China has removed two of its most senior military officers. Deepening a sweeping purge that has raised fresh questions about the state of the country’s armed forces. Zhang Youxia, once China’s highest-ranking general and a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), was dismissed on Friday. Liu Zhenli, who headed the body’s joint staff
A 26-year-old Belgian car salesman has suddenly found himself with a royal title. He has been formally recognised as the son of Prince Laurent, the younger brother of King Philippe. Clément Vandenkerckhove’s mother, singer Wendy Van Wanten, revealed his father’s identity when he was 16. Years later, Vandenkerckhove contacted Prince Laurent, who agreed to take
Two people have died after a US Army Apache helicopter crashed in central Texas, leaving a large fire at the scene. The AH-64 Apache went down in fields south of Salado at about 13:33 local time, prompting police and emergency crews to rush to the area. When they arrived, they found the wreckage engulfed in
How deadly can a heatwave really be? The answer is far more alarming than many realise. At least 12,000 excess deaths were recorded across Europe during June’s extreme heat. An AFP analysis found around 10,000 excess deaths across seven European countries. Another 2,200 deaths were linked to the heat in England and Wales. EuroMOMO, which
How does a government agency that doesn’t officially exist end up looking completely legitimate? That’s the question Nigerians are asking after police arrested the man accused of running a fake presidential council from the heart of government. Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew called himself director general of the so-called Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC). He was
Is Ukraine changing the rules of the battlefield? Its latest wave of drone strikes suggests the fight is no longer just about the front lines. It is about cutting off Russia’s lifelines. Kyiv says it has intensified attacks on maritime supply routes near Russian-annexed Crimea. It says it is targeting ships in the Sea of
Is the fragile truce between the US and Iran already beginning to crack? That’s the question after fresh military strikes reignited tensions in one of the world’s most sensitive waterways. The US military launched strikes on Iranian missile, drone storage and coastal radar sites. A cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz was hit by
A new US-Iran peace deal is now in effect, but does it truly mark the end of the conflict — or is it only the beginning of a much harder negotiation? US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian have signed an initial agreement aimed at stopping the war. Reopening the Strait of Hormuz
What happens when two Hollywood giants try to become one superpower? That question is now moving from speculation to reality after US regulators approved Paramount Skydance’s $111bn (£82.8bn) bid for Warner Bros Discovery. The Department of Justice cleared the deal following what it called a “rigorous” review. Concluding the merger is “not likely to result
What happens when one of the world’s most powerful AI models becomes both incredibly useful — and potentially risky? That’s the balancing act Anthropic is now trying to manage with its latest release. The company has rolled out Claude Fable 5, a public version of its advanced “Mythos” model. But with strict guardrails designed to
What happens when sanctions at sea are pushed to the limit—and a tanker still tries to slip through? In the Atlantic, France and the UK just gave one possible answer. French forces, with British support, intercepted and boarded a sanctioned oil tanker named Tagor. Suspected of belonging to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet.” The ship was
A billion-dollar gaming empire, a Netflix hit, and a deadly betrayal — what began as a business fallout has now ended with an execution in China. Chinese authorities have executed Xu Yao for the 2020 poisoning of his associate, billionaire gaming executive Lin Qi, the founder of Yoozoo Games. State-linked reports confirmed the execution was
