International News

Bard College Prez to retire after scrutiny of relationship with Epstein

The longtime president of Bard College announced his retirement Friday, months after it was revealed that he had a much deeper relationship with Jeffrey Epstein than was previously known. Leon Botstein, who has been president of the small, liberal arts college in New York for a half century, will retire at the end of June, he wrote in an email provided to The Associated Press by Bard. In the note, Botstein, 79, didn't mention the scrutiny of his ties to Epstein, except to say that he had waited to announce his retirement publicly until the completion of an independent review of his relationship with the notorious sex offender. He said he would remain on Bard's faculty as a teacher and musician. Botstein was not accused of any involvement in Epstein's exploitation and abuse of girls and women. But he was among a long list of prominent and notable men and women who maintained friendly relationships with him for years, despite his status as a convicted sex offender. A trove of docume

Anthropic announces Claude Security beta for enterprise customers

AI-powered tool enables enterprises to scan codebases for vulnerabilities and generate patches, with global tech and consulting partners supporting deployment

BOE holds rates at 3.75%, warns Iran war may need forceful rate hikes

The Bank of England held interest rates at 3.75 per cent and flagged risks to inflation from the Iran conflict, particularly through higher energy and food costs

Elon Musk testifies at trial that OpenAI's nonprofit status gave it 'halo'

OpenAI has said it created a for-profit entity to allow it to buy computing power and pay top scientists

Govt fixes OCI card application fee at $275, scraps 6-mth stay rule

The government has fixed the application fee for the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card at USD 275, payable in equivalent Indian rupees for applications in India or local currency when applying through Indian missions abroad, officials said Tuesday. A fee of USD 25 will be charged for reissuance of an OCI card with a change of particulars, reissuance when the cardholder turns 20 years of age, and for renunciation of the OCI card. Reissuance in case of loss of the card will attract a USD 100 fee, according to a post on X by the Bureau of Immigration. Now, the fee for fresh OCI cards will be USD 275, payable in the equivalent local currency where the application is made -- in rupees for applications filed within India, officials said. Earlier, eligible applicants had to pay Rs 15,000 for an OCI card when applying from India. The Home Ministry has also introduced several changes to the OCI application process. The earlier mandatory requirement of a six-month continuous stay in India

BP profit more than doubles as Iran conflict boosts oil trading profits

BP suspended its share buyback program in February to clear the decks for the incoming CEO, and that was maintained

UAE to exit Opec, Opec+, reiterates commitment to stable global oil markets

In a statement on Tuesday, the UAE said the move, effective May 1, 2026, aligns with its broader economic and strategic priorities, including increased investments in domestic energy production

The small UK agency that's a 911 for ships in the Strait of Hormuz

At a military base outside Portsmouth, England, a 24-hour service monitors the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and part of the Indian Ocean, responding to distress calls

7 killed, 85 injured in Pak's first attacks since peace talks: Afghanistan

Mortars and missiles fired from Pakistan on Monday struck a university and civilian homes in northeastern Afghanistan, killing seven people and wounding at least 85, Afghan officials said. Pakistan dismissed the accusation of targeting a university. The strikes were the first violent incident since Chinese-mediated peace talks between the two sides earlier this month. Pakistan and Afghanistan had been embroiled in months of deadly fighting that has killed hundreds of people since late February, when Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan. Islamabad had declared it was in open war with Afghanistan, in an escalation of violence that alarmed the international community. Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting dismissed Afghan media reports and official statements about the strikes on the university as "a blatant lie". Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harbouring militants that carry out deadly attack

Ex-Israeli PMs Bennett, Lapid unite to challenge Netanyahu in elections

The agreement between two leaders was finalised on Saturday evening, with both sides confirming that their respective parties, Yesh Atid and Bennett 2026, will contest the elections as a single list

Chinese FM Wang Yi visits Myanmar, meets military-backed president

China's top diplomat on Saturday visited Myanmar's capital and met with the leader of its military-backed government as part of a regional tour aimed at strengthening Beijing's political, security and strategic ties in Southeast Asia. State-run MRTV television reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Min Aung Hlaing discussed enhancing Myanmar's international relations and cooperation within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Wang's visit to Naypyitaw comes after Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as president on April 10 following an election that critics say was neither free nor fair and was designed to maintain the military's grip on power five years after it ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government. The report said Min Aung Hlaing told Wang he was pleased that the Chinese president Xi Jinping sent his congratulatory message within hours of his election. China, which has major geopolitical and economic interests in Myanmar, is Myanmar's biggest trading partner

