Author: Justin M. Larson

A Russian spy ship is on the edge of UK waters north of Scotland and has pointed lasers to distract pilots of surveillance aircraft monitoring its activities, the defence secretary has said.Speaking at a press conference in Downing Street, John Healey said it was the second time in a year that the Yantar had entered UK waters.The ship is “designed for gathering intelligence and mapping our undersea cables”, Healey told journalists.”My message to Russia and to Putin is this: we see you. We know what you’re doing. And if the Yantar travels south this week, we are ready,” he added.Giving…

A British woman is among five people who have died in a snowstorm in Chilean Patagonia.Victoria Bond, from Cornwall, was named by officials in Chile as among those killed in the tourist hotspot of Torres del Paine National Park, in the south of the country.Along with Ms Bond, two German and two Mexican citizens died in the snowstorm, according to Jose Antonio Ruiz, the presidential delegate of the Magallanes region of southern Chile. Their bodies were found on Tuesday.The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British woman who has died following an incident…

One accused the competition of being rigged. It is the second scandal to roil the pageant after an organizer berated a contestant in public. Source link

A New Zealand book competition dropped two of a publisher’s books because they had A.I.-generated covers. The publisher and the designer pushed back. Source link

A portrait by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt was sold for $236.4m (£179m) in New York on Tuesday, making it the second most expensive piece ever sold at auction. Six people took part in a 20-minute bidding battle for the Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer which was painted between 1914 and 1916. Auction house Sotheby’s has not disclosed the buyer’s identity.The portrait was looted by the Nazis and almost destroyed in a fire in World War Two, but was rescued in 1948. The artwork was returned to Lederer’s brother, Erich, a friend and subject of Klimt’s contemporary, Egon Schiele. The piece…

As cruise travel hits record demand, cases of sexual assault have also risen. Many accusers learn that the rights they had on land don’t always apply. Source link

Lawmakers and narcotics experts say that the Trump administration’s efforts to tie Venezuela to the U.S. fentanyl crisis are misleading. Source link

Extreme heat causes cows to produce less milk. This poses problems in cheese-obsessed Italy, especially as it tries to meet growing demand for favorites like burrata. Source link

This photograph shows a general view of Nexperia headquarters in Nijmegen on November 6, 2025.John Thys | Afp | Getty Images The Dutch government on Wednesday said it suspended its intervention at Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia, following constructive talks with Chinese authorities.”We see this as a show of goodwill,” Dutch Economy Minister Vincent Karremans said in a statement, posted on social media platform X. This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates. Source link

The Amazon rainforest could face a renewed surge of deforestation as efforts grow to overturn a long-standing ban that has protected it. Source link

Getty ImagesThe bodies of a 34-year-old woman and her daughter, 10, have been found inside freezers in an apartment in western Austria.The remains of the Syrian woman and child, who had been missing for several months, were discovered on Friday. The freezers were hidden behind a drywall partition in the flat, located in the city of Innsbruck.Two men, a 55-year-old Austrian and his 53-year-old brother, were arrested in June. The older man, a colleague of the Syrian woman, told police last week there had been an accident – but denied murder.Speaking to reporters earlier, Hansjörg Mayr, a spokesman for the…

Haiti have beaten Nicaragua 2-0 to qualify for just their second ever World Cup – despite their manager having never been to the Caribbean island.The team’s 52-year-old French coach, Sebastien Migne, has been unable to set foot on Haiti since being appointed 18 months ago because a conflict in the country forces them to play their home matches 500 miles away in Curacao – an island nation just off the coast of South American country Venezuela.Since Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010, the country has been in turmoil. Armed gangs have taken control of almost all of the nation’s capital Port-au-Prince…

Hong Kong’s stock exchange reported its highest quarterly profit in nearly four years after China’s stimulus measures boosted trading and listing volume.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesHONG KONG — The boom in initial public offerings in Hong Kong has offered a long-awaited release valve for private equity firms sitting on aging China portfolios, top fund executives said at an industry panel Tuesday. After years of muted dealmaking and frozen exits, the opportunity to list in Hong Kong at attractive valuations has lifted sentiment, with companies raising $18.2 billion via IPOs this year as of October, putting the financial hub on…

A Lebanese man has gone on trial in Celle, northern Germany, accused of being a member of Hezbollah – a Shia Muslim group whose military wing is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the EU.The 35 year-old man, named only as Fadel Z, in line with German privacy laws, is charged with having played a key role in procuring products for Hezbollah’s drone programme.The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office said Fadel Z joined Hezbollah more than 10 years ago, first working in public relations.In a statement, prosecutors said Fadel Z became a “foreign operator” for the group’s drone programme in 2022,…

