The United States and Iran could finalise an agreement to end the Middle East war “within 24 hours”, key mediator Pakistan said on Saturday, after both sides expressed optimism about the chances of concluding a deal. The foes and mediators of the conflict have claimed a long-awaited accord is in its final throes, despite new skirmishes in the Strait of Hormuz in the months-long war that has roiled the region and global economy. Weeks of negotiations on a peace agreement after an April 8 truce...

British artist David Hockney, one of the most influential and defining figures in contemporary art whose paintings captured the world in brilliant colour, has died aged 88, his publicist announced on Friday. Tributes poured in for the 1960s pop art pioneer who established himself as a globally renowned painter and master draughtsman and kept painting, experimenting and exhibiting right up until his death. “I think I’ve something to say to people – that’s why,” he told the Daily Telegraph in...

It’s the ultimate symbol of American politics under Donald Trump – a blood-soaked cage match on the lawn of the White House for the US president’s 80th birthday. A giant arena dubbed “The Claw” has been built on the famed South Lawn for Sunday’s tournament featuring 14 Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) contestants. Critics have panned the unprecedented US$60 million “UFC Freedom 250” event as tone-deaf at a time when Trump’s war in Iran has sent the cost of living soaring for ordinary...

US Park Police opened an investigation on Thursday into giant markings of the numbers “8647” – which have been associated with opposition to President Donald Trump – on the grass of the National Mall. A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior, which manages the National Mall in downtown Washington, described the incident as “deranged vandalism” and said it “will not be tolerated”. “Any threat against the president is taken very seriously by the department, and our US Park Police will...

Elon Musk’s SpaceX on Thursday confirmed it will begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange Friday in the biggest initial public offering in history, a blockbuster market debut that could propel the entrepreneur to trillionaire status. In a filing with the US markets regulator, the company priced more than 555 million shares at US$135 each, placing SpaceX in the top 10 of Wall Street’s biggest companies with a valuation of just under US$1.8 trillion. It will be valued more than Musk’s own Tesla car...

The phenomenon El Nino has arrived, the US weather agency said on Thursday, and scientists expect the pattern synonymous with droughts, floods and soaring temperatures will intensify into the end of the year, potentially to historic strength. El Nino is a natural climate occurrence that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, bringing worldwide changes in winds and rainfall patterns and erratic weather. Scientists fear it will exacerbate the heat of a...

A leather bag made from Tyrannosaurus rex cells failed to sell on Thursday, the Paris auction house Drouot said, commenting that bids were well below expected. Auctioneers Giquello had touted the “one-of-a-kind” piece to sell for more than US$500,000 but bids barely broke the US$150,000 mark, said the Drouot house where the sale took place. Unveiled in the spring in Amsterdam, the bag was created from traces of collagen from the femur of a T. rex found in the US state of Montana 25 years...

Britain’s defence and armed forces ministers quit on Thursday in a row over military spending, piling pressure on beleaguered Prime Minister Keir Starmer who was facing calls to step down. Defence Secretary John Healey resigned warning that Starmer’s long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP) for funding over the next decade – which the leader has yet to publish – risked making Britain “less safe”. In the evening, Al Carns became the second senior figure in defence to quit, resigning as armed...

Russia has lifted its ban on the popular gaming platform Roblox after tens of thousands of children and parents sent letters complaining about the measure. The platform, which allows users to build their own games and share them with others, was among Russia’s most popular mobile games, tying third with TikTok in usage time among children in early 2025, according to Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based global cybersecurity firm. In a statement published on Wednesday, Russia’s digital ministry said...

Canada’s culture minister on Wednesday introduced legislation that would ban children under 16 from having social media accounts and require AI chatbot services to limit production of harmful content. The proposed Digital Safety Act makes Canada the latest in a wave of countries cracking down on social media platforms over concerns of harm to children. “We have seen the very serious consequences that online harms can have … The safety of children cannot be an afterthought,” said Culture Minister...