admin
Shannen Doherty's Ex-Husband Ashley Hamilton Hospitalized After OD Published April 8, 2026 2:49 PM PDT Shannen Doherty's ex-husband, Ashley Hamilton, is recovering in a hospital after suffering an apparent overdose ... TMZ has learned. Sources
admin
Brazilian indigenous leader Chief Raoni Metuktire of the Caiapo people, speaks during a press conference in Brasilia on Wednesday (AFP) Brazil's renowned Amazonian tribal chief Raoni Metuktire told AFP on Wednesday he supported the re-election bid of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in October polls, despite criticising him for expanding oil exploration.Now in his nineties, the Indigenous leader who has spent decades rallying the world to protect the rainforest has forged close ties with the president, known widely as Lula.At the start of Lula's third term, Raoni — instantly recognisable with his large wooden lip plate — walked alongside him up the ramp of the presidential palace for his inauguration."I am going to support him," in October, Raoni told AFP in the Kayapo language through an interpreter on the sidelines of a gathering of Indigenous people in Brasilia.The Kayapo chief last year said he was prepared to give the president a "talking-to" if he ignored concerns over oil exploration near the mouth of the Amazon River.He demanded the veteran leftist "listen to us... he must respect us."Lula is seeking a fourth term in October and his main rival is Flavio Bolsonaro, son of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro whose government froze land demarcations — official recognition of Indigenous land — and facilitated deforestation in the Amazon.Lula "has already demarcated some Indigenous lands, so I support him so that he may continue to be president," said Raoni.Since 2023, Lula has approved the official demarcation of some 20 territories for the exclusive use of Indigenous communities, and has overseen a dramatic decline in deforestation in the Amazon.Nevertheless, he has come under increasing pressure to do more from Indigenous groups who are protesting in Brasilia this week to demand the protection of more of their ancestral lands.In recent months Indigenous groups have also protested the expansion of ports for grain transport along Amazon rivers, as well as plans to build a railway line through the world's largest forest."You non-Indigenous people harbour this destructive mindset of destroying nature and polluting rivers, which is what causes this climate crisis," said Raoni."This harms all of us in Brazil. It is not only Indigenous people who will feel the effects of climate change."
admin
The World Bank trimmed its estimate for economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2026, citing the region's long-standing structural challenges, compounded by high borrowing costs, weak external demand, geopolitical tensions and persistent inflation.In its latest Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Update, published on Wednesday, the World Bank forecast the region to grow 2.1%, below the 2.4% growth recorded in 2025 and lower than the 2.5% growth that the group forecast in October.The report noted that private consumption remains the main driver of demand."The binding constraint is investment, which remains subdued as firms wait for clearer signals on the external environment and domestic policy frameworks," the report said. It highlighted Argentina as the regional exception, "as stabilisation and reforms have improved expectations and financial conditions" in the region's third largest economy.The World Bank forecast sluggish growth for the region's two largest economies for this year and next, pointing to "slower momentum amid tight domestic financial conditions, limited fiscal space, and trade policy uncertainty."Gross domestic product (GDP) for the region's largest economy, Brazil, is forecast to grow 1.6% this year, before ticking up to 1.8% next year, the report said.Growth in Mexico, where the ongoing review of Mexico's trade deal with the US and Canada has fuelled uncertainty and hit investment flows, is forecast at 1.3% in 2026, before rising to 1.7% next year.On the upside, the region has significant untapped potential for future growth, the World Bank said, emphasising that the region possesses roughly half of the world's lithium reserves, a third of its copper, a clean energy mix and ongoing reform efforts in several nations.The report advises countries in the region against jumping straight to complex industrial policies to harness that potential. Instead, it urges governments to focus on "getting the basics right first," such as investing in skills, maintaining open economies and strengthening institutions to create an environment where businesses can thrive, ultimately creating quality jobs. Related Story
admin
