Russian President Vladimir Putin approved budget plans, raising 2025 military spending to record levels as Moscow seeks to prevail in the war in Ukraine. Around 32.5% of the budget posted on a government website Sunday has been allocated for national defense, amounting to 13.5 trillion rubles (over $145 billion), up from a reported 28.3% this…
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has arrived in the US state of Hawaii for a two-day visit, drawing a furious reaction from China. The trip is being billed as a stopover as part of a Pacific tour, but comes amid long-running tensions between the US and China and growing concerns about the possibility of conflict over…
A Tenerife local council has agreed via unanimous vote to start the process of regulating holiday rentals as the growing housing crisis on the Canary Island shows no sign of relenting. The Adeje Council’s decision is based on a proposal by Gabriel González, councillor for Podemos-IU, where he highlighted the sharp contrast between the region’s thriving…
Yann Martel, the best-selling author of Life of Pi, once observed that just as the Bible and Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey form the cultural bedrock of Western civilisation, The Mahabharata and The Ramayana serve as the foundational epics of Indic civilisation. These texts, brimming with profound moral and philosophical insights, have shaped the…
A teenager has died following a single-vehicle crash in County Donegal. It happened on the R244 (Mountain Road) at Ballinlough, near Buncrana, shortly after 05:00 GMT on Sunday. Gardaí (Irish police) said that a male teenager, who was the driver and only occupant of the car, was fatally injured in the collision. The road is…
The forgotten street found behind a hidden library door Behind a door deep within the lower floors of the National Library of Scotland lies a forgotten street which gives a glimpse of how Edinburgh looked centuries ago. Libberton’s Wynd, in the heart of the old city, was demolished to make way for George IV Bridge…
Strictly Come Dancing has been on our screens for 20 years but this year is the first it has had a blind contestant. And it seems the success of comedian and actor Chris McCausland has had a knock-on effect with one inclusive London dance company seeing an increase in the numbers of those wanting to…
Velindre Cancer Centre An artist’s impression of the new £885m Velindre Cancer Centre in Whitchurch, Cardiff There are “serious questions” over how two firms fined for rigging bids for construction projects came to be linked to the building of a Welsh hospital, a senior Senedd politician has said. One of the companies developing the new…
BBC Daniel San Diego was arrested at his remote home on the outskirts of Llanrwst in the Conwy valley Earlier this week one of America’s most wanted men was finally arrested in rural north Wales having spent the past 21 years on the run. Daniel Andreas San Diego, 46, was wanted by the FBI for…
EPA Rebel fighters were reportedly seen outside the citadel in Aleppo on Saturday Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the city of Aleppo following an offensive by rebels opposed to the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. The army acknowledged that rebels had entered “large parts” of the city, the country’s second largest, but vowed to…
