Secular News

Japan endorsed scrapping a ban on lethal weapons exports, a significant change of its postwar pacifist policy, as the country seeks to build up its arms industry.

A U.S. blockade and conflict in the Strait of Hormuz have stranded Gulf aluminum shipments and driven prices to a four-year high, exposing global supply vulnerabilities and deepening trade strain.

Georgia Republican Rep. Rich McCormick defends FBI director over accusations of excessive drinking: ‘As long as it doesn’t affect his job in a negative way, I’m cool’

Hong Kong police are investigating two separate traffic accidents on Tuesday that led to the deaths of two women. In the first case, police were alerted at about 8.51am to a light goods vehicle driven by a 36-year-old man travelling along Cha Kwo Ling Road towards Yau Tong. The vehicle was approaching Yau Tong MTR station when it reportedly knocked down a woman crossing the road. The woman, a 30-year-old from mainland China, sustained serious injuries to her head and limbs. She was rushed to...

The two main ferry operators running daily services between Hong Kong and Macau will raise fares by up to 11 per cent amid surging fuel prices, while a union said bus drivers were reporting lost income as companies cut services. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that the government would continue to monitor oil prices as it pressed ahead with measures set out earlier by the interdepartmental task force on fuel supply. A day earlier, TurboJet and Cotai Water Jet said they would...

Growing number of Palestinians forced to carry out ‘self-demolitions’ in Jerusalem to escape Israeli enforcement costs, writes Khalil Mousa

Surprise! I’m back with an extra-special, bonus installment of Statehouse Scraps. No, the Kansas Legislature didn’t come back into session for extra days of loosey-goosey lawmaking and overripe overrides. But we ended up having too many dangling threads of stories to neatly trim off last week. I’ll keep this column galumphing along for long enough […]

China’s recent diplomatic efforts in the Middle East have led to speculation over whether its global strategy has shifted. There is consensus that China is stepping into a leadership role and trying to play peacemaker. Meanwhile, a few sceptics point out that the US-Israel war on Iran is not about China and has only exposed how thin Beijing’s influence is in the region. We’ve been here before. In the last decade, with each moment of conflict in the Middle East and North Africa, from Syria to...

This would be Florida’s fifth execution in 2026 following a record 19 executions in the state last year

Hollywood was clad in black and glittering sequins on Monday to host the Los Angeles premiere of Michael Jackson's biopic, drawing fans of the King of Pop to the iconic California boulevard.

The latest developments in the Middle East war:

It is becoming increasingly difficult for Russian officials to meet the recruitment quotas set by Moscow. In response, bonuses are rising and standards are plummeting, as DER SPIEGEL has learned.