Isabella Bird's 'Unbeaten Tracks in Japan': Kinugawa's beauty and a flea-ridden inn (Pt. 11)

Iranian minister says only negotiation can end conflict after Trump rejects Hormuz deal

The foreign minister says Tehran is waiting for an official rejection of a deal, despite the US President's comments.

In 1873, Andrew Hallidie tested San Francisco’s first cable car to travel steep hills

California teens, 16 and 17, build AI system to detect fall risks in older adults, win $100,000

California teenagers Ruoqi Li and Jason Yang developed SafeStrides, an AI-powered fall-risk system combining smartphone camera tracking and wearable sensors. The system analyses walking patterns, provides instant risk assessments and offers mobility and home-safety guidance. Their engineering project earned them recognition as 2026 Davidson Fellows and a shared $100,000 scholarship.

17 killed, 15 wounded in South Africa mass shooting

Russian, Ukrainian strikes leave 10 dead as Trump calls on Zelenskyy to 'settle with Putin'

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian attacks killed four people across Ukraine, officials said on Saturday, while Ukraine continued to target Russian oil refineries and industrial sites with long-range drones. The intensifying aerial war between Moscow and Kyiv came as U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would “settle” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia has struck Ukraine with cruise and ballistic missiles, glide bombs and jet-powered drones while front-line progress has slowed, some 4½-years after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor. “It is essential that our partners not forget: Russia is escalating every single day. If the Russians have chosen to make their strikes even more brutal, the world must choose stronger responses to keep the war from spreading further,” Zelenskyy wrote on Saturday. He listed “numerous strikes on residential homes” in the cities of Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia, and the Odesa, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions. Two women in Zaporizhzhia died when they were trapped beneath the rubble of their home, Za

Iran insists on diplomatic solution after Trump rejects peace plan

WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS/CAIRO — Iran on Sunday insisted that only diplomacy can solve its conflict with the United States and Israel after U.S. President Donald Trump said he rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end fighting. "Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on social media. "Only a negotiated solution can get them out of this deadlock." Iran announced a peace proposal earlier this week at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, saying it had been transmitted to the Americans via Qatari mediators. Trump on Saturday said he rejected the plan and argued that desperation drives the Iranians’ push for an agreement on the key waterway. "They want to make a deal to open the Hormuz Strait immediately because they're losing so badly," Trump told reporters at the White House. Despite Trump's public statements, mediators facilitating U.S.-Iran talks with the United States have not officially relayed a U.S. rejection of the plan, ac

Why US chip controls took a back seat at Xi-Trump summit

There is little question that Jensen Huang and Lisa Su, the heads of U.S. semiconductor chip giants Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), had secured two of the best seats in the house at the White House state dinner on Thursday evening: at the head table alongside the two presidents and their wives. But what remains unclear is how much progress they were able to make on their primary goal of restoring access to the Chinese market, amid entrenched opposition to that happening in both China and the U.S. That is because U.S. semiconductor chip export controls do not seem to have been a major sticking point during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s historic state visit to Washington this week, despite most of the restrictions still being in place. Early indications suggest that export controls were not a significant topic of debate during the talks, with no direct mention of them in the readouts so far from both Beijing and Washington summarising the achievements of the Xi–Trump summit. “This is especially strange considering that export controls were brought up regularly by Xi during

Pope Leo draws 800,000 people to central Paris for open-air Mass on iconic square

PARIS — Hundreds of thousands of people packed Paris’ iconic Champs-Élysées avenue to attend an open-air Mass with Pope Leo XIV on Saturday, a sign of the Catholic Church’s enduring appeal in the once staunchly Catholic but officially secular country. The Vatican estimated that 800,000 people attended — about 200,000 more than the number who had registered in advance. The turnout testified to the church’s lasting influence in France despite declining attendance and secularizing trends that have emptied churches across Europe. The American pope greeted the flag-waving, cheering throngs from his popemobile during a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) parade along the grand boulevard leading to the Place de la Concorde for Mass, essentially the heart of Paris and a symbol of the French republic. In his homily, Leo asked the crowds not to keep their faith to themselves, but to instead “let it overflow, so that those you meet may be refreshed and their thirst satisfied.” “From this beautiful city of Paris, I pray fervently that the living water of the Holy Spirit may flow throughout Fran

At least 17 dead in mass shooting at bar in South Africa, police say

Police said eight men armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols entered the bar and began shooting at the patrons

Russia backs India's candidature for UNSC permanent seat

“We are in favour of broadening the representation of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. We support Brazil's and India's candidatures for a permanent seat,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in his address to the UN General Assembly.

Singapore's Loh Kean Yew beats world number 1 Christie, guaranteed historic Asian Games medal

This is Loh's first win over Christie in 11 meetings.

Early winter in Delhi? Minimum temperature settles below season's normal; more rain likely on Sunday

The minimum temperature settled below the season's average at 21 degrees Celsius on Sunday. The weather department has predicted a cloudy sky with the maximum temperature expected to touch 31 degrees Celsius.