Peruvians head to the polls on April 12, hoping to break a cycle of political turmoil that has prevented any president from completing a full term over the past decade, amid corruption scandals, rising crime and voter frustration.About 27mn Peruvians are eligible to vote for a new president and a newly reinstated bicameral congress. Polling stations open at 0700 local time (1200 GMT) on Sunday and close at 1700, when paper ballots measuring nearly half a meter (44 centimeters)-the longest in the country's history-will then be counted.In a busy Lima suburb, campaign posters for dozens of presidential hopefuls crowd roundabouts and lamp posts as a record 35 candidates vie for attention.'I've seen the ballot and it honestly gave me a headache,' said shopkeeper Marlene Jimenez. 'I don't know who to vote for.'Opinion polls suggest right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori holds a narrow lead ahead of Sunday's vote. She is closely followed by at least three contenders-including two former mayors of Lima, the ultra-conservative Rafael Lopez Aliaga and media entrepreneur Ricardo Belmont, and political outsider, Carlos Alvarez, a former comedian.None of the candidates poll above 15%, making a runoff on June 7 almost certain, analysts said. The three candidates trailing Fujimori, daughter of late former president Alberto Fujimori, are also in a technical tie, said Urpi Torrado of polling firm Datum Internacional.'There are four days to go (until Sunday), and the story can change,' Torrado said.The high number of undecided voters means that the second tier of candidates 'cannot be ignored', said Nicolas Watson at consultancy Teneo, even if they only garner 4.5-6% support.Surveys suggested about 13% of voters remained undecided.For many Peruvians, the fragmented contest reflects deeper institutional decline. The country has cycled through eight presidents since 2018, as leaders were either impeached, jailed or forced from office.These elections could mark a break from this cycle of instability, or 'keep us trapped in it', said political analyst Fernando Tuesta.The fight against corruption is a prominent campaign theme. Four former presidents are currently in prison, most linked to bribery cases that involved Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht. Alberto Fujimori served 16 years in jail for human rights abuses and died in 2024 after being released on humanitarian grounds.Crime, however, now rivals-and in many cases surpasses- corruption as the top voter concern.Peru was not traditionally associated with organised crime, but homicide and extortion have surged, particularly hitting transport workers and small businesses, said professor Paula Munoz at Lima's Universidad del Pacifico.Official data shows extortion cases were up nearly 20% last year, and homicide rates reached new records.The rise has fuelled support for tougher, populist responses on the right, Munoz said, reflecting a broader Latin American trend in which crime is increasingly seen as an issue best handled by hardline leaders, like El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele.Proposals by some candidates include deploying troops, reinstating the death penalty, withdrawing from international human rights courts, and allowing magistrates handling criminal cases to remain anonymous that would reinstate the country's so-called 'faceless judges,' which Peru has not had since 1997.
admin
A torpedo-like 3.7m-long and 65cm-wide object, discovered by a fisherman near the Lombok Strait after being towed ashore onto a beach on Gili Trawangan, West Nusa Tenggara. (AFP) The Indonesian navy said Thursday it was investigating a torpedo-like object discovered by a fisherman near the Lombok Strait, a key maritime route connecting the Indian and Pacific Oceans.The 3.7m-long and 65cm-wide object was fished from the ocean on Monday about 10km from the popular tourist island of Gili Trawangan, West Nusa Tenggara, the navy said.A 28-year-old fisherman immediately reported the unusual find to the local authorities, who retrieved it."The Indonesian navy will promptly carry out an in-depth examination... of the device to determine its origin, function, and the data contained within it," navy spokesman Tunggul, who like many Indonesians has only one name, told AFP."The Indonesian National Armed Forces will remain fully committed to safeguarding the sovereignty and security of Indonesia's territorial seas from all forms of unauthorised activities, including the use of underwater devices or equipment by unauthorised parties in Indonesian waters."Mataram naval base chief Asep Tri Prabowo told reporters Wednesday the object was under strict supervision and would be sent to Jakarta for further investigation.An initial examination by the West Nusa Tenggara Police's bomb squad confirmed it did not contain any explosive or radioactive substances, he added.Indonesian media reported that lettering on the object suggested it may have been manufactured by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. It appeared to be a device to measure the speed of currents.This was not the first time a foreign object has been found in Indonesian waters.In 2021, a fisherman discovered a seaglider in the Selayar Islands, South Sulawesi that the military suspected was being used for oceanographic research.