China hints fourth aircraft carrier may be nuclear-powered in new video

A latest video released by the Chinese navy highlighting China's blue-water naval ambitions has sparked speculation that its fourth aircraft carrier currently being built will be a nuclear-powered one. The video film 'Into The Deep' was released on Wednesday to mark the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army Navy showcased Chinese navy's transition from maritime ambitions and coastal defences. The video also highlighted China's "blue-water" navy capable of deep-sea operations, including footage from real-life drills in the western Pacific far from home and the use of advanced equipment. It also showed a compass being handed down through generations of naval officers named after the three aircraft carriers Liao Ning, Shan Dong, and Fu Jian currently in operation. But a fourth character was named He Jian, hinting that it could be a nuclear-powered ship because "He" sounds like the Chinese word for "nuclear" and "Jian" is the word for a "ship", the Hong ...

US Navy Secretary ousted after infighting with top Pentagon leaders

A White House official said Trump and Hegseth agreed new leadership was needed over the Navy

UK passes bill to ban cigarette sales to future generations to curb smoking

Opponents of smoking got a breath of fresh air as Parliament passed a bill that will put cigarettes out of reach for future generations. "The end of smoking, and the devastating harm it causes, is no longer uncertain - it's inevitable," Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said after a decades-long campaign in favour of legislation approved Tuesday. Children born after December 31, 2008 will be banned from ever buying cigarettes under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. The legislation that needs approval by King Charles III - a formality - before taking effect will also allow the government to regulate tobacco, vaping and nicotine products, including flavours and packaging. It is currently illegal to sell cigarettes, tobacco products or vapes to people under 18. But most youths today will continue to face a ban their entire life as the minimum age to buy cigarettes rises each year. The passage gives the UK one of the toughest anti-smoking measures in the worl

Oil flows via Druzhba pipeline resumes; EU to adopt new Russian sanctions

Hungarian oil group MOL said on Wednesday that Ukraine had informed it that deliveries of Russian crude had resumed through the pipeline

Top oil traders warn Hormuz closure risks global recession, demand hit

The vital energy channel has been largely closed to non-Iranian shipping since war began at the end of February, choking off hundreds of millions of barrels of supply

Japan opens door to global arms market, breaking with postwar pacifism

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her top officials, at a meeting in Tokyo, reversed longstanding limits on the sale of Japan-made weapons overseas

UK PM Starmer apologises for Mandelson's posting amid calls to resign

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday said that he would have withdrawn the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK's Ambassador to the US if he had known Mandelson had not passed security checks. Starmer made the remarks while addressing the House of Commons to present the timeline of his decision to appoint Mandelson as envoy to the US despite his scandalous links with American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. An embattled Starmer, fighting for his job, was forced to defend the move after it emerged that Mandelson had been given the green light for the diplomatic post despite failing the mandatory security vetting. While the Opposition has questioned his judgment and accused him of misleading Parliament, the Prime Minister has insisted that he was never made aware of the failed UK Security Vetting (UKSV). "If I had known before he took up his post that UKSV recommendation was that developed vetting clearance should be denied, I would not have gone ahead with the appointment

Kremlin-friendly ex-President wins Bulgaria elections in landslide

Two other parties also appear to have gained seats in the 240-seat chamber, according to the latest results. Borissov conceded defeat and congratulated the election winner.

TSMC profit for Jan-Mar qtr jumps 58% on AI demand, flags Iran war risks

Taiwan's chipmaker TSMC, one of the world's largest companies, reported a 58 per cent jump in profit on Thursday for the January-March quarter, thanks to strong demand driven by the artificial intelligence boom, even as the Iran war was driving up costs. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., a key supplier for Apple and Nvidia and the largest contract chipmaker in the world, reported a record net quarterly profit of 572.5 billion new Taiwan dollars (USD 18.1 billion) for the first three months of the year, better than analysts had expected. Profit for the quarter was 58.3 per cent higher compared to the 361.6 billion new Taiwan dollars (USD 11.5 billion) booked in the same period a year earlier. It was also 13.2 per cent higher compared with the previous quarter in October-December. Revenue increased 8.4 per cent in the January-March period from the previous three months to USD 35.9 billion, the company said. For the current April-June quarter, TSMC expects revenue to further gr