Comment on US-Philippine military drills may be scaled back

King Charles III’s net worth has increased by $12.5 million (£10 million) over the past year, bringing his total net worth to approximately $772 million (£610 million) according to the newly-published 2024 Sunday Times Rich List, which ranks the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the U. K. Charles is ranked number 258 on this year’s list, a slight climb from his last year’s ranking of 263. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Charles’ net worth is significantly higher than that of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, whose fortune was estimated to be $470 million in 2022.

The question of how many people have died in Gaza since Israel began a bombing and ground campaign in response to Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7 attack has taken on renewed urgency as President Biden tries to forestall a full assault by Israel against Hamas’ leadership and remaining battalions into the densely-populated city of Rafah.

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has undergone another operation two days after being shot multiple times and remains in serious condition, officials said Friday. Fico, 59, was attacked as he was greeting supporters after a government meeting in the former coal mining town of Handlova. A suspected assailant has been arrested. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Miriam Lapunikova, director of the University F.

The Israeli government’s approach to Hamas has been, by most accounts, a strategic failure. Israel’s citizens were not protected on Oct. 7, 2023, despite what seems to have been indicative prior warning of that appalling Hamas attack. And the decisive military defeat of Hamas remains elusive. The staggering death, injury, and suffering inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza in response has also helped turn much global opinion sharply against Israel, while doing little to bolster the security of ordinary Israelis. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Historically, it is responses to terrorism that have changed the world more than the violence itself, often in profoundly unwelcome ways.

The handshakes were warm, smiles beaming, as Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Tuesday. As the two strongmen greeted flag-waving schoolchildren from a red carpet, the People’s Liberation Army band played the Soviet-era ditty Moscow Nights, whose waltzing lilt stood in stark contrast to the mayhem sown by Russia’s latest offensive in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, which has forced almost 8,000 people from their homes. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Officially, Putin’s trip is to mark 75 years since the Soviet Union recognized the People’s Republic of China, with a gala to mark the occasion, though his war of choice casts a long shadow.

In a blow to Australian soccer, three A-League players were arrested Friday as part of a monthslong investigation into alleged betting corruption. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] In December 2023, the New South Wales state police and the UK Gambling Commission began a probe into alleged yellow card manipulation by players linked to a southwestern Sydney club.