s energy operator is betting on an age-old technology to future-proof its grid, as the power plants that traditionally helped stabilise it are closed and replaced by renewable energy systems. Spinning metal devices known as flywheels have for centuries been used to provide inertia — resistance to sudden changes in motion — to various machines, from a potter’s wheel to the steam engine. Grid operators are now looking to the technology to…

China’s President Xi Jinping during a bilateral meeting with Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, on August 31, 2025. [AFP] China’s factory output ticked up in August but still recorded a fifth straight month of contraction, official data showed Sunday, as Beijing and Washington press on with trade talks. The Purchasing Managers’ Index — a key measure of industrial output — was 49.4, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, up slightly from 49.3 in July. A Bloomberg analysts’ poll had forecasted the index would be 49.5. Follow The Standard channel…

China’s President Xi Jinping (fifth right) during a bilateral meeting with Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu (fourth left) ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025 in the Guest House of Tianjin, China, on August 31, 2025. [AFP] President Xi Jinping gathered the leaders of Russia and India among dignitaries from around 20 Eurasian countries on Sunday for a showpiece summit aimed at putting China front and centre of regional relations. Security was tight in the northern port city of Tianjin, where the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit is being held until Monday, days before a massive military parade in the…

Morocco have an unprecedented third African Nations Championship (CHAN) title in their sights on Saturday when they play Madagascar in the final at Nairobi’s Kasarani stadium. Published Date: 2025-08-30 08:20:00 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

“I appreciate the visit of Gianni Infantino, FIFA President, to discuss the progress of the World Cup” Published Date: 2025-08-29 11:42:46 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Displaced Palestinians flee Gaza City towards the southern areas of the Gaza Strip, in Nuseirat, on August 28, 2025, as the war between Israel and the Hamas militants movement continues. [AFP] Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday called on the government to begin annexing parts of the Gaza Strip if Palestinian militant group Hamas stands by its refusal to lay down its weapons. The far-right minister, who has vocally opposed striking a deal with Hamas to end the nearly two-year war, presented his plan to “win in Gaza by the end of the year” at a press conference in…

US Border Patrol agents and Washington DC Metro Police perform a traffic stop on 9th Street Northwest on August 27, 2025 in Washington, DC. [AFP] The Security Council voted Thursday for UN peacekeepers to leave Lebanon in 2027, allowing only one final extension after pressure from Israel and its US ally to end the nearly 50-year-old force. Israel hailed the upcoming termination of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and urged the Beirut government to exert its authority after an Israeli military campaign devastated Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. With the United States dangling a veto threat, the Security Council…

Liverpool and Manchester City will both come up against Real Madrid in this season’s Champions League while title-holders PSG were handed a tough list of opponents in Thursday’s draw. Published Date: 2025-08-28 20:54:45 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

White House Border Czar Tom Homan talks to reporters after a television interview outside the West Wing of the White House on August 28, 2025 in Washington, DC. [AFP] France, Britain and Germany on Thursday triggered a mechanism to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran for failing to comply with commitments over its nuclear programme it agreed to a decade ago. Iran warned that it would “respond appropriately” to the move, which risks drawing a curtain on the most sustained diplomatic push for a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis. The United States welcomed the step, while emphasising it…

This undated photo released by the Florida Department of Corrections and obtained on August 28, 2025, shows death row inmate Curtis Windom. (Photo by HANDOUT / Florida Department of Corrections / AFP) A man convicted of the 1992 murders of three people is to be put to death by lethal injection in Florida on Thursday in the 11th execution in the southern US state this year. Curtis Windom, 59, was sentenced to death for killing his girlfriend Valerie Davis, her mother Mary Lubin, and Johnnie Lee, a man who allegedly owed him a gambling debt. The execution is to be…

A customer collects a parcel at an Australia Post store in Melbourne on August 26, 2025 as Australia joined countries suspending some postal deliveries to the US, citing a “complex and rapidly evolving situation” with US President Donald Trump’s looming tariffs. [AFP] An approaching US deadline to end tariff exemptions on small parcels has tripped up global deliveries to the world’s biggest economy, with businesses halting shipments to American consumers and mulling price hikes. Come Friday, US President Donald Trump’s administration is abolishing a rule that allows packages valued at $800 or below to enter the country duty-free. But the…

