The Pentagon has flouted a court order blocking it from enforcing a policy limiting news reporters’ access to the Defence Department’s headquarters, a lawyer for The New York Times asserted on Monday in urging a federal judge to compel the government’s compliance with the 10-day-old order. US District Judge Paul Friedman did not immediately rule from the bench after hearing a second round of arguments from lawyers for the newspaper and the Trump administration. The New York Times claims Pentagon...

A French court on Monday issued an arrest warrant and a one-year prison sentence against the Chinese captain of a suspected Russian “shadow fleet” tanker over failing to comply with orders to stop his ship. Chen Zhangjie, 39, was sentenced in absentia after the French navy boarded the Boracay tanker in September before releasing the vessel and its crew days later, in what Russian leader Vladimir Putin condemned as “piracy”. The court in the western city of Brest also ordered Chen to pay a...

French authorities are investigating a suspected link to Iran after thwarting a bomb attack outside a Bank of America building in Paris at the weekend, the interior minister said on Monday. The authorities suspect a link to Iran due to similarities to other recent attempted attacks in Europe which a pro-Iran group claimed responsibility for, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said. On Saturday morning, Paris police officers spotted two suspects carrying a shopping bag near the Bank of...

After a seven-hour drive to a trading post in northern Philippines, 35-year-old farmer Elmer Ullani took home nothing but an empty petrol tank even after selling 10 tonnes of cabbage. Ullani, who hails from the northern town of Tinoc in Ifugao province, said he only managed to sell his produce – yielded over three harvest rounds – at a paltry rate of 8 to 9 pesos (15 US cents) per kilogram, earning him a total of 90,000 pesos (US$1,482). All of his earnings went towards covering his fuel...

The world is bracing for an aluminium supply shock after two major Middle Eastern smelters were damaged in Iranian attacks over the weekend, a disruption likely to push more production to China in the near term and potentially for years to come, analysts said. Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), a leading regional producer, reported “significant damage” at its Abu Dhabi site following strikes by Iranian missiles and drones, while Aluminium Bahrain said it was assessing the extent of damage at its...

Fire alarm and firefighting pump systems at the housing estate engulfed in Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades were found to have been switched off a week before the tragedy struck, with no action taken to reactivate them, an evidential hearing has been told. An independent committee investigating the Tai Po blaze, which broke out on November 26 last year and killed 168 people, on Monday also called on the public to provide information on whether systemic problems – such as collusion – had...

Hong Kong police have arrested a 36‑year‑old man on suspicion of taking upskirt images of a woman in a Sha Tin mall. Officers received a report from a passer-by that a man was secretly filming a woman inside the GreenPrice store in New Town Plaza shortly before 2pm on Monday. Police arrived and arrested him on suspicion of unlawful recording or observation of intimate parts. He has been detained, and a Sha Tin district investigation team is handling the case. A female staff member told media...