After months of angry demands for Sri Lanka's president to stand down, protesters laughed, took selfies and treated themselves to a swim as they suddenly found themselves inside his home.. Since then, it has been the official residence of Sri Lanka's heads of state -- but many past leaders have believed it to be haunted.
A massive fire that ravaged 650 hectares (1,600 acres) and forced people to evacuate in southern France has been brought under control, the fire service said Saturday.. Described by emergency responders as a "mega-fire", the blaze started near the village of Bordezac and forced evacuations from nearby Besseges and other settlements on Thursday night.
The number of people killed in an avalanche in the Italian Dolomites rose to 11 on Saturday, which was expected to be the final death toll, police said.. "We've reached a toll of 11.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Washington saw "no signs" of Russia engaging with G20 diplomats over its invasion of Ukraine after Moscow faced a barrage of criticism at talks in Indonesia.. "We saw no signs whatsoever that Russia is prepared to engage in meaningful diplomacy," Blinken said after meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Saturday.
A day after the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, a steady stream of mourners, many in tears, arrived at the scene of his murder in western Japan to offer flowers and prayers.. "I'm just in pain, and I thought the least I could do was come here and lay some flowers," the company worker told AFP. When he heard about the death of Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, "I could understand what was being said in the news, but I just couldn't accept it."
The United States and China held "constructive" talks Saturday, Washington's top diplomat said, after an unusually long meeting aimed at preventing bilateral tensions from spiralling out of control.. The meeting, in which the pair held morning talks and then a working lunch, largely focused on preventing competition spilling over into unintentional conflict but also Washington's opposition to Beijing on a range of issues including Taiwan and human rights.
Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence on Saturday shortly before protesters, angered by an unprecedented economic crisis, stormed and overran the compound. . The colonial-era state mansion is one of Sri Lanka's key symbols of state power and officials said Rajapaksa's departure raised questions as to whether he intended to remain in office.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Saturday took part in Eid al-Adha prayers on the second day of his first visit to ex-rebel-stronghold Aleppo in over a decade, state media reported.. "President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday performed Eid al-Adha prayer at Sahabiy Abdallah bin Abbas mosque in Aleppo city," state news agency SANA reported.
Russian troops pursued their "relentless" shelling of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region on Saturday, as the United States promised new military aid to Kyiv including powerful rocket launchers. . "The entire frontline is under relentless shelling," the head of the Donetsk military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said in a Telegram message on Friday night.
Indonesian farmer Okky Pratama usually sells dozens of cattle for Eid al-Adha, making his biggest earnings around the Islamic day of sacrifice, but this year he has sold just five.. Suharyanto said small farmers whose cattle were culled will receive up to 10 million rupiah ($666) in compensation -- well short of the thousands of dollars farmers earned from Eid sales last year.
