World

Twenty years ago, on a Saturday night, Richard Petrone Jr and his girlfriend Danielle Imbo, accompanied by their friends, went out to a bar in Philadelphia. Once the outing was over, Mr Petrone Jr was supposed to drop Ms Imbo off at her home in New Jersey and head back to his apartment in Philadelphia. Their friends or anyone else never heard back from them after they left the bar, CNN reported. Investigators found no forensic evidence of the couple's whereabouts after they were last seen at the bar, retired FBI special agent Vito Roselli, who was the case's first lead investigator, said. Their truck was not spotted on any of the area's toll bridge cameras and the couple's credit cards and bank accounts registered no activity, he added. The couple, along with Mr Petrone Jr's 2001 black Dodge Dakota pick-up truck, just disappeared into the night.  His mother Marge Petrone said she knew something was wrong when she didn't immediately hear back from him. "...

Previously, Netflix users in the UK could stream content without worrying about a TV licence. However, new rules now put some viewers at risk of hefty fines-especially when tuning into certain live shows. While bingeing true crime documentaries or animated favourites still falls under a standard subscription, Netflix's newest addition- Everybody's Live with John Mulaney- is a live broadcast, which means you'll need a valid TV licence to watch it legally, the Metro reported.  Set to premiere on Thursday, the show marks Netflix's first-ever live late-night talk show and joins the platform's growing lineup of live content. Recent live events include the much-hyped Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match and WWE programming, part of Netflix's new sports and entertainment strategy following recent rights acquisitions. However, unlike on-demand shows such as Love Is Blind or Harlan Coben thrillers, watching live-streamed content in the UK requires a valid TV licence-...

Deloitte, one of the Big Four accounting giants, is trimming staff in its US consulting division after Elon Musk-controlled Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)'s push for cutting federal spending. The London-based firm confirmed that "modest personnel actions" will be taken in the coming weeks, citing evolving needs from government clients, The Wall Street Journal reported. Deloitte hasn't said how many jobs will be cut, but a US spokesperson told Bloomberg that fewer employees have been leaving the company on their own lately. Since more consultants have stayed in their jobs, the company now needs to cut some positions, the spokesperson explained. He added that demand for Deloitte's advisory services is still strong overall. Deloitte's US management consulting arm saw growth of less than 1 per cent in 2024 - a heavy drop from 17.8 per cent in 2023 and 25.5 per cent in 2022. By the end of 2024, the firm had nearly 173,000 employees in the US. The...

Asian markets took a huge plunge Monday as US futures pointed to significant losses on Wall Street over Donald Trump's punishing tariffs, even as countries sought compromise with the defiant president. Trump denied Sunday he was intentionally engineering a selloff and insisted he could not foresee market reactions, saying he would not make a deal with other countries unless trade deficits were solved.  "Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something," he said of the market pain that has seen trillions of dollars wiped off the value of US companies since the beginning of his tariff rampage. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he added that he had sought to resolve the issue with world leaders over the weekend, claiming "they're dying to make a deal." China retaliated against the United States on Friday, announcing it would impose tit-for-tat tariffs of 34 percent on all US goods from April 10 after Asian markets closed last week.  With the ...

The world-renowned BAPS Hindu Temple in Abu Dhabi celebrated Ram Navami and Swaminarayan Jayanti with immense devotion and grandeur, marking a landmark moment for cultural and spiritual harmony in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A statement mentioned that devotees from across the region gathered at the temple to participate in a series of devotional and cultural events. According to Pujya Brahmavihari Swami, the head priest of the temple, a full day of celebrations was organized, beginning with Ram Bhajans from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., followed by the Shri Ram Janmotsav Aarti at 12 noon. "The celebrations witnessed a massive turnout of devotees and visitors, united in devotion to Lord Ram and Bhagwan Swaminarayan. This spiritual gathering served as a beacon of peace, unity, and eternal Hindu values, echoing across borders," the statement read. One of the highlights of the event was a special cultural presentation by the BAPS on a stage designed to resemble the sacred confluence...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday lamented the lack of a US response to Russia's refusal to sign "a full, unconditional ceasefire" as two people were killed in Moscow's latest aerial bombardment. Russia mounted a "massive" missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight that also wounded seven people, Zelensky said, warning that Moscow was stepping up its aerial barrage of his country. Ukraine has agreed to an unconditional truce in the more than three-year-long war proposed by the United States but Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to do so. "We are waiting for the United States to respond -- so far there has been no response," complained Zelensky. Russia on Sunday claimed the capture of a village in Ukraine's Sumy region in a rare cross-border advance. Earlier in the day, Russia "launched a massive nationwide attack on Ukraine using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones", said Ukraine's firs...

