International News

Denmark sees surge in apps to help boycott US goods amid Greenland row

The makers of mobile apps designed to help shoppers identify and boycott American goods say they saw a surge of interest in Denmark and beyond after the recent flare-up in tensions over US President Donald Trump's designs on Greenland. The creator of the "Made O'Meter" app, Ian Rosenfeldt, said he saw around 30,000 downloads of the free app in just three days at the height of the trans-Atlantic diplomatic crisis in late January, out of more than 100,000 since it was launched in March. Apps offer practical help ------------------------------- Rosenfeldt, who lives in Copenhagen and works in digital marketing, decided to create the app a year ago after joining a Facebook group of like-minded Danes hoping to boycott US goods. "Many people were frustrated and thinking, How do we actually do this in practical terms?'" the 53-year-old recalled. "If you use a bar code scanner, it's difficult to see if a product is actually American or not, if it's Danish or not. And if you don't know tha

Portugal voters choose between moderate, populist in presidential runoff

Centre-left Socialist candidate Antonio Jose Seguro is heavily favoured to defeat hard-right populist Andre Ventura in Portugal's runoff presidential election on Sunday in a vote that will test the depth of support for Ventura's brash style of politics. Recent opinion polls say Seguro will collect twice as many votes as Ventura in the head-to-head between the two top candidates in last month's first round of voting, when none of the runners captured more than 50 per cent of the vote required for victory. But making it through to the runoff is already a milestone for Ventura and his Chega (Enough) party, which has quickly grown into a significant force in Portuguese politics during a wider European shift to the right. Seguro, a longstanding Socialist politician, has positioned himself as a moderate candidate who will cooperate with Portugal's centre-right minority government, repudiating Ventura's anti-establishment and anti-immigrant tirades. In Portugal, the president is largely a

Thailand votes in early election with three main parties vying for power

Voters in Thailand went to the polls Sunday in an early general election seen as a three-way race among competing visions of progressive, populist and old-fashioned patronage politics. The battle for support from 53 million registered voters comes against a backdrop of slow economic growth and heightened nationalist sentiment. While more than 50 parties are contesting the polls, only three - the People's Party, Bhumjaithai, and Pheu Thai - have the nationwide organisation and popularity to gain a winning mandate. A simple majority of the 500 elected lawmakers selects the next prime minister. No outright winner expected Local polls consistently project that no single party will gain a majority, necessitating the formation of a coalition government. Although the progressive People's Party is seen as favoured to win a plurality, its reformist politics aren't shared by its leading rivals, which may freeze it out by joining forces to form a government. The People's Party, led by ...

Trump gives his 'total endorsement' to Japan's Takaichi ahead of elections

Japan's first female PM, whose coalition is widely expected to win, according to opinion polls, is seeking a public mandate

Once the hottest bet on Wall Street, private credit has started to crack

Apollo Global Management and BlackRock, two other large players, have also rattled investors with write-downs on large loans to several troubled e-com- merce companies.

HSBC set to push out underperformers as some bankers face zero bonuses

Such a move is aligned with the vision of Chief Executive Officer Georges Elhedery, who wants to bring the bank more in line with pay practices at American peers

Oil slides over 2% as easing supply fears follow planned US-Iran talks

Brent crude futures were ​down $1.73, or 2.5 per cent , at $67.73 per barrel at 1402 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude was down $1.67, or 2.5 per cent , at $63.47

Kremlin says Russia will uphold nuclear stability after New START expires

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the New START treaty, which set limits on each side's missiles, launchers and strategic warheads, would lapse at the end of Thursday

UK PM Keir Starmer apologises to Epstein victims amid Mandelson row

Starmer said he regretted believing what he described as "lies" conveyed by Mandelson at the time of the appointment and acknowledged the public manner in which the matter unfolded

More Ukrainians weigh surrendering Donbas land for peace amid war fatigue

Ukraine has spent years fortifying cities in the Donbas, and has lost a huge number of soldiers defending the industrial region

Seif al-Islam, son of late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, shot dead

Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son and one-time heir apparent of Libya's late dictator Moammar Gadhafi, was killed in the northern African country, Libyan officials said Tuesday. The 53-year-old was killed in the town Zintan, 136 kilometers (85 miles) southwest of the capital, Tripoli, according to Libyan's chief prosecutor's office. The office said in a statement that an initial investigation found that Seif al-Islam was shot to death, but did not provide further details about the circumstances of his killing. Khaled al-Zaidi, a lawyer for Seif al-Islam, confirmed his death on Facebook, without providing details. Abdullah Othman Abdurrahim, who represented Gadhafi in the U.N.-brokered political dialogue which aimed to resolve Libya's long-running conflict, also announced the death on Facebook. Seif al-Islam's political team later released a statement saying that "four masked men" stormed his house and killed him in a "cowardly and treacherous assassination." The statement said that h

Markets, spending, debt signals fail to predict where global economy heads

From markets to spending to debt, usually reliable indicators that forecast where the economy is headed are proving deeply fallible

