Sylvan Adams stepped out of the air-conditioned lobby of the Four Seasons hotel into the Bahrain heat, where a white SUV was waiting for him. The car drove the Israeli billionaire and philanthropist a short distance to one of the Gulf kingdom’s royal palaces, where he met Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, one of the…
Read moreHarvey Weinstein’s new lawyer says women need to take responsibility for their actions
Harvey Weinstein’s new lawyer has said women need to take responsibility for their actions, as she argued the #MeToo movement had done a disservice to the sex. Donna Rotunno, who specialises in representing men accused of sex crimes, was hired by the disgraced producer along with Damon Cheronis to represent him at his upcoming trial…
Read moreIran deports ‘heartbroken’ Joss Stone on last stop of world tour
Joss Stone was left “heart broken” after she was deported from Iran on the last stop of a years-long world tour. The Islamic Republic was meant to be the final stop on an epic tour has already seen the British soul singer perform in some of the world’s most dangerous places, including Syria and…
Read moreCalifornia shaken by second earthquake: 7.1-magnitude tremor causes rockslides, fires and fresh damage
A quake with a magnitude of 7.1 jolted much of California, cracked buildings, set fires, broke roads and caused several injuries while seismologists warned that large aftershocks were expected to continue. The quake — preceded by Thursday’s 6.4-magnitude temblor in the Mojave Desert — was the largest Southern California quake in at least 20 years…
Read moreAustralia promises referendum on aboriginal recognition in constitution
Australia will hold a landmark referendum on recognising Aboriginal people in the constitution within three years, the minister for indigenous affairs said on Wednesday. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders lived on the land for tens of thousands of years prior to British colonisation, and make up roughly three percent of the population today, but remain by far…
Read moreBritain to send second warship to Gulf amid rising tension with Iran
Britain is sending a second warship to the Gulf amid rising tensions with Iran, as it said it was discussing with the US the possibility of building up its military presence in the area. Relations between Tehran and the West have come under increasing strain after UK authorities seized an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar heading for Syria and…
Read moreChina issues 17,000 smart watches to pupils to track movements
A local government in southern China has handed out smart watches to nearly 17,000 primary school pupils, capable of pinging their real-time locations and emergency alerts to their parents. The watches, distributed to students in 60 schools, are equipped with chips powered by BeiDou, China’s own version of GPS, according to the Guangzhou Daily, a…
Read moreChina cancels Prague orchestra tour amid Taiwan row with mayor
A China tour by Prague’s Philharmonic Orchestra has been cancelled and the city zoo’s long-held dreams of hosting a panda shattered in an escalating feud between a maverick Czech mayor and Beijing. China is furious at Zdenek Hřib, 38, the city’s anti-establishment mayor, for refusing to toe Beijing’s line over its sensitivities about the status…
Read moreRobert Mueller defends meddling inquiry, saying he did not exonerate Donald Trump
Donald Trump could still be charged with obstruction of justice when he leaves office, special counsel Robert Mueller said yesterday as he insisted the US president had not been exonerated by his report. Mr Mueller, who for 22 months investigated Russian election meddling and alleged attempts by Mr Trump to influence his work, said he had not concluded…
Read moreAustralia’s most dangerous gangsters may be freed from prison after ‘Lawyer X’ is found to be a police informant
An Australian man jailed 12 years ago for a gangland murder was released on Friday after a court quashed his conviction, raising fears some of the nation’s most dangerous criminals could also walk free over a scandal in which their lawyer had secretly been a police informant. Faruk Orman was the first in a potential…
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