Oct 13, 2026
In a remarkable find, a shopper in Leicester stumbled upon a gold mourning ring at a charity shop, purchasing it for just £15. Auction experts linked the ring to Princess Amelia, revealing its royal connection. The ring, crafted in her honor, fetched an impressive £5,500 at Hansons Auctioneers, igniting a fierce bidding war that exceeded estimates, underscoring its historical significance within the royal family's mourning traditions.
A New York veterans' charity called Healing for Heroes allegedly misused donations intended for injured service members. State prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit claiming founders misled donors while using funds for personal luxuries. Investigators found that the charity operated retreats only for board members and their friends, neglecting actual veterans seeking support. Additionally, the charity reportedly made almost $33,000 from rental income but did not benefit the veterans.
The European Union (EU) on Monday added three individuals and four entities to its sanctions list targeting North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs and ties with Russia. "The Council today adopted additional restrictive measures against three individuals and four entities under its autonomous sanctions list on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)," the European Council said in a statement. The DPRK is the acronym of North Korea's official name. The council said the individuals and entities were responsible for supporting, promoting or facilitating activities contributing to North Korea's nuclear weapons, ballistic missile and other weapons of mass destruction programs, as well as for violating and evading United Nations sanctions. With the latest additions, the EU's sanctions list on North Korea now covers 80 individuals and 25 entities.
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON/KYIV — President Donald Trump's envoys told Ukrainian officials on Friday that a deal to allow Russian diesel exports is part of a bid to draw Russia back to negotiations after the failure of previous efforts to launch sustained talks to end the war, three people familiar with the meeting told Reuters. Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner told the Ukrainians in a meeting in Miami that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not prepared to negotiate an end to his 4 1/2-year-old war in Ukraine and that the deal announced last week could help restart trilateral talks, said two of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The third person said the US relayed to the Ukrainians that the diesel deal could help "soften" Moscow's position in part because it "sends a signal that Trump is open to do things" with Russia. That deal, under which Russia will supply more than 2.25 million barrels of diesel to US and global markets, has triggered a backlash from some US lawmakers, who say it will give Moscow cash to pursue its war without forc
WASHINGTON — US authorities conducted a predawn raid on Monday on the Washington, DC, home of Democratic US Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, an outspoken critic of Donald Trump who has been the target of political insults by the Republican president, as part of an ongoing investigation, the Justice Department said. A person familiar with the investigation said it is related to alleged immigration fraud, and part of the probe concerns the Somali-born lawmaker's immigration paperwork filled out by her late father when she was a child. Omar wrote on social media that the US government is being weaponized to target a political enemy of the president. "For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns," Omar said. "This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced." Other Democrats accused Trump and his administration of abuse of power. Omar, 44, is seeking a fifth two-year term in the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections on November 3. In announcing the raid, a Justice Department spokesperson
WASHINGTON — Tech billionaire Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has contributed $276 million to organizations boosting the campaigns of right-wing American candidates ahead of upcoming midterm elections, US media reported Monday. The sum, all contributed since July, positions Musk as the largest single donor for the November 3 elections, according to the New York Times. He has spent a total of $366 million this election cycle. The largest funding recipient was the Republican's Senate Leadership Fund, receiving $158 million, aimed at maintaining the party's control of the upper house of Congress despite a slim margin. The SpaceX and Tesla boss is no stranger to massive US election spending, having contributed $290 million in 2024 to help US President Donald Trump win reelection. Trump allowed Musk to work in the White House for several months overseeing his cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) venture, but exited the role after a public falling out with the president. They've since reconciled, and Trump awarded Musk the National Medal of Science at an event in DC las
PARIS — Hackers raised the temperature of refrigerators and freezers at hundreds of French supermarkets to as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight, causing fires and spoiling food. The Paris prosecutor's office said on Monday that a "large-scale" attack was "affecting connected refrigerators in several major food retailers across France", leading to food losses and fires. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has instructed France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) to investigate, a person in his office said. France was coordinating with European counterparts because other countries could also be affected, the person said, adding that authorities were assessing whether other French companies were at risk. Felix Aime, a senior cyber threat intelligence analyst at Sekoia Threat Detection and Research, said Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany and Belgium had also been affected. Carrefour said 80 of its supermarkets were hit, while Monoprix, which operates about 490 stores in France, said 5% of its stores were affected. Les Mousquetaires, owner of retailer Intermarche,
CAIRO — Saudi Arabia has launched an investigation to determine how its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, including an attack on Riyadh airport that killed at least 13 people and wounded over 300, two regional officials said Monday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, said the initial probe showed that Yemen's Houthis first fired multiple drones to pave the way for a mix of cruise and ballistic missiles to reach Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport. The Houthis possess ballistic missiles and advanced systems fitted with warheads that can change direction during flight and pose a challenge to Patriot interceptors and other defense systems used by the Saudis. One of the officials said the investigation also aims to find out why air defense systems did not provide earlier warning of the attack in which the Houthi missiles and drones flew over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to reach Riyadh. The incident, one of a string of Houthi attacks since last we
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said late on Monday he did not believe that China and Russia were helping Iran "at all," adding that Moscow and Beijing had "too much to lose" if they enabled Tehran. Trump said on Truth Social that he had seen comments from his critics and opponents that China and Russia were helping Iran. "If they are, it's at a very low level, but I don't believe they are at all. They have too much to lose, and we would know about it, and know about it very fast," Trump wrote. Trump said in July he trusted China and Russia not to help Tehran in the Iran war, but warned that if they did get involved "it would be very bad for them." The United States and Iran have been at war since February 28 when the US and Israel attacked Iran and Tehran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have since killed thousands and displaced millions. Trump has previously described Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin as "neutral" during the Iran war. Moscow and Beij
BANGKOK — The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slightly upgraded its outlook for the world economy for this year, while warning of growing risks from rising debt, including the financial frenzy around artificial intelligence. The IMF says it expects the global economy to grow at a 3.1 percent pace this year. That's up from its July forecast for 3.0 percent growth and well below the 3.5 percent expansion in 2025. Growth in 2027 should rebound to 3.4 percent, it said in its latest Economic Outlook. The report, released as world economic and financial leaders gathered in Bangkok for the fall meetings of the IMF and World Bank, predicts that growth in the United States will remain steady at 2.3 percent in 2026 and 2027. Collectively, advanced economies will grow 2.1 percent this year, up from 2.0 percent in 2025, and then slow to 1.9 percent growth next year, it said. The forecasts are based on a nearly 41 percent increase in oil prices this year, at an average of $96 a barrel. Global inflation is foreseen at 4.7 percent in 2026, falling to 4.1 percent next year. They also are based
