World

North Korea's ruling Workers' Party re-elected leader Kim Jong Un as general secretary on Sunday, the fourth day of the party congress. This was reported on Monday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). According to the report, under Kim's leadership, "the war deterrence of the country with the nuclear forces as its pivot has been radically improved." Earlier, Kim declared that this year's congress would unveil the next phase of the nation's nuclear weapons program. KCNA said that the congress also elected members of the party's central committee and adopted revisions to the party rules. It did not provide details of the changes. What is the significance of the party congress? The Workers' Party congress — held just once every five years — directs the efforts of the Nort...

A long line of pilgrims and visitors waited patiently on Sunday to view the remains of Saint Francis of Assisi outside his namesake basilica in the central Italian town of Assisi. First full public display in almost 800 years For the first time in nearly eight centuries, the general public was able to see the remains of one of the Catholic Church's best-known saints. The patron saint of Italy's remains have been resting in a stone sarcophagus for centuries. On Saturday, the coffin was ceremoniously transferred from the crypt to the lower church of the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi. The display will last one month and end on March 22. According to the Franciscan Order, nearly 400,000 people from across the globe have registered to attend. Apart from previous exhumations for inspecti...

After the US Supreme Court on Friday struck down sweeping tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, the White House announced the end of certain duties enacted under a law used to address national emergencies.  The White House said those tariffs "shall ​no longer be in ​effect and, as ‌soon as practicable, shall ​no ⁠longer be collected." Undeterred by the Supreme Court ruling, Trump said later on Friday in a post on his Truth Social platform that he had the "Great Honor" to sign an order imposing temporary 10% tariffs on global imports to be "effective almost immediately." The move comes after the conservative-majority Supreme Court said the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which Trump had originally used to impose tariffs, "does not authorize the president to...

At least 10 people were killed and 24 wounded in Israeli strikes in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley on Friday, Lebanon's Health Ministry reported.   Israel's military said in a statement that it had hit Hezbollah command centers. The strikes are among the deadliest reported in the region in recent weeks. A senior Hezbollah official was among the dead, sources told Reuters news agency. Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Shiite political party and militant group in Lebanon. It is designated as a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and several Sunni Arab countries, while the EU lists its armed wing as a terrorist group.How Hezbollah conflict has reshaped northern IsraelTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Hamas targe...

Kenya's National Intelligence (NIS) said that 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight for Russia in Ukraine after allegedly being duped by the promise of employment. The NIS findings were presented to lawmakers by parliamentary leader Kimani Ichung'wah on Wednesday.There has been a growing number of reports about men from African countries finding themselves on the frontlines in Ukraine after claims they had followed job opportunitiesImage: Andrew Kasuku/AP Photo/picture alliance Kenyans duped into fighting by job offers Ichung'wah accused Russian embassy officials of colluding with recruitment agencies and human trafficking syndicates to recruit Kenyans to fight in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, under the guise of being given employment. He said the Russian embassy offici...

Kenya's National Intelligence (NIS) said that 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight for Russia in Ukraine after allegedly being duped by the promise of employment. The NIS findings were presented to lawmakers by parliamentary leader Kimani Ichung'wah on Wednesday.There has been a growing number of reports about men from African countries finding themselves on the frontlines in Ukraine after claims they had followed job opportunitiesImage: Andrew Kasuku/AP Photo/picture alliance Kenyans duped into fighting by job offers Ichung'wah accused Russian embassy officials of colluding with recruitment agencies and human trafficking syndicates to recruit Kenyans to fight in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, under the guise of being given employment. He said the Russian embassy offici...

An amateur mountaineer in Austria has been found guilty of manslaughter over the death of his girlfriend.  She froze to death near the peak of the Grossglockner mountain, Austria's highest summit, after he left her alone to fetch help. The court in the Austrian city of Innsbruck gave Thomas P. a five-month suspended sentence on Thursday and fined him €9,400 ($11,100) for gross negligence.  The case is unusual because while climbing accidents are common, prosecutions over them are rare. (moved this up from near bottom) Series of mistakes on mountain ended in girlfriend's death The court heard how the couple had fallen behind in their schedule when climbing the Grossglockner in January 2025.  The woman had become exhausted and was unable to keep going, some 50 meters (54 yards) beneath...

US President Donald Trump, citing "tremendous interest," said he was directing the Pentagon and other government agencies to release files related to extraterrestrials and unidentified flying objects (UFOs). He said the agencies should include "any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters." He made the announcement on social media on Thursday, hours after accusing former President Barack Obama of disclosing "classified information" when he suggested in a podcast interview that aliens were real. "I don't know if they're real or not," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. When asked of Obama, he said: "I may get him out of trouble by declassifying." What did Obama say about aliens in the podcast? In a podcast rele...