admin
Kuomintang Chairperson Cheng Li-wun (left) sitting in the cockpit of a display aircraft with Song Tao, Director of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Taiwan Affairs Office of
admin
Australia in December became the world’s first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking them from platforms including TikTok, Alphabet’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook. The ban comes amid mounting concerns over the impact of social media on children’s health and safety. Here is a summary of what countries and companies are doing to regulate access to social media. Austria will ban social media for children up to the age of 14, the conservative-led, three-party government said on March 27. Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler and junior digitisation minister Alexander Proell said draft legislation for the ban would be finalised by June. Similarly, Britain is considering an Australia-style ban on social media and tighter AI chatbots safety rules for children under 16 as early as this year, technology minister Liz Kendall said in February. Social media bans, curfews and app time limits will be tested in the homes of 300 teenagers to gauge the impact on children’s sleep, family life and schoolwork, the government said on March 24. In Asia, China’s cyberspace regulator has put in place a so-called “minor mode” programme that requires device-level restrictions and app-specific rules to restrict screen time depending on age. In the Indian state of Karnataka, home to the tech hub of Bengaluru, on March 6 became the first Indian state to ban social media for children under 16. Neighbouring states of Goa and Andhra Pradesh are also weighing restrictions. India’s chief economic adviser called for age restrictions on social media platforms in January, describing them as “predatory” in how they keep users engaged online. Indonesia will restrict access to social media platforms for children under 16, its communications and digital ministry said on March 6. From March 28, accounts owned by children under 16 on “high risk platforms”, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Roblox , will be gradually deactivated, Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said. France’s National Assembly in January approved legislation to ban children under 15 from social media amid growing concerns about online bullying and mental health risks. The bill needs to pass through the Senate before a final vote in the lower house. In Germany, minors aged 13-16 are allowed to use social media only if their parents provide consent. But child protection advocates say controls are insufficient. Greece will ban access to social media for children under the age for 15 from January 1, 2027, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on April 8. Children under the age of 14 in Italy need parental consent to sign up for social media accounts, while no consent is required above that age. Malaysia said in November it would ban social media for users under the age of 16 starting from 2026. Spain will ban access to social media for minors under 16 and platforms will be required to implement age verification systems, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said early in February. It was unclear if the proposed ban would require approval by the country’s highly fragmented lower house. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act in the US prevents companies from collecting personal data from children under 13 without parental consent. Several states have passed laws requiring parental consent for minors to access social media, but they have faced court challenges on free speech grounds. The European Parliament in November agreed on a resolution, which is not legally binding, calling for a minimum age of 16 on social media. It urged a harmonised EU digital age limit of 13 for social media access and an age limit of 13 for video-sharing services and “AI companions”. Social media platforms including TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat say people need to be at least 13 to sign up. Child protection advocates say the controls are insufficient, and official data in several European countries shows huge numbers of children under 13 have social media accounts.
admin
As Nasa’s record-breaking Artemis mission bolsters the US path back to the moon, China’s bid to land astronauts there by 2030 is taking on greater geopolitical significance and putting pressure on Beijing to meet or beat its timetable. Four US astronauts on the Artemis II mission this week flew past the moon’s shadowed far side, travelling deeper into space than any humans before them and setting the stage for Artemis IV to land on the moon in 2028. The planned US return after more than half a century is being closely watched in China, which is developing the full architecture for its first crewed landing on the moon, from the Long March-10 rocket to the Mengzhou spacecraft and Lanyue lunar lander. Beijing has made significant advances in recent years by becoming the first country to return robot-taken samples from both the near and far sides of the moon, and its crewed spaceflight programme has become proficient in operating space stations and handling emergencies in orbit. “There is no bigger prize for China on the table today than landing people on the moon, this is the essential next step for China on the road to preeminence in space,” said Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Washington and Beijing are also competing in institution-building efforts in preparation for a future when humans have a permanent presence on the moon, with the US-led Artemis Accords on lunar exploration matched up against the Chinese and Russian-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). “The question now is no longer simply who gets there first, but who can stay longer and do more,” Kang Guohua, an aerospace professor at the military-linked Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, told China’s state-backed Global Times last week. ENTIRELY NEW HARDWAREA major hurdle for Beijing will be proving an entirely new lunar mission architecture within the next four years, demonstrating all of the hardware being developed for the 2030 mission, from heavy-lift rockets to spacesuits, can work reliably on first use. China’s manned space agency said in 2023 that the mission would rely on two Long March-10 rockets, one launching a crewed spacecraft and the other a lunar lander. The two vehicles would rendezvous and dock in lunar orbit. Two astronauts would descend to the surface on the lander, collect samples, then return to lunar orbit, redock with the spacecraft and head back to Earth. The Mengzhou spacecraft can carry up to seven astronauts, according to China’s manned space agency, which has not yet announced the size and members of the 2030 mission team. China’s recent robotic lunar missions have given it valuable experience in communications, rendezvous, and docking operations around the moon. But crewed missions impose far stricter safety requirements and critical parts of the mission chain are still being tested, including the rocket and spacecraft. In February, China carried out the first low-altitude escape test for the Long March-10 with a Mengzhou spacecraft aboard it at a launch site on Hainan Island. The vessel’s return capsule successfully separated after an abort command and splashed down safely at sea. Last year, the Lanyue lunar lander’s ascent and descent capabilities were also tested in Hebei province. While these were important milestones, the pace of testing will need to accelerate if China is to certify the system for a crewed landing by 2030. Still, CSIS’ Swope said China appeared to be making steady progress and it seemed “very plausible” it would meet its deadline. “China has a history of setting deadlines for space activities and closely meeting those deadlines, there are no public signs of any missteps or setbacks to Beijing’s crewed lunar landing plans,” he said. GEOPOLITICAL STAKESThe stakes are not only technical but geopolitical. As the US-China rivalry deepens across trade, technology and military power, lunar exploration has become another arena of competition. US analysts point to China’s rising defence spending, use of space diplomacy to increase its influence overseas, growing private launch sector and successful robotic lunar missions as evidence that Beijing is highly motivated to reach the moon quickly, even if it avoids race rhetoric in public. “China might avoid directly using language that suggests there is a lunar or space race, but their overall strategic goal is to be the hegemon in space,” said Kathleen Curlee, a research analyst at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. At the same time, China may be moving faster than it admits. Wu Weiren, chief designer of China’s lunar exploration program, told Reuters last year that the 2030 goal was intentionally conservative. “Eastern peoples always leave a little room when they speak,” he said. “If I can do a 10, I tend to say eight or nine.”
