World news
Service station destroyed in huge fire which forced part of motorway to close
Part of Fleet motorway service station has been destroyed in a massive fire, forcing the southbound carriageway of the M3 to close overnight. It started in a restaurant coffee machine, quickly spreading through the complex. Hundreds of teenagers trash luxury apartment they rented for massive bender Dramatic photographs show it...
NASA scientist warns Earth is due for ‘extinction-level’ event
A NASA scientist is warning that Earth is due for an “extinction-level” event like a comet or asteroid strike — and claims there won’t be anything we can do to stop it. Joseph Nuth, an award-winning scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, told attendees during Monday’s annual...
Commodities round-up: Gold, oil futures slide as Fed meeting approaches
Crude oil and precious metals headed lower on Tuesday (13 December) ahead of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting slated for Wednesday, with the market pricing in a 25 basis point rate hike for the first time in 12 months. Both gold and silver took a pounding. The Comex gold contract for February delivery...
Trump picks Rick Perry as secretary of energy
Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will nominate former Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) to lead the Department of Energy — an agency he once wanted to eliminate. “As the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry created created a business climate that produced millions of new jobs and lower energy prices in his state, and he...
An acid rainstorm lasting 100,000 years melted snowball Earth to let life emerge
An era of acid rain showering the whole world may have been all it took to push Earth from a giant snowball-like state towards the environment we know today. Intense chemical weathering is the likely cause of the end of a period known as the Marinoan glaciation, which happened form 650 to 635 million years ago, according to a...
Student arrested after bringing weapons into Trump Tower
A 19-year-old college student was arrested after entering Trump Tower with weapons and fireworks, police sources said Tuesday. Alexander Wang was busted after strolling into the heavily guarded building at 721 Fifth Ave. at about 6:35 p.m Monday, the sources said. When Secret Service agents checked his backpack, they found a...
Kanye West spotted at Trump Tower
Is Kanye West gunning for an inauguration performance gig? The rapper was spotted arriving at Trump Tower on Tuesday morning with an entourage. It was not immediately clear if he was headed to meet with President-elect Donald Trump. The 39-year-old rapper — who suffered a much-publicized meltdown last month in LA –...
Rex Tillerson set to be secretary of state
US President-elect Donald Trump has selected Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson to lead the State Department. That's according to two people close to Trump's transition team. The decision caps a lengthy process that often played out In public and exposed rifts within Trump's transition team. But Tillerson's close...
Teacher missing after NT school excursion
A teacher has gone missing while swimming at a watering hole in the Northern Territory during a school excursion. Police have launched a search and rescue operation at Ellery Rock Big Hole in the McDonnell Ranges for the man aged in his 40s. The Education Department is notifying parents and counselling is being made available...
UN secretary-general warns of atrocities in Aleppo with rebels nearing collapse
The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, has warned of atrocities against civilians in eastern Aleppo after the Syrian military said it had gained control of 99% of the area with rebels on the brink of defeat. Amid reports from one Syrian TV station that the battle was over, Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said "the...
Carolyn Maloney is throwing a party — for pandas
A local politician isn’t giving up on her obsession to bring giant pandas to the Big Apple — even as critics are bam-booing her plan. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queens), who has been pushing to bring the beloved black-and-white bears from China to New York for years, announced Sunday that...
Japan hits back at China’s accusation of ‘unprofessional’ behaviour by its fighter jets
Japan has strongly protested against China on Monday (12 December) after Beijing accused that Tokyo engaged in "dangerous and unprofessional" behaviour by scrambling its fighter jets over important waterways. Japan said the allegations were groundless and were factually wrong. The Japanese Self-Defence Forces...