Police are responding to reports of an “active shooter” at a synagogue outside Detroit, Michigan, where smoke is billowing from the roof. FBI Director ‌Kash Patel wrote on ‌social media: “FBI personnel are on the ⁠scene ⁠with partners ‌in Michigan and responding ‌to the apparent ‌vehicle ramming ‌and active ⁠shooter situation out of Temple ⁠Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield ‌Township, ‌Michigan.” “At least one individual came to the temple,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told...

A UK judge on Thursday jailed for 13 years a mother-of-10 who forced a vulnerable woman to work as a “house slave” for more than two decades. Amanda Wixon subjected the woman, who was a teenager when the ordeal began, to more than 25 years of abuse at her squalid home in Gloucestershire, western England. The 56-year-old forced the victim, who has a learning disability, to do manual labour, regularly assaulted her and deprived her of food and healthcare, it emerged during an earlier 13-day...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has taken responsibility for his “mistake” in sending Peter Mandelson to Washington as ambassador, as Downing Street denied there was a “cover-up” in the release of files related to the appointment. The prime minister is facing fresh questions about his judgment in giving Mandelson the ambassadorship despite being warned of a “general reputational risk” because of his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In his first public appearance since the...

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Anchors Academy, recognised as one of Hong Kong's leading private schools for kindergarten and primary education, is taking a significant leap forward. The school has announced the extension of its educational offering to include Junior Secondary (Years 7 to 9)*, alongside a strategic partnership with the UK's historic St Bees School (founded 1583) to establish St Bees (Anchors) Sixth Form College in Hong Kong*, all...

Hong Kong customs officers have arrested two men in a crackdown on a syndicate accused of laundering HK$4.7 billion (US$600.54 million) in criminal proceeds over four years and running a drug business. Investigators from customs’ financial investigation bureau said on Thursday the group operated through two companies, receiving large sums of unexplained funds and channelling them through more than 2,100 transactions. The money‑laundering tactics involved shell companies, frequent transfers and...

Iran’s new supreme leader has vowed to keep blocking the Strait of Hormuz, attack US bases and avenge the blood of its martyrs in his first statement since succeeding his father. “The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must definitely be used,” Mojtaba Khamenei said about the strategic waterway, which supplies a fifth of the world’s oil. Khamenei urged Iran’s Gulf neighbours to close US military bases in the region “as soon as possible, because they must have realised by now that the claim...

With the Strait of Hormuz effectively weaponised as part of the Iran crisis, Beijing should move beyond rigid non-intervention to take targeted action to defend its massive interests abroad, according to a leading Chinese government adviser. In an interview published on Monday, Zheng Yongnian called for a more assertive “intervention 2.0” while avoiding US-style hegemonic overreach or “strong-arm” tactics. He argued that China’s commitment to “absolute non-intervention” was becoming increasingly...