The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela departed a bit early on Thursday on its way to the capital of the South American country, seven years after the US Homeland Security Department ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns. The resumption of a commercial flight between the two countries comes months after the US capture of then-president Nicolas Maduro in a stunning night-time raid on his residence in Caracas in early January. It also comes...

The US economy accelerated at the start of 2026, expanding at a modest 2 per cent pace from January through March after recovering from last fall’s 43-day federal government shutdown. But the outlook is clouded by the Iran war. The Commerce Department reported on Thursday that gross domestic product – the nation’s output of goods and services – rebounded from a lacklustre 0.5 per cent expansion the last three months of 2025. The federal government’s spending and investment grew at a 9.3 per cent...

The British government on Thursday called antisemitism in the UK an “emergency”, and said it would spend millions increasing security around Jewish sites after a string of arson attacks and a double stabbing. It announced £25 million (US$34 million) for more police patrols and protection around synagogues, schools and community centres after two Jewish men were stabbed and seriously injured in London’s Golders Green neighbourhood on Wednesday. The victims, aged 34 and 76, are in stable...

Activists sailing on dozens of boats attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid say Israeli forces intercepted them overnight Wednesday into Thursday, detaining the crews while the flotilla was sailing hundreds of kilometres from Gaza near the southern Greek island of Crete. The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail earlier this month from Barcelona. Organisers have said more than 70 boats and 1,000 people from around the world would be participating,...

Federal investigators say they believe the man who carried out a mass shooting at Brown University and later killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor did not act randomly. Instead, former Brown student Claudio Neves Valente, 48, appeared to target places and people for what they represented in his own life – institutions and individuals he associated with personal failure, missed opportunity and perceived injustice. In a detailed behavioural assessment released on Wednesday, the...

The man charged with trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and kill US President Donald Trump took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes earlier, outfitted with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife, authorities said on Wednesday in a new court filing. Cole Allen wore black pants, a black shirt and a red tie as he snapped the image in his room at the Washington Hilton, where Trump and hundreds of journalists were meeting for a...

London police say the stabbing of two Jewish men on Wednesday has been declared a terrorist incident. Metropolitan Police say they are investigating whether the attack specifically targeted the Jewish community. The force says the incident, in the Golders Green area, left two men, aged 34 and 76, hospitalised with knife wounds. A 45-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Police are investigating whether the stabbings are linked to recent arson attacks on synagogues and...

Ukraine used interceptor systems to shoot down more than 33,000 Russian drones of various types in March, a record monthly figure since Moscow launched its all-out invasion more than four years ago, Ukraine’s defence minister claimed. Ukraine has developed cutting-edge and battle-tested drone technology that has proved essential in holding back Russia’s bigger army and has drawn military interest from around the world. Interceptor drones as part of a comprehensive air defence system are now...

An 89-year-old man armed with a hunting rifle opened fire inside a Greek social security office in Athens on Tuesday, wounding an employee in the leg, authorities said. The suspect then carried out a second shooting at a courthouse in the city, leaving four more people lightly injured. The attack was reportedly sparked by problems with the man’s pension payments. He was arrested a few hours after the shootings in the port city of Patras, state broadcaster ERT reported. Earlier, local media...

A man accused of pledging allegiance to Islamic State group and plotting to attack one of superstar singer Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna nearly two years ago pleaded guilty as his trial began on Tuesday, Austrian media reported. The plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still cancelled Swift’s three performances in August 2024. The singer’s fans, known as Swifties, who had flown to Austria from across the globe to attend a performance of her record-setting Eras Tour were devastated,...

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Mexico’s most powerful criminal enterprise, suffered another blow on Monday when the Mexican military captured one of its top leaders in the northwest of the country, two months after the cartel’s leader was killed. Audias Flores Silva, also known as “El Jardinero”, or The Gardener, was seen as a possible successor to the killed leader and the United States had a US$5 million reward out for information leading to his arrest. The CJNG regional commander was...

Archaeologists and researchers at the ancient Roman site of Pompeii have used artificial intelligence for the first time to digitally reconstruct the face of a man killed in the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius that smothered the city, offering a new way to understand one of history’s most famous natural disasters. The digital portrait represents a man whose remains, along with those of another person, were discovered as they attempted to flee the city towards the coast of what is now Italy...