The tiny Caribbean island of Curacao has become the smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup after drawing with Steve McClaren’s Jamaica.The record was held by Iceland, who reached the 2018 finals, but their country is far bigger than Curacao, which has a population of just over 150,000 (similar to Cambridge or Huddersfield) and a land area of 171 square miles, smaller than the Isle of Man.Former England boss McClaren resigned as Jamaica boss after his side, who needed a win in Kingston to qualify for their first World Cup since 1998, were held to a goalless draw,…

This report is from this week’s CNBC’s The China Connection newsletter, which brings you insights and analysis on what’s driving the world’s second-largest economy. You can subscribe here.The big storyFrom Nezha 2 to Labubu, it’s been quite a year for Chinese cultural exports. Now, one of the latest titles to hit the $189 billion global gaming market is also from China.More than 2 million people played the martial arts video game “Where the Winds Meet” within 24 hours of its overseas release this past weekend on PlayStation and PC, according to the game’s Chinese publisher NetEase. The free-to-play game puts a…

Superstar footballer Cristiano Ronaldo attended a White House black-tie dinner alongside the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night.Speaking ahead of the event, US President Donald Trump said it was an “honour” to host Ronaldo, whose starring role in the Saudi football league has seen him become a face of the country’s modernisation drive.Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman wants to reduce the country’s dependence on oil revenues by diversifying into other areas including sports and tourism. A White House official confirmed earlier in the day that Ronaldo would attend, but did not say if he was part…

Nine people have been killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has said. Russia launched more than 470 drones and 47 missiles in the “brazen attack”, he wrote in a post on Telegram. Three districts of Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, were hit by a massive drone attack which injured more than 30 people, including children. Photos posted online showed buildings and cars ablaze. Power cuts are affecting a number of regions across the country, Ukraine’s energy ministry said. Source link

This report is from this week’s CNBC’s UK Exchange newsletter. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.The dispatchSome 84 days after announcing the date of her second Budget, Rachel Reeves, Britain’s chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister), will finally unveil her plans next Wednesday.The intervening period has been unlike any previous Budget. Once, chancellors entered a period of “purdah,” during which they made no public policy pronouncements. This was to maintain the integrity not only of the Budget process but also stability in financial markets and was strictly adhered to.Indeed, Hugh Dalton, a predecessor from Reeves’s Labour Party, resigned in November 1947 after sharing…

Workers transport soil containing rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China.China Stringer Network | ReutersLike the U.S., Europe is also feeling the pressure to keep China sweet in order to maintain supplies of rare earth elements, which are vital for its strategic industries in the region such as auto production, green energy and defense.Europe is heavily dependent on China for supplies of the world’s 17 rare earth elements and has been looking to calm stormy waters with Beijing over supplies, while looking for alternative sources of critical minerals — including in its own back…

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are a leading cause of a “chronic disease pandemic” linked to worsening diets, experts have warned.UPFs include items such as processed meats, some ready meals and cereals, ice cream, crisps, biscuits, mass-produced bread and fizzy drinks. They often contain a high level of saturated fat, salt and sugar – as well as additives such as sweeteners and preservatives.UPFs leave less room for more nutritious foods and are also believed to negatively affect gut health.Forty-three scientists and researchers have now sounded the alarm and accused food companies of putting “profitability above all else”. Writing in The Lancet, they…

Violent extremists are using AI to evade social media moderation, according to the leader of one of Europe’s leading violence prevention task forces.Speaking at TikTok’s Trust and Safety forum in Dublin, Judy Korn, managing director of the Violence Prevention Network, said the nature of extremism was changing along with the tactics used. “[While] Islamist and far-right extremism is rising,” said Ms Korn, “the sharpest rise in ideologies is in unclear violence and nihilistic violent extremism.”Nihilistic extremism, she said, isn’t driven by an ideology beyond simply “destruction and chaos” – which makes it harder to catch on social media because it…

European chipmakers need TSMC’s help to grow their own semiconductor supply chain, but the chip giant’s Taiwanese suppliers find Europe a tough place to do business. Source link

Global markets are wobbling, stoking investor worries over portfolio allocation and how to navigate the current climate — sit tight, rotate into defensive stocks, or opt for cash? The turbulence is being driven by a confluence of factors ranging from stretched tech valuations to shifting rate expectations and softening global data. Gold prices have fallen over 7% since their record intra-day high on Oct. 20, bitcoin slid below the $90,000 mark on Tuesday, while stocks globally have seen sharp declines. The MSCI world index has lost 3.5% over the past four sessions. “The risk-off [has] mood broadened beyond technology, pulling…