BTS return from military service – but does their album live up to the hype?
The band's 10th album sees them return to the rebellious, rap-heavy sound of their early days.
Rhoda Roberts, Indigenous cultural leader who introduced the term ‘welcome to country’, dies aged 66
Roberts, who was the first Aboriginal person to host a prime-time current affairs program, was diagnosed with a rare type of ovarian cancer seven months ago
Rhoda Roberts, the Bundjalung Widjabul Wiyebal cultural leader and arts devotee, has died at the age of 66.
In a statement made via Instagram, Roberts’s family announced she had died peacefully in hospital on Saturday afternoon, having been diagnosed with a rare type of ovarian cancer seven months ago.
Continue reading...Japan 1-0 Australia: Women’s Asian Cup 2026 final – as it happened
All the updates following our text commentary stream of the Women's Asian Cup final in Sydney.
Watch: Thick smoke billows from South Korea car parts plant in deadly fire
Eleven people were killed and dozens injured when a huge blaze engulfed a car parts factory in the central city of Daejeon.
Watch: Thick smoke billows from South Korea car parts plant in deadly fire
Eleven people were killed and dozens injured when a huge blaze engulfed a car parts factory in the central city of Daejeon.
Death, power and paranoia: painting that shocked German society finally returns to Berlin
Mors Imperator caused a scandal in 1887 amid fears it mocked the German kaiser – more than 100 years later it is being displayed in a state museum
Wrapped in a cloak with ermine fur and wearing a jagged iron crown, a hulking skeleton rests one foot on a globe and knocks over a royal throne with a dramatic flick of its ivory wrist.
Entitled Mors Imperator (“Death is the Ruler”), the German artist Hermione von Preuschen’s 1887 symbolical painting was meant to express the transience of fame and power. But authorities feared the picture could be seen as mocking the ageing German Emperor Wilhelm I, who then had recently turned 90, and refused to accept its submission to the Berlin Academy of the Arts’ annual exhibition that year.
Continue reading...Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor Nicholas Brendon dies aged 54
Brendon died of "natural causes", his family said in a statement, remembering him as "passionate" and "sensitive".
300 million people celebrate Nowruz under a cloud of war
Millions of people have rung in the ancient Persian New Year, Nowruz, as war grips the Middle East.
Middle East crisis live: Trump considering ‘winding down’ war as US eases sanctions on Iranian oil; Israel launches retaliatory strikes
Move to allow shipments already at sea comes amid a supply crisis and after US president says he does not ‘want to do a ceasefire’; IDF says it is attacking regime targets in Tehran after missiles fired at Israel from Iran
Hello and welcome to our continuing live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and its repercussions for the Middle East, the world and the global economy.
President Donald Trump said on Friday he was considering “winding down” military operations against Iran, as the US temporarily eased sanctions on Iranian oil shipments to stem a global supply crisis.
Iran is willing to help Japanese ships sail a vital route for global fuel supplies, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told Kyodo News in an interview published on Saturday. Japan depends on crude oil imports from the Middle East, most of which transits the strait of Hormuz.
Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia but neither of them hit the joint US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, the Wall Street Journal and CNN reported, citing multiple US officials. The WSJ said one of the missiles failed in flight, and a US warship fired an SM-3 interceptor at the other. Neither outlet confirmed when Iran launched the missiles.
One person was killed and two others wounded after an Israeli airstrike hit a house in a town in southern Lebanon early on Saturday, state media said.
Trump continued to make his disappointment with the British government known, saying the UK “should have acted a lot faster” in allowing the US military to use its bases in the Middle East.
Earlier, Downing Street approved US use of its bases “for the collective self-defence of the region”, including “defensive operations” degrading Iranian missile sites targeting ships in the strait of Hormuz. Britain had previously only allowed US forces to use its bases for operations to prevent Iran firing missiles that put British interests or lives at risk.
Araghchi said UK prime minister Keir Starmer “is putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran”.
Continue reading...Aid flotilla for Cuba sets sail from Mexico
An aid flotilla from Mexico is sailing for Cuba as the country suffers under a tightening US fuel blockade.
UN secretary general says he’s cooperating with Trump’s Board of Peace in Gaza but doesn’t want it in Hormuz – politico.eu
- UN secretary general says he’s cooperating with Trump’s Board of Peace in Gaza but doesn’t want it in Hormuz politico.eu
- The Board of Peace and Funding for Gaza Reconstruction: On Whose Account? Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- UN chief says he is cooperating with Trump’s Board of Peace on Gaza, Politico reports Reuters
- UN 'cooperating actively' with Trump’s Board of Peace on Gaza, Guterres says The Jerusalem Post
- UN chief says he is working with Board of Peace, but dismisses need for it outside of Gaza mandate The Times of Israel
Nicholas Brendon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor, dies at 54
Family says actor, who played Xander in hit TV series, died on Friday ‘in his sleep of natural causes’
Nicholas Brendon, the actor best known for playing Xander in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has died. He was 54.
Brendon’s family issued a statement saying that he died on Friday “in his sleep of natural causes”.
Continue reading...Russia’s school propaganda was highlighted by Oscar-winning film – but does it work?
The messages are clear: the full-scale invasion is a defensive war and patriotism means unquestionable loyalty.
Socialists battle to hold Paris in key mayoral elections across France
Emmanuel Grégoire is facing a challenge from Rachida Dati on the right who is behind in the opinion polls.
Socialists battle to hold Paris as France holds mayoral elections
The capital could shift to the right after 25 years under the Socialists if Rachida Dati defeats Emmanuel Grégoire.
Remember Chuck Norris memes but never watched his films? You’re not alone
Chuck Norris became an inadvertent source of humour for a viral online celebration of his movie tough-guy persona.
Chuck Norris memes were undefeated for a generation of young fans
Chuck Norris became an inadvertent source of humour for a viral online celebration of his movie tough guy persona.
Thousands ordered to evacuate as Hawaii hit by severe flash floods
Officials warn some residents could be trapped by rising waters as Wahiawā dam on Oahu ‘may collapse at any time’
Towering flash floods and an imminent dam failure in the northern part of Oahu triggered evacuation warnings in Hawaii on Friday, as the state continued contending with a powerful storm this week.
The waters came on quickly in the middle of the night, and videos on social media captured inundated streets and cars being swallowed by the muddy floodwaters.
Continue reading...Donald Trump ‘very surprised’ Australia declined to send troops to strait of Hormuz amid fuel crisis
US president claims he ‘always says yes’ to Australia, Japan and South Korea, after saying he didn’t need help from trio of countries earlier this week
Donald Trump says he is “very surprised” Australia has not sent warships to aid in opening the strait of Hormuz as the blockade of the key strategic route for global oil supply continues to affect fuel prices.
“I was very surprised,” the US president said in Washington on Friday when asked what he took issue with regarding Japan, South Korea and Australia.
Continue reading...The fight to control the narrative in the Afghan-Pakistan conflict
The battle between the neighbouring countries is taking place as much online as it is on the ground.