World

Iraq Shopping Mall Fire Kills at Least 60
Iraq Shopping Mall Fire Kills at Least 60

A fire tore through a newly opened shopping mall in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut overnight, killing at least 61 people, authorities said Thursday as grief-stricken families searched for missing relatives. Officials said many people suffocated in bathrooms, while one person told AFP his five relatives died in an elevator. The blaze -- the latest ...

UK to Lower Voting Age to 16 in General Elections
UK to Lower Voting Age to 16 in General Elections

The British government said Thursday it plans to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in general elections, a landmark change giving the UK one of the lowest voting ages worldwide. It follows a pledge from the ruling Labour Party to make the shift ahead of winning power last year, and is among several planned changes to the democratic system, which ...

Israel Strike on Gaza Catholic Church Kills Two
Israel Strike on Gaza Catholic Church Kills Two

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said an Israeli strike on Gaza's only Catholic Church killed two people on Thursday, as Israel said it "never targets" religious sites and was investigating what happened. "With deep sorrow, the Latin Patriarchate can now confirm that two persons were killed as a result of an apparent strike ...

Drone Hits Oil Field in Iraq's Kurdistan for Second Day
Drone Hits Oil Field in Iraq's Kurdistan for Second Day

A drone loaded with explosives struck an oil field in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region on Thursday, Kurdish forces said -- the second attack in two days on the Norwegian-operated site. "At 10:55 am (0755 GMT) a new attack by an explosives-laden drone hit" the DNO-operated Tawke field in Zakho disrict, Kurdistan's counterterrorism services ...

World-First IVF Trial Reduces Risk of Babies Inheriting Diseases
World-First IVF Trial Reduces Risk of Babies Inheriting Diseases

Eight healthy babies have been born in the UK using a new IVF technique that successfully reduced their risk of inheriting genetic diseases from their mothers, the results of a world-first trial said Wednesday. The findings were hailed as a breakthrough which raises hopes that women with mutations in their mitochondrial DNA could one day have ...

France Court Orders Release of Lebanese Militant After Four Decades in Prison
France Court Orders Release of Lebanese Militant After Four Decades in Prison

A French appeals court Thursday ordered the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who has been imprisoned for 40 years for the 1982 killings of two foreign diplomats. Abdallah, 74, was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for his involvement in the murders of US military attaché Charles Robert Ray and Israeli ...

Yemen's Huthi Rebels Claim Missile Attack on Israel Airport
Yemen's Huthi Rebels Claim Missile Attack on Israel Airport

Yemen's Huthi rebels claimed a missile launched at Israel's main civilian airport, after the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from the Arabian Peninsula country. The Iran-backed rebels targeted Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv with a "Zulfiqar ballistic missile" and drone, military spokesman ...

Ukraine's Wartime Reshuffle: What We Know
Ukraine's Wartime Reshuffle: What We Know

Following weeks of rumours, President Volodymyr Zelensky this week unveiled a government reshuffle, replacing his prime minister and defence minister as he aims to inject fresh energy into his team, with no end in sight to the war. Here are the main points to know about the shake up, which comes as ceasefire talks with Russia stall and with the ...

Japan's Sega Eyes Return to 1990s Gaming Glory
Japan's Sega Eyes Return to 1990s Gaming Glory

The big-screen success of 1990s video game speedster "Sonic the Hedgehog" has brought new fans to Japan's Sega, which says it is poised for a comeback after two tough decades. This year all eyes have been on Nintendo, whose Switch 2 recently became the fastest-selling console in history. But unlike its former arch-rival, Sega has not sold gaming ...

Russia says Ukraine Drone Strikes Kill One, Wound Four
Russia says Ukraine Drone Strikes Kill One, Wound Four

Russia said on Thursday that it had intercepted 126 Ukrainian drones in attacks that killed one person and left four civilians wounded. Air defences shot down 122 drones overnight and four others early in the morning, most of them over regions in Russia's southwest that border Ukraine but also three over the Moscow region, the defence ministry ...