Robert S. Mueller III, the FBI director who transformed the nation’s premier law enforcement agency into a terrorism-fighting force after the September 11 attacks and who later became special counsel in charge of investigating ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, has died. He was 81. “With deep sadness, we are sharing the news that Bob passed away” on Friday night, his family said in a statement on Saturday. “His family asks that their privacy be respected.” At the FBI,...

US President Donald Trump ⁠on Saturday threatened to ⁠deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement ⁠agents to US airports if congressional Democrats do not immediately agree to fund airport safety. “I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one ‌has ever seen before,” Trump wrote in a social media post. Transportation Security Administration personnel are set to miss a second full pay cheque on March 27 amid a partial government shutdown...

Police have arrested a woman on suspicion of child abuse after she allegedly hit her 12-year-old son with a rattan cane in a Hong Kong flat. The police force said it received a report at 2.48pm on Saturday from a boy in Wong Tai Sin who complained he had been beaten by his mother. The boy, whose shoulder was red and swollen, was later taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei for treatment after police arrived at the public housing flat on Tsui Fung Street. Officers conducted an initial...

King Harold’s legendary 200-mile march across England to the Battle of Hastings in 1066 is a “myth” that likely never happened, according to research published on Saturday. In arguably the most famous battle in English history, the Anglo-Saxon leader was defeated by William the Conqueror, who became the first Franco-Norman king of England, at Hastings on October 14, 1066. The decisive clash, which marked the start of the Norman conquest of England, is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, set to be...

China has announced major discoveries of various critical minerals, including rare earths and fluorite, bolstering its reserves of the resources essential for the hi-tech, new energy and defence industries. At the Maoniuping mine in Sichuan province’s Mianning county, authorities announced the discovery of 9.7 million tonnes of rare earth oxides, bringing the site’s total proven reserves to 10.4 million tonnes, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday. Surveys also revealed 27.1 million...

Hawaii suffered its worst flooding in more than 20 years as heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week ago, officials said on Friday, while warning that more rain was expected during the weekend. Muddy floodwaters smothered vast stretches of Oahu’s North Shore, a community world renowned for its big-wave surfing. Raging waters lifted homes and cars and prompted evacuation orders for 5,500 people north of Honolulu. Authorities cautioned that a 120-year-old...

Washington’s deployment of an amphibious assault ship from Japan to the Middle East could signal a temporary reduction in US military capacity in the Indo-Pacific region but will not necessarily diminish its deterrence of China, according to analysts. According to American media reports, the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli has left its home port in Japan and is making its way to the Middle East, carrying 2,500 marines on board. According to Marinetraffic.com, which monitors ships based on...