Eliud Kipchoge says the desire to inspire others drove him to enter the Sydney Marathon, admitting that there was huge pressure on him to win. Published Date: 2025-08-28 16:08:44 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

US President Donald Trump looks on as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) speaks during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 26, 2025.[AFP] President Donald Trump’s administration moved Thursday to impose stricter limits on how long foreign students and journalists can stay in the United States, the latest bid to tighten legal immigration in the country. Under a proposed change, foreigners would not be allowed to stay for more than four years on student visas in the United States. Foreign journalists would be limited to stays of just 240…

Israeli soldiers conduct a raid in Ramallah city in the occupied West Bank on August 26, 2025. [AFP] Israeli police said Wednesday that security forces seized roughly 1.5 million shekels ($447,000) of “terror funds” during a raid in the occupied West Bank a day earlier. Israeli forces targeted a currency exchange in Ramallah on Tuesday, leaving dozens of Palestinians wounded, according to the Red Crescent. Israel carries out frequent raids across the West Bank, where tensions have remained high throughout the Gaza war, but incursions into central Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, are relatively rare. Follow The Standard…

India could be banned from world football for the second time in three years after FIFA and the Asian governing body demanded it implement a new constitution by October 30. Published Date: 2025-08-27 10:53:02 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

The pair will be making a return to the grid in 2026, after being dropped this year, for the American outfit, who become F1’s 11th team on the grid. Published Date: 2025-08-26 16:25:15 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

An Afghan Hazara boy drinks water from a tap in Qavariyak village in Shibar district of Bamiyan province on June 18, 2025. [AFP] More than two billion people worldwide still lack access to safely-managed drinking water, the United Nations said Tuesday, warning that progress towards universal coverage was moving nowhere near quickly enough. The UN’s health and children’s agencies said a full one in four people globally were without access to safely-managed drinking water last year, with over 100 million people remaining reliant on drinking surface water — for example from rivers, ponds and canals. The World Health Organization and…

From left: Families of the Israeli hostages taken captive in the Gaza Strip call for action to secure their release and a ceasefire in the war against Hamas in Tel Aviv, on August 26, 2025. [AFP] Protesters calling for an end to the war in Gaza and the return of hostages being held there took to the streets in Israel on Tuesday morning ahead of a security cabinet meeting scheduled for the evening. Demonstrators blocked roads in Tel Aviv, where they waved Israeli flags and held up pictures of the hostages, according to AFP journalists on the ground. Israeli media…

U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 11, 2025. [AFP] Turkey’s First Lady wrote to her US counterpart Melania Trump on Saturday, asking her to show the same concern for Gaza’s children as she has shown for those of Ukraine. Emine Erdogan asked Donald Trump’s spouse to write to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to show mercy to Gaza’s children. In a letter presented to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Alaska Summit earlier this month, she appealed to him to…

Manchester City’s troubles from last season were exposed once more in a humbling 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham on Saturday. Published Date: 2025-08-23 16:49:50 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Destroyed buildings in the besieged Palestinian territory, on August 21, 2025. [AFP] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he had ordered immediate negotiations aimed at freeing all the remaining hostages in Gaza, as Israeli troops hammered the territory’s largest city ahead of a major planned offensive. The call for renewed talks came a day after the defence ministry approved a plan authorising the call-up of roughly 60,000 reservists to help capture Gaza City, home to Hamas’s final stronghold. “I have come to approve the IDF’s (military’s) plans to take control of Gaza City and defeat Hamas,” the prime…

Smoke emanating over buildings following a Russian air attack, in Mukachevo, Zakarpattia region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said on August 21, 2025. [AFP] Russia is using “sexual torture” against civilians as part of a “deliberate and systematic policy” of intimidation in areas of Ukraine seized in Moscow’s invasion, United Nations experts said Thursday. The experts, who are mandated by the Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the UN, said they had sent Russia a dossier detailing 10 cases of Ukrainian…