Disney names Parks chief Josh D'Amaro as successor to CEO Bob Iger

Disney has named its parks chief Josh D'Amaro to succeed Bob Iger as the entertainment giant's top executive. D'Amaro has been Disney Experiences Chairman, spearheading efforts for the company's theme parks, cruises and resorts. The decision on the next chief executive at Disney comes almost four years after the company's choice to replace Iger went badly, forcing Iger back into the job. Only two years after stepping down as CEO, Iger returned to Disney in 2022 after a period of clashes, missteps and a weakening financial performance under his hand-picked successor, Bob Chapek. Chapek had been viewed by many as too gruff and buttoned up, focusing intently on business and not taking enough care with the creative and imaginative elements that have helped Disney flourish over decades. Iger had strengthened the Disney brand through his acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm, oversaw the expansion of the company in China and India and had a laser-like focus on technology that both

Xi Jinping meets Uruguay leader, calls for 'equal, multipolar world'

This is first visit by a South American leader to the Chinese capital since the United States invaded Venezuela in January and captured then President Nicolas Maduro in a raid

Iran's president seeks 'fair, equitable negotiations' with United States

Iran's president on Tuesday said he has instructed the country's foreign minister to "pursue fair and equitable negotiations" with the United States. The comments from reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian represent the first clear signal from Iran that it may take part in negotiations being organized by Turkey. Pezeshkian made the comments on X. "I have instructed my Minister of Foreign Affairs, provided that a suitable environment exists - one free from threats and unreasonable expectations - to pursue fair and equitable negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency," he said. The U.S. has yet to acknowledge the talks will take place.

Justice Dept says it removed Epstein files that may reveal victim details

The Justice Department said Monday that it had taken down several thousand documents and "media" that may have inadvertently included victim-identifying information since it began releasing the latest batch of documents related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein on Friday. It blamed the release of sensitive information that drew an outcry from victims and their lawyers on mistakes that were "technical or human error." In a letter to the New York judges overseeing the sex trafficking cases brought against Epstein and confidant Ghislaine Maxwell, US Attorney Jay Clayton wrote that the department had taken down nearly all materials identified by victims or their lawyers, along with a "substantial number" of documents identified independently by the government. Clayton, who is based in Manhattan, said the department has "iteratively revised its protocols for addressing flagging documents" after victims and their lawyers requested changes to the process for review and redaction of ..

Trump urges House to vote quickly to end partial government shutdown

President Donald Trump implored the House on Monday to end the partial government shutdown, but neither Republicans nor Democrats appeared ready to quickly approve the federal funding package he brokered with the Senate without first debating their own demands over immigration enforcement operations. Democrats are refusing to provide the votes House Speaker Mike Johnson needs to push the package forward as they try to rein in the Trump administration's deportation operations after the shooting deaths of two Americans in Minneapolis. That's forcing Johnson to rely on his slim GOP majority, which has its own complaints about the package, to fall in line behind Trump's deal with Senate Democrats. Voting could begin as soon as Tuesday, which would be day four of the partial shutdown. The Pentagon, Homeland Security and other agencies saw their funding lapse Saturday. And while many operations at those departments are deemed essential, and still functioning, some workers may go without pa

From Musk to former Prince: List of powerful people named in Epstein files

From tech titans to Wall Street power brokers and foreign dignitaries, a who's who of powerful men make appearances in the huge trove of documents released by the Justice Department in connection with its investigations of Jeffrey Epstein. All have denied having anything to do with his sexual abuse of girls and young women. Yet some of them maintained friendships with Epstein, or developed them anew, even after news stories made him widely known as an alleged abuser of young girls. None has been charged with a crime connected to the investigation. Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019. Here's a primer on some of the notable names in the Epstein files: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor ------------------------------------ The man formerly known as Britain's Prince Andrew has long been dogged by questions about his relationship with Epstein, including allegations from the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre that she was trafficked by Epstein and instructed to have sex with ...

Poet, educator, XJ Kennedy, author of The Bedford Reader, dies at 96

X.J. Kennedy, an award-winning poet, author, translator and educator who schooled millions of students through "The Bedford Reader" and other textbooks and engaged voluntary readers with his children's stories and intricate, witty verse, has died at age 96. Kennedy died Sunday of natural causes at his home in Peabody, Massachusetts, according to his daughter, Dr. Kate Kennedy. Born Joseph Charles Kennedy, he chose the professional name X.J. Kennedy as a young man to avoid confusion with Joseph P. Kennedy, the former ambassador to Britain and father of President John F. Kennedy. Starting in the early 1960s, he turned out dozens of poetry and children's books, contributed to the popular Bedford Reader and collaborated with the poet and onetime National Endowment for the Arts chair Dana Gioia on anthologies of poetry, drama and fiction. "I write for three separate audiences: children, college students (who use textbooks), and that small band of people who still read poetry," Kennedy o

Top DOJ official downplays chances of new charges from Epstein files

A top Justice Department official played down the possibility of additional criminal charges arising from the Jeffrey Epstein files, saying Sunday that the existence of "horrible photographs" and troubling email correspondence does not "allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody." Department officials said over the summer that a review of Epstein-related records did not establish a basis for new criminal investigations. That position remains unchanged, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said, even as a massive document dump since Friday has focused fresh attention on Epstein's links to powerful individuals around the world and revived questions about what, if any, knowledge the wealthy financier's associates had about his crimes. "There's a lot of correspondence. There's a lot of emails. There's a lot of photographs. There's a lot of horrible photographs that appear to be taken by Mr. Epstein or people around him," Blanche said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "But that doesn