Author: By AFP

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…

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…