Three US aid workers were laid off while in Myanmar helping the rescue and recovery from the country's massive earthquake, a former senior staffer said, as the Trump administration's dismantling of foreign aid affects its disaster response. After travelling to the Southeast Asian nation, the three officials were told late this week they would be let go, Marcia Wong, a former official at the US Agency for International Development, told Reuters. "This team is working incredibly hard, focused on getting humanitarian aid to those in need. To get news of your imminent termination - how can that not be demoralising?" said Wong, former deputy administrator of USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, which oversees Washington's disease response efforts overseas. President Donald Trump's government has pledged at least $9 million to Myanmar after the magnitude-7.7 quake, which has killed more than 3,300. But his administration's massive cuts to USAID hav...

US tech-billionaire Elon Musk said on Saturday he hoped in future to see complete freedom of trade between the United States and Europe, speaking days after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on trading partners. Musk, a Trump adviser who has been working to eliminate wasteful US public spending, spoke via video-link at a congress in Florence of Italy's right-wing, co-ruling League Party. "At the end of the day, I hope it's agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally, in my view, to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America," Musk said. Under Trump's plans announced on Wednesday, Italy, which has a large trade surplus with the United States, will be subject to a general tariff of 20% along with other European Union countries. Interviewed by League leader Matteo Salvini, Musk, who has repeatedly expressed support for right-wing parties across Europe, said he also hoped to see ...

Some 1,200 demonstrations are planned across the US on Saturday in what organizers expect to be the largest single day of protest against President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk since the administration launched its rapid-fire effort to put a conservative stamp on government. The "Hands Off!" protests will allow Trump opponents to demonstrate their displeasure en masse in response to Trump's sweeping makeover of US foreign and domestic policy through executive orders. "This is an enormous demonstration that is sending a very clear message to Musk and Trump and congressional Republicans and all the goose-stepping allies of MAGA that we don't want their hands on our democracy, on our communities, on our schools and our friends and our neighbors," said Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, one of the groups organizing Saturday's events. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Trump or Musk. Some 150 a...

China's state-run media has taken to the internet with AI-generated videos, featuring dancing robots and fraught consumers, to chide US.President Donald Trump and tariffs they say threaten high inflation and economic distress for Americans. "'Liberation Day', you promised us the stars. But tariffs killed our cheap Chinese cars," an automated female voice sings in a video on the website of China's CGTN, a state-run English-language broadcaster, over a shot of a woman at a kitchen table staring at an empty fork. The two-minute, 42-second clip, referring to Trump's use of "Liberation Day" for the day of his tariff announcement, was captioned with a warning: "Track is AI-generated. The debt crisis? 100 percent human-made." Another video posted on the X.com page of state-run news agency Xinhua, also generated by artificial intelligence, shows a robot named TARIFF that chooses to self-destruct rather than follow its creator's orders fo...

A Russian ballistic missile strike on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's home city of Kryvyi Rig killed 12 people on Friday, including three children, authorities said. Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the city's military administration, said more than 50 people were wounded in the evening attack. "Twelve people were killed in Kryvyi Rig," regional governor Sergiy Lysak said on Telegram. He added later that this included "three children". "The number of wounded is constantly increasing. This information will come later. A car and garages are on fire," he said. Unverified video on social media taken from a distance showed a plume of smoke rising into the evening sky. Kryvyi Rig, in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, is about 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the front line but has regularly been targeted by Russian drones and missiles. A Russian ballistic attack on the city on Wednesday killed at least four people and wounded more th...

The first week of April was always going to be a big one for Donald Trump with his much-hyped announcement on global tariffs -- but that was just one part of another frenetic seven days at the White House. Tariffs and penguin memes Unveiling the new tariffs in the White House garden, Donald Trump held up a table of figures that the world strained to read. Alongside China, India and EU were unexpected names such as the Heard and McDonald Islands, a barren sub-Antarctic Australian territory inhabited by penguins but no humans. One widely shared meme image showed a penguin in place of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office during his recent spat with the US president and Vice President JD Vance. Trump-branded golden visa Donald Trump unveiled the first "gold card," a residency permit to be sold for $5 million each to attract investors and employers to the United States. Flying on Air Force One, he showed off a prototype that bore his face and an inscriptio...

India will soon send relics of the Buddha, discovered in Devni Mori in northern Gujarat, to Thailand for an exposition. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this after bilateral talks with Thailand Prime Minister Paentongtran Shinawatra at the Government House here. "I am extremely happy to announce that the Holy Relics found in Aravali, Gujarat in 1960 will also be sent to Thailand for an exposition," Modi said after he received a copy of the 108 volumes of Tipitaka, the revered collection of Buddhist scriptures, in Pali language, from Paetongtarn. The Prime Minister noted that the Holy Relics of Lord Buddha were sent from India to Thailand last year. "It is a matter of great pleasure that more than four million devotees got the opportunity to pay their tributes," he said. The Devni Mori relics were found during excavations at the mound known as 'Bhoja Raja No Terkro' or the courtyard of King Bhoja in 1960. The dig suggested this was the location of...

