A fire broke out at an elementary school in downtown Tokyo Friday, but all of about 300 students and teachers were evacuated or rescued, officials said. The Tokyo Fire Department said the fire at the Takinogawa No. 3 Elementary School broke out near a music room on the top floor of the four-story building late morning Friday. Firefighters rescued one teacher and several schoolchildren out of the building, with non-life-threatening injuries, the department said. Television footage showed black smoke billowing out of windows on the fourth floor, as firefighters combated the fire at the scene. Dozens of fire engines were...

A former U.K. border official and a retired Hong Kong police officer were given prison sentences on Thursday for spying on dissidents and critics of Beijing in Britain. Border Force officer Peter Wai and Bill Yuen, a former superintendent in the Hong Kong Police, posed as police or intelligence officers to conduct surveillance and gather information about Hong Kong dissidents and pro-democracy supporters, prosecutors said. Their targets included former Hong Kong lawmaker Nathan Law and activists they referred to as “cockroaches,” as well as British politicians critical of China, according to the prosecutors. A jury found the two Chinese-British nationals...

68-year-old Jorge Messi, Lionel’s father and agent, faces a health issue but is progressing favorably, the family said Thursday, urging media respect and no speculation. A TV host Florencia Peña’s live false claim of his death, based on bad production info led to producer firings amid backlash. This came after Messi’s hat-trick in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria, his record-equaling 16th World Cup goal, with fans noting his humility sitting on the grass post-match. Peña however apologized for the false after the Messi family released a statement confirming the recovery of the 68-year-old manager. Messi family statement: “The Messi family...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy: “We all see that Putin is now relying on one last thing: constant missile attacks. He has ballistic missiles. So we need anti-ballistic capabilities. We’ve done a lot to defend against drones, and our interception rate is above 90 percent. That is a serious achievement. We are also defending against cruise missiles. But Russian ballistic missiles remain a problem, and we need an answer to that problem. Our anti-ballistic coalition – all the countries that are part of it – must demonstrate full capability and deliver real results – better this year. “By this winter, we should already...

The United Nations’ food agencies warned Wednesday that acute hunger is set to worsen across 13 global hot spots in the coming months, with conflict, funding shortages and climate shocks pushing millions closer to famine. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP) said in a new joint report that conditions are expected to deteriorate between June and November 2026, with around 266 million people already facing high levels of acute food insecurity, and called for urgent action. “The warnings in this report cannot be ignored,” said WFP Acting Executive Director Carl Skau. “Without action now,...

A court in Uganda on Wednesday charged an attorney for a jailed opposition leader with concealing treason, escalating a dispute with the country’s army chief whom the lawyer sought to hold accountable for alleged abuses. Erias Lukwago was charged before a magistrate’s court in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, days after he was seized and taken into custody on the orders of army chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Lukwago was charged with “misprision of treason,” a crime that the presiding magistrate said stems from his alleged failure to report acts of treason by others. He has denied the charges. Lukwago, the president...

Taiwan needs to purchase American weapons to ensure its self-defense in the face of a growing threat from Beijing, the island’s top diplomat in the U.S. said, adding that he has seen no change in Washington’s policy toward the self-governing island that China claims as its own. A $14 billion arms sale package to Taiwan is still in limbo after President Donald Trump returned from Beijing in May and said he had discussed the proposal “in great detail” with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, heightening anxieties in Taiwan and raising concerns among lawmakers on the Capitol Hill. “We need those arms...