The director of public prosecutions is facing mounting pressure to further explain the collapse of a case against two men accused of spying for China. MPs are demanding Stephen Parkinson give a “fuller explanation” of why charges against parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash, 30, and academic Christopher Berry, 33, were dropped last month. Both men deny the allegations. Parkinson has blamed the collapse of the case on a failure by the government to provide enough evidence showing China was a threat to the UK’s national security. But calls for clarification have grown after the government published witness statements on Wednesday outlining...

Two Ukrainian men pleaded not guilty Friday to plotting arson attacks earlier this year at properties linked to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Roman Lavrynovych, 21, and Petro Pochynok, 35, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life between April 1 and May 13. They are accused along with another man, Ukraine-born Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, with setting fire to Starmer’s personal home, along with a property where he once lived and a car he had sold. Carpiuc, 27, did not enter a plea during the hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court. Prosecutors said the case was not...

Pressure mounted Friday on police authorities in the English city of Birmingham to reverse a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans attending a Europa League game at Aston Villa next month over security concerns, a decision that drew widespread condemnation. Behind the scenes, the government was seeking to resolve the row, which comes at a time of heightened worries about antisemitism in Britain following a deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue earlier this month and calls from Palestinians and their supporters for a sports boycott of Israel over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza. British Prime Minister Keir...

One of his kids asked him why he had that serious look. 🗣️ Henry replied: “I was upset that day… we were playing against Tottenham, and I don’t like Tottenham.”

 Dozens of South Koreans allegedly involved in online scams in Cambodia are about to be flown back home aboard a charter plane, officials said Friday. The repatriation follows the death of a South Korean student who was reportedly forced to work in a scam center in Cambodia. His death triggered public outrage in South Korea, prompting the government to send a delegation to the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, for talks on joint responses. Cambodian Interior Ministry spokesperson Touch Sokhak said 64 South Koreans are set to be repatriated from Cambodia late Friday. South Korean national security director Wi Sung-lac earlier told a briefing in...

A Taiwanese airline has apologised for requesting paperwork from an employee after her death, in the latest development of a case that has sparked widespread anger. The 34-year-old Eva Air flight attendant, surnamed Sun, died earlier this month after reportedly feeling unwell during a flight. Days after her death, the airline texted her asking for proof that she applied for leave during the time she was in hospital. Ms Sun’s death has enraged many online amid speculation that she was overworked. Taiwanese authorities and Eva Air are now investigating whether Ms Sun was denied medical help or discouraged from taking...

 China’s second-highest ranking general and eight other senior officials have been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and the military on suspicion of serious misconduct linked to corruption, the Defense Ministry said Friday. He Weidong, who was the vice-chair of the powerful Central Military Commission, is the most senior official targeted so far in an ongoing anti-graft drive against Chinese military leaders. The nine officials are suspected of extremely serious crimes involving exceptionally large sums of money, Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said in a statement posted online. Their cases have been investigated and referred to military prosecutors for review...

 Venezuelan government officials have floated a plan in which President Nicolás Maduro would eventually leave office, a bid aimed at easing mounting U.S. pressure on the government in Caracas, according to a former Trump administration official. The proposal, which was rejected by the White House, calls for Maduro to step down from power in three years and hand over authority to his vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, who would complete Maduro’s current six-year term that runs until January 2031, according to the official who was briefed on the plan but was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on the condition of...

The house rocked as if an earthquake had struck, and suddenly it was floating. Water seeped in through the front door, and waves smacked the big glass window. From the lone dry room where Alexie Stone and his brothers and children gathered, he could look outside and see under the water, like an aquarium. A shed drifted toward them, threatening to shatter the glass, but turned away before it hit. The house came to rest just a few feet away from where it previously stood, after another building blocked its path. But it remains uninhabitable, along with most of the...

Before last weekend, if you’d have asked about Col Michael Randrianirina on the island of Madagascar, you’d have got a lot of blank looks. In just a few days, however, he has become the most powerful person in country and has now been sworn in as president. Randrianirina’s sudden ascent began last Saturday, when as the head of Madagascar’s elite Capsat army unit, he drove with his troops into the centre of the capital city, joining thousands of protesters who had long been demanding the president’s resignation. After Andry Rajoelina eventually fled the city and MPs voted to impeach him, 51-year-old...