Toxic wildfire haze spreads across South East Asia as ‘super’ El Niño intensifies
Millions of people have been exposed to the smog, with more than 12,000 children suffering respiratory issues.
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UN warns of ‘supersized’ El Niño as countries prepare for impact
The WMO has warned that the natural weather phenomenon could bring disruption to global economies.
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Dad who won a cabbage in 1977 scoops £4m Bath mansion, £250k cash and luxury perks through Omaze
From a cabbage to a £4 million mansion! (Photo: SWNS) A father who once won nothing more than a cabbage in a 1977 meat draw has now landed a dramatically bigger prize – a £4 million Georgian mansion in Bath, Somerset, along with £250,000 in cash.According to SWNS, Wayne Wood, 64, from Loughborough, Leicestershire, and his wife Catherine, 53, won the historic property through an Omaze prize draw. The couple, who have been married for 18 years and have two teenage children, will also receive the property mortgage-free, with stamp duty and legal fees covered, as well as £140,000 worth of furnishings.From a cabbage to a £4 million mansionWayne Wood’s cabbage win got a major upgrade. (Photo: SWNS)Wayne said his previous prize was a cabbage, which he won nearly five decades ago after entering a meat draw with friends.“A £4 million mansion is quite the upgrade from a cabbage!” he said.“I remember I was with my brass band friends on a trip somewhere up north in the 70s and we all entered a mea..
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Six months of Trump’s Iran war: America won battles, but where is the victory?
When America's commander-in-chief President Donald Trump announced US strikes on Iran under the ambitious Operation Epic Fury in the early hours of February 28, there was little ambiguity about what Washington wanted from the campaign.This was not supposed to become another open-ended Middle Eastern war. The objective was to unleash overwhelming American military power, destroy Iran’s most dangerous capabilities, force Tehran to accept Washington’s terms and leave behind an Iran weakened enough that it could no longer pose the same strategic threat.Trump also appeared confident that the campaign would be relatively short. After his intervention in Venezuela earlier in 2026, he suggested that the war could last four or five weeks. Within days, he was already claiming that the military campaign was running ahead of schedule.“We're already substantially ahead of our time projections,” Trump said on March 2, just days after the campaign began, while adding that whatever time the ..
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Times Square stabbing victim Erin Piacenti was new mom just back from maternity leave
The Bank of America vice president fatally stabbed in Times Square was a new mother on her first week back from maternity leave, according to a report.
Erin Piacenti, 32, was one of two people randomly attacked a short distance from her firm’s tower block in New York City Monday afternoon.
She had stopped in front of a vendor selling sunglasses while heading home from work she was stabbed, The New York Times reported. NYPD officers shot and killed the attacker, later named as 49 year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens.
Just days before the fatal incident, Piacenti had posted a picture on social media holding her newborn daughter and grinning, according to The Times.
open image in galleryErin Piacenti, 32-year-old executive at Bank of America, was fatally stabbed in Times Square on Monday (Facebook)“As my maternity leave comes to an end,” she wrote, “I could not be more grateful for every day of the last five months spent with this amazing little girl.”
Piacenti and her husband Frank h..
Texas facing massive 30 inches of rain in 24 hours as rescues already underway
Water rescues are underway in southern Texas as former Tropical Storm Edouard continued to dump heavy rain, flooding streets and trapping people in their homes.
An unidentified woman and her four children were rescued from their Livingston mobile home after a creek overflowed, according to Click 2 Houston.
And people in the area were pulled from their cars stuck in flooded roads, KTRE said.
A flash flood emergency has been declared in Hardin and Tyler Counties, northeast of Houston, with rain expected to continue throughout the day and into tomorrow.
The storm has dropped 30 inches over Texas in the course of just 24 hours, WFLA meteorologist Jeff Berardelli wrote on social media.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
Vietnam arrests deputy minister over probe into huge bribes
AdvertisementVietnamAsiaSoutheast AsiaVietnam arrests deputy minister over probe into huge bribesTran Van Thuan’s arrest comes as police investigate a scheme involving ‘smuggling’ and reselling of medical equipment at inflated prices
1-MIN READ1-MIN ListenAgence France-PressePublished: 11:24pm, 2 Sep 2026Vietnamese police arrested a deputy health minister on Wednesday for allegedly accepting huge bribes, part of an investigation into a company accused of smuggling medical equipment, authorities said.
Vietnam has pursued a high-profile anti-corruption campaign in recent years that has netted dozens of business leaders and senior government figures.Deputy Health Minister Tran Van Thuan, a leading oncologist in Vietnam, was taken into custody “due to his acceptance of bribes involving a large sum of money”, the public security ministry said in a statement, without specifying the amount.
Thuan, 56, was appointed deputy health minister in 2020 and chairman of the National Medical Council in..
2 Filipino sailors killed in Iran’s attack on vessel, Saudi Arabia says
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, said on Wednesday that an Iranian attack on an oil tanker owned by its national shipping company had killed two Filipino seafarers.
Sidr, owned by Bahri, was one of two supertankers carrying Saudi oil reported to have been hit late on Monday while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran has threatened tankers attempting to sail through the narrow waterway without authorisation, impeding energy exports from neighbouring oil-rich Gulf…
EU and Nato vow to step up pressure on Russia after ‘new escalation’ in Germany
Russia is accused of growing increasingly reckless after Berlin blamed Russia for a failed drone attack on Leipzig airport.
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Rosenberg: Putin’s veiled threat to UK part of Russia’s campaign against West
The Russian president wants to keep Britain guessing – and stressing – over Moscow's real intentions.
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