Kate Spade, designer who built handbag empire, found dead
NEW YORK – Kate Spade, the designer who built a fashion empire on the popularity of her signature handbags before selling the brand, was found dead in her New York…
Ban plastic bags? UN seeks to cut pollution as recycling falls short
OSLO – Less than a 10th of all the plastic ever made has been recycled, and governments should consider banning or taxing single-use bags or food containers to stem a…
Van Gogh landscape sells for 7 mln euros at auction
PARIS – An early landscape by Vincent Van Gogh, one of the art world’s most sought-after painters, has sold for 7.07 million euros ($A10.8 million) at an auction in Paris.…
Hong Kong former lawmakers sentenced to 1 month in jail
HONG KONG – A Hong Kong court has sentenced two former lawmakers to four weeks in jail for unlawful assembly inside the legislature while they were still lawmakers, further sapping…
US urges China to come clean on Tiananmen anniversary
BEIJING – The United States urges China to make a full public account of those killed, detained or who went missing during a crackdown on student-led pro-democracy protests in and…
German police shoot man at Berlin Cathedral
BERLIN – German police have shot a man who had rampaged through the Berlin Cathedral, police in the German capital said on Twitter, urging the public not to spread rumours.…
Sisi sworn in for second Egyptian presidential term amid crackdown on critics
CAIRO – Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been sworn in for a second term as Egyptian president amid a crackdown on his opponents, after a landslide victory in a March election…
Britain says militant Islamist threat to stay high and may rise further
LONDON – The threat posed by Islamist militants to Britain is expected to remain high for the next two years and could even rise, the interior ministry said, on the…
Plastic bags clog stomach of dead whale in Thailand
BANGKOK – Some 80 pieces of plastic rubbish weighing eight kg have been found in the stomach of a whale that died in Thailand after a five-day effort to save…
Philippines Duterte tells UN human rights expert: ‘Go to hell’
MANILA – Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has told a UN human rights expert who said the country’s judicial independence was under threat to ‘go to hell’, warning against interference in…