admin
A woman walks along the Huangpu River as the city's skyline is seen in the background in Shanghai Thursday. (AFP) China has banned for 40 days civil aviation from a large airspace off Shanghai without specifying the reasons, according to a notice to aviators published by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).The aviation notice (NOTAM) announcing the access restriction was posted online on March 27 at 1150 GMT and took effect a few hours later.It will remain in place until May 6 and affects an area twice the size of Taiwan a few hundred kilometres north of the island, covering 73,000sq km in total.China has not provided any explanation for the ban as of April 8, but "there is no possible use other than military" for this type of airspace restriction, maritime security expert Benjamin Blandin told AFP."It could be to fire missiles, carry out air exercises, etc. We don't know," he added.This is "the very first time" that China has restricted access to its airspace in a way that is "so sudden, geographically extensive, prolonged over time, and so poorly documented", according to Blandin, a researcher at Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR).Aviation and defence consultant for Aviation NXT, Xavier Tytelman, also believes that the restriction is "out of the ordinary" in terms of its size, duration and the lack of any limits on altitude, either high or low.NOTAMs are intended to inform aviators of unusual circumstances affecting certain airspaces.They are generally issued ahead of military exercises or during exceptional events such as fires or volcanic eruptions.In this particular case, it means that "the government is reserving a zone for itself," said Tytelman.Restricted access applies to civil aviation but not necessarily to military planes, helicopters or drones.The ban covers two zones over the Yellow Sea, between China and South Korea, and three others straddling the Yellow Sea and East China Sea, between China and its neighbour Japan."Normally this is announced weeks or months in advance, and there are explanations and justifications," said Blandin, adding that the reserved airspace is limited in altitude "to allow the passage of commercial aircraft".The areas closed to civil aviation are separated by an air corridor about 100 kilometres wide, allowing access to Shanghai from the Yellow Sea."Access denials"According to a Taiwan senior security official, China is taking advantage of the United States being distracted by the Middle East war to expand its active military presence and conduct harassment in the Indo-Pacific.China aims to deter the US's allies in the region and weaken the US's military influence in the Indo-Pacific, he said.For Blandin this NOTAM is part of a "continuing series of access denials" and "bolsters China's strategy of nibbling away at the land and sea borders of its neighbours" over the past 15 years.Tytelman, a former flight navigator for the French navy, expects this type of operation to be repeated in the months and years to come, in order to "lower our guard before an aggressive action." Related Story
admin
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) is welcomed by North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui upon arriving on a two-day visit at Pyongyang International Airport Thursday. (AFP) Beijing stands ready to work with North Korea to further improve ties, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a meeting with his North Korean counterpart on a visit to Pyongyang, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.Beijing has been trying to draw Pyongyang back into its orbit after ties cooled following the Covid pandemic, which froze exchanges, and as North Korean President Kim Jong-un shored up relations with Moscow by sending troops and weapons in support of Russia's war in Ukraine.China is ready "to continue consolidating the positive momentum in the development" of bilateral ties, Wang said in a meeting with North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, according to Xinhua.Wang's last publicly known visit to North Korea as China's foreign minister was in late 2019, following reciprocal visits by the two countries' top leaders earlier that year.Chinese ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, said Wang's visit — scheduled from April 9-10 — was an important move to advance relations.Wang's Pyongyang visit also comes ahead of an expected summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump next month.Trump has repeatedly expressed an interest in resuming direct talks with the North Korean leader in his second term, but no meeting has materialised.Political momentum between China and North Korea gained pace last year, when Kim travelled to Beijing in September on board an armoured train to join Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders for a military parade in the Chinese capital, where Kim met with Xi.That meeting was followed by a visit to Pyongyang in October by China's No 2 official, Premier Li Qiang.China's exports to North Korea reached a six-year high of $2.3bn last year, a 25% annual increase, and North Korea in October explicitly endorsed Beijing's position on Taiwan, shortly before China's arms white paper dropped calls for "denuclearisation" of the Korean Peninsula.Passenger train services between Beijing and Pyongyang resumed in March after being suspended for six years since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.China's flag carrier Air China has also restarted flights between the two capitals. However, the reopened links have not benefited Chinese tourists so far, with bookings available only for some business travellers and exchange students. Related Story
