Author: admin
Facebook Tweet Email Link Hong Kong — Days before winning his second presidential term, Donald Trump made a bold promise: if he returned to the White House, he would free a pugnacious, self-made billionaire from a Hong Kong prison. “100% I’ll get him out. He’ll be easy to get out,” Trump declared in a podcast interview in October, radiating his trademark confidence. Nearly ten months later, that tycoon Jimmy Lai – a pro-democracy firebrand and persistent thorn in Beijing’s side – remains behind bars. The 77-year-old media mogul has spent more than 1,600 days in a maximum-security prison, much of…
Taylor Swift’s latest will be her 12th studio album, and her fans know how important the number after that is to the singer. The number 13 has long been Swift’s favorite. “I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first No. 1 song had a 13-second intro,” Swift told late night talk show host Jay Leno back in 2009. “Every time I’ve won an award I’ve been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th…
Facebook Tweet Email Link MEXICO CITY AP — Mexico sent 26 alleged cartel figures to face justice in the United States because the Trump administration requested them and Mexico did not want them to continue running their illicit businesses from Mexican prisons, officials said Wednesday. The mass transfer was not, however, part of wider negotiations as Mexico seeks to avoid higher tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump, the officials said. “These transfers are not only a strategic measure to ensure public safety, but also reflect a firm determination to prevent these criminals from continuing to operate from within prisons…
Facebook Tweet Email Link Peruvian President Dina Boluarte signed into law Wednesday a bill granting amnesty to police officers, military personnel and members of civilian self-defense committees who took part in counterterrorism activities during the country’s bloody 20-year fight against leftist guerilla groups. The amnesty will cover members of the security forces who stand accused of abuses during that period, but not apply to those who have already been convicted or are accused of terrorism or public corruption charges. Between 1980 and 2000, Peru’s security forces were engaged in fighting with rebel groups including the Shining Path and the Tupac…
Facebook Tweet Email Link Anchorage, Alaska — Alaska is unlikely to have been on many peoples’ bingo cards as the venue for a key summit between the leaders of the United States and Russia. Yet America’s biggest, remotest state is where Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are now set to meet for one of the most potentially consequential encounters of their presidencies. That’s certainly the view from Moscow, where pro-Kremlin propagandists are already flushed with anticipation at the benefits this much-anticipated face-to-face meeting will deliver. Or, more specifically, will deliver for Putin. Firstly, the fact a summit with the…
Facebook Tweet Email Link President Donald Trump would love cultural elites to sniff at his Kennedy Center honorees. He relished unveiling the stars he’ll fete at the iconic arts center’s annual gala later this year, after motorcading to the complex Wednesday through streets now patrolled, on his orders, by federal agents and army reservists. The line-up explains a lot about him, his power and why he’s president. “Rocky” star Sylvester Stallone, Broadway legend Michael Crawford, disco icon Gloria Gaynor, country crooner George Strait and glam rock band KISS are more populist than “high” culture. That’s not to say that they…
Facebook Tweet Email Link Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations, plus the latest in aviation, food and drink, and where to stay. Cape Town is the best city in the world, says Time Out — unless that is, you’re under 30. The publishing giant, famous for its best-of lists of everything from cool streets to foodie destinations, has released its first-ever “best cities” list tailored to young people, and it’s notably different from the multigenerational ranking shared earlier this year. In January, its annual survey of more than 18,500 city-dwellers worldwide crowned…
Facebook Tweet Email Link The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday dismissed South Korean claims the North is removing some of its loudspeakers along the inter-Korean border, mocking the government in Seoul for clinging to hopes of renewed diplomacy between the war-divided rivals. South Korea’s military said over the weekend that it had detected the North removing some of its loudspeakers, days after the South dismantled its own front-line speakers used for anti-North propaganda broadcasts in a bid to ease tensions. Kim Yo Jong reiterated previous North Korean statements that it has no immediate interest…
Taylor Swift People in entertainment Travis Kelce People in sports See all topics Facebook Tweet Email Link Taylor Swift got candid in a nearly two-hour pre-recorded podcast with her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce that at one point brought more than a million viewers to a YouTube stream on Wednesday evening. Teasers released ahead of her inaugural appearance on “New Heights” revealed the singer would be talking about her new album, “The Life of a Showgirl” and opening up about her historic Eras Tour, which concluded in December 2024. She hit on both subjects at length in…
Facebook Tweet Email Link Mexico City AP — Nearly five centuries after Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés signed it and decades after someone swiped it from Mexico’s national archives, the FBI returned a priceless manuscript page to Mexico on Wednesday. The FBI said in a statement that the document had changed hands various times over the years, so no one will be charged. “This is an original manuscript page that was actually signed by Hernán Cortés on February 20, 1527,” said Special Agent Jessica Dittmer, a member of the FBI’s Art Crime Team. By then, Cortés had conquered the Aztec empire…