Russia’s flagship independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta announced on Friday it was closing, saying it had been “killed” by state pressure after years of repression targeting its journalists whose reporting was critical of the Kremlin and its Ukraine war. The closure of Novaya Gazeta – one of the last outlets to openly criticise Russia’s offensive – marks the latest outcome of Moscow’s campaign against dissenting voices, which intensified after the Kremlin sent troops into its neighbour in...

South Korea will file criminal complaints against students caught cheating on a national university entrance exam with smart glasses and toughen penalties for their use, a government official has said. Sales of smart glasses – which allow the wearer to shoot photos and videos and interact with an AI assistant among other abilities – are growing worldwide. But so is a backlash around the gadgets, including concerns over people being filmed without consent and their use by exam cheats. South...

Pollution from smoke emitted by months of wildfires across Indonesia caused an estimated 3,560 deaths in the vast Southeast Asian archipelago in September, according to a new study. The same month, about 57.8 million people in Indonesia were inhaling unhealthy to hazardous air, said the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a Helsinki-based think tank. “Worsening air quality due to forest and land fires in Indonesia pushed the estimated death toll to 3,560 cases in September 2026,...

France’s interior minister has warned of a “very high risk of public disorder” and announced the deployment of around 70,000 police officers for a new wave of protests this weekend. France has been rocked by widespread anger over the rising cost of living and inequality, with nationwide demonstrations on October 17 degenerating into some of the country’s worst rioting in years. The Yellow Vest movement and student unions have called for a new day of protests on Saturday. The demonstrations come...

Australian mushroom murderer Erin Patterson lost a bid to overturn her convictions and had a harsher sentence imposed on Friday, failing to prove she was wrongfully jailed for killing three people with a poisoned lunch. Patterson was found guilty last year of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt, deliberately lacing their beef Wellington meal with highly toxic death cap mushrooms. The 52-year-old maintained her triple murder convictions were a “miscarriage of justice”, urging the...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s camp finished ahead of the opposition but remained well short of a majority, final results from Israel’s general election showed Friday, setting the stage for tough coalition talks or potentially another vote. Netanyahu’s coalition of right-wing and far-right parties won 53 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, with his Likud party remaining the largest faction with 27 seats. The opposition bloc, led by centrist Gadi Eisenkot, secured 48 seats. The results from the...