Rescue workers and residents search for victims in the debris of collapsed houses after a cloudburst in Dolari village, Swabi district, in northern Pakistan’s mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on August 18, 2025. [AFP] In the middle of the night, by the glow of their mobile phones, rescuers and villagers dug through the concrete remains of flattened houses after massive rocks crashed down on a remote Pakistani village following a cloudburst. Using hammers, shovels, and in many cases their bare hands to clear the rubble and open blocked pathways, they searched through the debris in darkness, with no electricity in the…

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York on August 15, 2025. [AFP] Stock markets traded in a narrow range Tuesday and oil prices dipped after US President Donald Trump held what he called “very good” talks with Ukrainian and European leaders on ending the war. Hopes for a breakthrough rose after Trump said he spoke by phone with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and others at the White House. “At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements…

An Afghan woman with children takes a break as they haul water cans on wheelbarrows along a deserted street in the drought-ridden village of Bolak at Chahar Bolak district, Balkh province on July 10, 2025. [AFP] Over four decades of war, Afghanistan wielded limited control over five major river basins that flow across its borders into downstream neighbouring nations. But as Taliban authorities swept to power and tightened their grip on the country, they have pushed for Afghanistan’s water sovereignty, launching infrastructure projects to harness precious resources in the arid territory. Dams and canals have sparked tensions with neighbouring states,…

The monument on Dam Square is sprayed with slogan during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Amsterdam on August 16, 2025. [AFP] Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Saturday that Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem”, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war as her country currently holds the EU presidency. “Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen said in an interview with the Jyllands-Posten daily, adding that the Israeli government was going “too far.” The centre right leader slammed the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and new settlement project…

Kenyas Faith Kipyegon just missed out on the long-standing world record in the women’s 3,000m at the Silesia Diamond League meet on Saturday. Published Date: 2025-08-16 18:12:27 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Kenyas Faith Kipyegon just missed out on the long-standing world record in the women’s 3,000m at the Silesia Diamond League meet on Saturday. Published Date: 2025-08-16 18:12:27 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

US President Donald Trump (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin stand together after delivering a joint press conference after participating in a US-Russia summit on Ukraine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025. [AFP] US President Donald Trump on Saturday shifted his campaign to halt the Ukraine war to securing a full peace agreement after a summit with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin failed to secure a ceasefire. Three hours of talks between the White House and Kremlin leaders at an Alaska air base produced no breakthrough but Trump and European leaders said they wanted a new…

US President Donald Trump (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold a joint press conference following a US-Russia summit on Ukraine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025. [AFP] The US and Russian presidents, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, failed at a high-stakes summit to reach an accord on halting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, leaving European leaders scrambling Saturday to figure out the next steps to pressure Moscow. The White House and Kremlin leaders pointed to areas of agreement during their three hours of talks, but offered no breakthrough on a ceasefire in the conflict that has…

This combination of pictures created on June 4, 2025 shows, (L/R) US President Donald Trump in Morristown, New Jersey, May 23, 2025, and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 28, 2025. [AFP] Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin flew to Alaska on Friday for a high-risk summit that promises a stern test of the US president’s promise to end the bloody war in Ukraine. Both leaders voiced hopes of a productive meeting. But while Trump warned he could judge it a failure after just a few minutes if Putin does not budge, the Kremlin said the…

The Grok logo appears on a smartphone screen, and the xAI logo serves as the background on a laptop screen in this photo illustration in Athens, Greece, on July 18, 2025. [AFP] AI chatbot Grok on Tuesday offered conflicting explanations for its brief suspension from X after accusing Israel and the United States of committing “genocide” in Gaza, as it lashed out at owner Elon Musk for “censoring me.” Grok, developed by Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI and integrated into his platform X, was temporarily suspended on Monday in the latest controversy surrounding the chatbot. No official explanation was provided…

South Korea’s former first lady Kim Keon Hee (C), wife of impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol, arrives at a court.[AFP] South Korea’s former first lady Kim Keon Hee was arrested late Tuesday over a range of charges including stock manipulation and corruption, prosecutors said. The arrest came hours after the Seoul Central District Court reviewed the prosecutors’ arrest warrant request against the 52-year-old, further compounding her legal jeopardy with physical custody. The court granted the warrant, citing the risk of tampering with evidence, according to Yonhap news agency. With the arrest, South Korea now has a former president and…

