Cholera has killed more than 3,000 people worldwide since the start of the year, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, insisting its goal of cutting global cases by 90 percent by 2030 remained in reach. The disease killed nearly 7,900 people in 2025, making it “the deadliest year for cholera since 1999”, according to Lorenzo Pezzoli, WHO lead for epidemic-prone bacterial diseases. While data for the first nine months of 2026 show a decline in deaths, more than 3,000 people have still...

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth called an impeachment bill against him a “farce” on Tuesday, defending the ongoing war in Iran and the air strikes against drug traffickers as “lawful operation”. Speaking at his first press conference in more than 180 days, Hegseth described Thomas Massie, a Republican lawmaker who introduced the impeachment bill against him on Monday, as “one disgruntled and defeated congressman” who is attempting to “damage” US President Donald Trump due to a “personal...

The Chinese and French winners of the 2026 Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine have highlighted the spirit of “borderless connections” and friendship behind their research – which turned a rare form of leukaemia from deadly to widely curable. At an awards ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Tuesday attended by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, the life scientists celebrated their breakthrough as an “East meets West” success story and called for collaboration to...

British children’s author and comedian David Walliams used his fame to groom girls and young women for sex, two British news outlets reported on Tuesday. ITV News and the Guardian newspaper said they spoke with multiple women who accused Walliams of preying on them. One woman said he sexually assaulted her when she was 15. Walliams, 55, denied the allegations. He had sought a court injunction to bar ITV News and the Guardian from identifying him in their reporting. His lawyers claimed that...

China hawks in Washington could weaponise allegations that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by Chinese intelligence, despite denials from Beijing, Chinese experts warn. They said controversy would give US hardliners fresh ammunition to push for tougher curbs on AI chip exports to China. One of them compared the potential fallout to the 2023 “spy balloon” incident, when the US shot down in its airspace what Beijing said was an off-course weather balloon, putting relations on ice for...

A political storm sparked by US media reports alleging American intelligence agencies suspect Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was targeted in an espionage operation – a claim Beijing has denied – threatens to intensify Washington’s tech blockade on China following a Democratic midterm victory. Analysts said the twin developments could give the US Congress the political momentum needed to plug loopholes in existing semiconductor restrictions, accelerating efforts to curb third-country chip smuggling and...

Prominent climate change activist Greta Thunberg arrived Tuesday at the UN climate meeting, where she emphasised the need to protect people and the planet over profits and power. This year’s meeting – called the Conference of the Parties, or Cop31 – comes after a year of climate-induced heatwaves and other disasters. As she arrived at the meeting venue in Antalya, Turkey, Thunberg, 23, said climate change is “threatening everything” and that “everything and everyone we love is at stake”. “We...