US President Donald Trump's worldwide tariff salvo could lead to an overall contraction of around 1 percent in global merchandise trade volumes this year, the WTO chief warned Thursday. After Trump on Wednesday unveiled a blitz of harsher-than-expected levies aimed at countries around the globe, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned the measures would "have substantial implications for global trade and economic growth prospects". Trump slapped 10 percent import duties on all nations and far higher levies on imports from dozens of specific countries -- including top trade partners China and the European Union -- adding to tariffs already imposed since his return to power in January. "While the situation is rapidly evolving, our initial estimates suggest that these measures, coupled with those introduced since the beginning of the year, could lead to an overall contraction of around 1 percent in global merchandise trade volumes this year," the World Trade Organization di...

As dawn broke over the Mexican-US border on US President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day," Raul Hernandez steered his semi-trailer carrying Toyota pick-up trucks towards California, worried how tariffs would affect him. If Trump goes ahead with his plan to impose sweeping import duties and manufacturers move their plants to the United States, many workers in Mexico will suffer, he said. "A lot of people are going to lose their jobs here if he does that," the 37-year-old told AFP, waiting in a long queue to cross into San Diego. Factories operated by foreign companies are vital for Mexican border cities like Tijuana and the armies of workers who keep them running, Hernandez said. "They provide jobs. They support families. If the plants really stop because of tariffs, it will hurt Mexico and the Mexican people," he added. Behind him in the queue, Omar Zepeda was also transporting Tacoma pick-up trucks from a nearby Toyota plant. Like Hernandez, he w...

German ambassador to India Dr Philipp Ackermann today said that the country's relationship with India will continue under the new government and there could even be a boost in many areas, including in service sector, defence and the free trade agreement with the European Union, which is on the anvil.  "We have to say that there are a big, big range of other things that come to mind. Migration is one of them... dire need of skilled labor in Germany... Indians for the German labor market. There is a strong business point to be made," he said on the sidelines of an event in Delhi.  German businesses are increasingly looking at India, he said, to diversify the investment. "And then I think one thing where we have to sit together is sort of a geopolitical situation. We are living in difficult times, and therefore it is good to compare notes," he added.  Germany has leaned far right and conservative in the national election held in February.  And while the country ...

US President Donald Trump geared up to unveil sweeping new "Liberation Day" tariffs on Wednesday in a move that threatens to ignite a devastating global trade war. Key US trading partners including the European Union and Britain said they were preparing their responses to Trump's escalation, as nervous markets fell in Europe and America. Trump will unveil the levies in a grand ceremony with his cabinet members in the White House Rose Garden -- just as Wall Street stocks close at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT). "IT'S LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA!" Trump posted a one-liner on his Truth Social platform early Wednesday. The 78-year-old has promised so-called reciprocal tariffs on friends and foes alike if they target the world's largest economy, saying the levies will stop the United States being "ripped off." But Trump has kept the world guessing until the last minute about the scale and scope, with the White House saying he was still "perfecting"...

US Tariff Announcement Live Updates: US President Donald Trump is set to impose sweeping new  "Liberation Day" tariffs on Wednesday, a move that could spark a global trade war.  The 78-year-old President will unveil the measures and plans in the Rose Garden of the White House at 4pm EST (1.30am IST) and the new duties would take effect immediately. A separate 25% global tariff on auto imports is scheduled to take effect on April 3. According to think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), the new tariffs could significantly impact Indian exports. A uniform tariff could leave India facing an additional tax of 4.9% compared to the current 2.8%, impacting sectors like agriculture, electronics, and pharmaceuticals, according to the GTRI's "Reciprocal Tariffs and India" report. Early Wednesday, Mr Trump posted a one-liner on his Truth Social platform: "It's Liberation Day in America!" Mr Trump for weeks has said his reciprocal tariff plans ...

Donald Trump's hardline immigrant policy faced fresh scrutiny Tuesday after officials admitted an "administrative error" in the hurried deportation process had sent a man to a notorious El Salvador prison. The president's administration is pursuing a sweeping drive against migrants -- a key campaign promise -- touting the move as a crackdown on gang members and other violent criminals. But mounting claims that a number of individuals have flimsy or no connection to organized crime has prompted anger among rights groups, Democrats and even some Trump allies, including the influential podcaster Joe Rogan. A court filing Monday said a Salvadoran man was living in the United States under protected legal status until he was flown to El Salvador with hundreds of other alleged gang members earlier this month. Abrego Garcia was accused of being a gang member in 2019 but not convicted of any crime, and a judge ordered he should not be deported because he could be harmed in...

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen insisted Tuesday that her movement could still win 2027 presidential elections after she was banned from standing for office as part of an embezzlement conviction. She was given a prison term and fine on Monday after being convicted of a fake jobs scheme at the EU parliament, a verdict that sparked an international echo including from US President Donald Trump. But the most serious part of the conviction was a five-year ban -- effective immediately -- on standing for office, which eliminates her from the race. Addressing her lawmakers on Tuesday, Le Pen, who considered herself the favourite in the 2027 election where President Emmanuel Macron cannot stand again, accused "the system" of rolling out "the nuclear bomb" in a bid to end her presidential hopes. "If they use such a powerful weapon against us, it's obviously because we're about to win an election," said Le Pen, 56. "We won't let this happe...