South Korea’s former first lady Kim Keon Hee (C), wife of impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol, arrives at a court.[AFP] South Korea’s former first lady Kim Keon Hee was arrested late Tuesday over a range of charges including stock manipulation and corruption, prosecutors said. The arrest came hours after the Seoul Central District Court reviewed the prosecutors’ arrest warrant request against the 52-year-old, further compounding her legal jeopardy with physical custody. The court granted the warrant, citing the risk of tampering with evidence, according to Yonhap news agency. With the arrest, South Korea now has a former president and…

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrive for a meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018.  [AFP] Donald Trump styles himself as a strongman. And that’s exactly what he sees in Vladimir Putin. Their complicated relationship will be put to the test at a summit in Alaska on Friday, where the two leaders who claim to admire each other will seek to outmaneuver one another over how to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While the two were close to a bromance during Trump’s first term (2017-2021), their relationship has grown strained during his second term. The US…

Members of Italy’s delegation wave their country’s national flag as they take part in the athletes’ parade during the opening ceremony of the 2025 World Games at the Tianfu International Convention Centre in Chengdu. [AFP] Italian orienteering athlete Mattia Debertolis died on Tuesday at the World Games in Chengdu, China after collapsing during competition, organisers said. Debertolis, 29, was found unconscious during an orienteering event on August 8 and died four days later, said a joint statement from World Games organisers and the International Orienteering Federation (IOF). The World Games is a multisport event held every four years for disciplines…

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump during a meeting in Helsinki, on July 16, 2018. [AFP] US President Donald Trump on Monday described his upcoming summit with Vladimir Putin as a “feel-out meeting” to gauge his ideas for ending the war in Ukraine, as European leaders rushed to ensure respect for Kyiv’s interests. Trump has invited his Russian counterpart to Alaska on Friday — the first face-to-face meeting between the two countries’ presidents since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 — while criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for rejecting territorial concessions. Fearing privately that Putin will team…

Protesters hold pictures denouncing the killing of an Al Jazeera news team in an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, during a vigil in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank on August 11, 2025.  [AFP] Israeli opposition chief Yair Lapid on Tuesday backed calls for a general strike in solidarity with hostages still held in Gaza. “Strike on Sunday,” Lapid posted on X, saying even supporters of the current government should take part and insisting it was not party political. Sunday is the first day of the working week in Israel. “Strike out of solidarity. Strike because the families have…

US President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference to discuss crime in Washington, DC, in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 11, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) US President Donald Trump on Monday ordered a delay in the reimposition of higher tariffs on Chinese goods, hours before a trade truce between Washington and Beijing was due to expire. The White House’s halt on steeper tariffs will be in place until November 10. “I have just signed an Executive Order that will extend the Tariff Suspension on China for another…

US President Donald Trump arrives for a news conference to discuss crime in Washington, DC, on August 11, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) The capital of the world’s leading superpower is a city unlike any other in the United States — not just in symbolism but in its legal and political structure. President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to impose his will on the city has brought its unique status back into the spotlight. Washington D.C. is a bustling urban center with schools and businesses serving 700,000 residents — but is also the seat of national power, home to…

Senator Miguel Uribe looks on after the Senate voted against the government labor reform referendum promoted by Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro in Bogota on May 14, 2025.   (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP) Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe has died two months after being shot in the head at a campaign event, his wife announced early Monday morning. “You will always be the love of my life. Thank you for a life full of love,” Maria Claudia Tarazona wrote on her Instagram account. “Rest in peace, love of my life. I will take care of our children,” she added.…

Rescue teams working in the rubble of a building in Balikesir province following a 6.1-magnitude quake that struck Sindirgi in western Turkey.[AFP] A 6.1-magnitude quake struck Sindirgi in western Turkey on Sunday, killing at least one person and injuring dozens more according to the Turkish disaster management agency (AFAD).  The quake was felt across several cities in the west of the country, including Istanbul and the tourist hotspot of Izmir. “An 81-year-old person died soon after having been rescued from under the rubble,” Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told journalists at Sindirgi, the epicentre of the quake. Another 29 people…

 Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz [AFP] The UK government announced on Sunday that it will expand a scheme forcing some foreign nationals to have appeals against convictions heard from abroad, to prevent them delaying deportations. The number of countries enrolled in the initiative will nearly treble to 23, with people from those nations now to be deported before they can appeal their convictions, it said. In a separate announcement, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood…

Benjamin Sesko’s arrival completes an overhaul of the Red Devils’ attack that failed to fire last season. Published Date: 2025-08-09 15:13:00 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

President Donald Trump (C) joins hands with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (L) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (R) during a signing ceremony in the State Dining Room of the White House on August 8, 2025 in Washington, DC. [AFP] Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday hailed a “historic” peace deal with Azerbaijan after signing an agreement aimed at ending a decades-long conflict. Christian-majority Armenia and Muslim-majority Azerbaijan went to war twice over their border and the status of ethnic enclaves within each other’s territories. “What happened today is a historic event. For months, I have been saying that…

Manchester United have agreed a deal worth up to 85 million euros ($99 million, £74 million) to sign striker Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig on August 7, 2025. Published Date: 2025-08-09 13:47:10 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

A £50 million ($67 million) investment has been made to upgrade the Carrington training ground which has been United’s base since 2000. Published Date: 2025-08-08 17:26:45 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

An Afghan worker loads plastic bottles into a sack at a recycling yard in Kabul on August 5, 2025. [AFP] Negotiations aimed at forging a global treaty on plastic pollution are being blocked by oil-producing countries and getting bogged down in a “dialogue of the deaf”, sources in and around the talks told AFP. Ten days of talks on finalising an international, legally-binding instrument on plastic pollution opened on Tuesday with sunny optimism from the moderators that a deal could be done to tackle the scourge of plastic rubbish and microplastics trashing the planet. But by Thursday, after countries had…

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on August 6, 2025 in Washington, DC. [AFP] Higher US tariffs came into effect for dozens of economies Thursday, drastically raising the stakes in President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging efforts to reshape global trade. As an executive order signed last week by Trump took effect, US duties rose from 10 percent to levels between 15 percent and 41 percent for a list of trading partners. Many products from economies including the European Union, Japan and South Korea now face a 15-percent tariff, even with deals struck with Washington…

U.S. President Donald Trump displays a set of 1984 Los Angeles Olympic medals given to him during an executive order signing ceremony on August 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. [AFP] Stock markets edged higher Wednesday as traders assessed the latest corporate earnings and awaited President Donald Trump’s next wave of tariffs. The US president’s claim that Washington was “very close to a deal” to extend a China tariffs truce provided some optimism. But duties on dozens of economies were due to take effect on Thursday, and Trump also warned that he would soon hit the pharmaceutical and semiconductor sectors. Oil…

 An employee walks past a door bearing the logo of Novo Nordisk at the factory in Hilleroed on September 26, 2023.[AFP] Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk posted a sharp rise in second-quarter net profit Wednesday, but rising competition is weighing on sales of its diabetes and obesity treatments Ozempic and Wegovy in the United States. The group reported a net profit of 26.5 billion kroner ($4.1 billion), a 32 percent increase from the same period last year, while sales increased by 18 percent to 76 billion kroner. The drug maker lowered its annual earnings outlook last week, causing its share…

A Palestinian girl reacts to the destruction after an overnight strike on the Sheikh Radwan Health Centre run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the north of Gaza City on August 6, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP) Donald Trump’s sudden concern about starving Palestinians was a major shift for the US president, who had previously ignored the endless cries for help from aid groups. So what changed? In his words, it was images of emaciated children in Gaza that Trump saw on television — his main window into the world that…

US President Donald Trump waves before boarding Marine One at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on August 1, 2025, on his way to his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he spend the weekend. [AFP] US President Donald Trump signaled Tuesday that fresh tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals and semiconductors could be unveiled within the coming week, in his ongoing push to reshape global trade. Trump made his latest comments in an interview on CNBC days before a separate set of tariff hikes come into effect on dozens of economies later this week. His sweeping plans have sparked a…