Search mission ends in Genoa as death toll from bridge collapse rises to 43

The bodies of a couple and their nine-year-old daughter were pulled from the twisted rubble of the collapsed Genoa bridge, officially drawing a line under the search and rescue mission. The last bodies were pulled from the wreckage as a report claims experts were aware the bridge was deteriorating. Firefighters discovered the last remaining missing…

Analysis: Brussels dodges populist bullet as Sweden Democrats fall short

Brussels will look on the results of the Swedish election and breathe a sigh of relief. It could have been much, much worse. By the time the smoke clears, the fonctionnaires of the EU will have realised that they don’t have the political disaster on their hands that some may have feared. The far right…

South Korean president Moon criticised over political nominees’ ‘ethical infractions’

Moon Jae-in, the South Korean president, is coming under withering attack for nominations to some of the senior positions in his administration after it was revealed that five of the names put forward have skeletons in their closets.  Confirmation hearings are taking place before the National Assembly after Mr Moon decided to shuffle his cabinet…

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing suspends carpooling after driver rapes and kills woman

China’s transport ministry on Sunday slammed Didi Chuxing’s safety lapses as the ride-hailing giant said it would suspend its Hitch service after the rape and murder of a passenger, the second such killing this year. A 20-year-old female passenger was raped and killed by her driver on Friday in the eastern city of Wenzhou, barely three months…

British Second World War veteran sets scuba diving record at age of 95

A 95-year-old British veteran of the Second World War broke his own record on Saturday as the world’s oldest scuba diver after taking the plunge to explore a shipwreck off Cyprus. Ray Woolley, who turned 95 on August 28, already holds the record as the oldest active male scuba diver. On Saturday he dived for 44 minutes at a depth of…

China ‘building military base in Afghanistan’ as increasingly active army grows in influence abroad

China is to build its first military base in Afghanistan for hundreds of troops carrying out counter-terrorism training missions across the border from its western Xinjiang region, according to reports. The base will be only the second overseas site for the increasingly active Chinese military, coming a year after a base was opened in Djibouti…

Egypt sentences photographer to jail and hands down 75 Muslim Brotherhood death sentences

An Egyptian court handed a five-year jail sentence to award-winning photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid on Saturday and confirmed death sentences against 75 people in one of the largest mass trials since the 2011 uprising. Abu Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, who earlier this year received UNESCO’s World Freedom Prize, is however expected to walk free…

Team-based spaceship battler Dreadnought launches on PS4

Dreadnought, the free-to-play multiplayer game about big spaceships which don’t get along, has moved out of open beta and launched on PlayStation 4. Arriving in the launch build are voice chat, Trophies and aim assist, and there’s still a lot to do. “It’s been a fun, crazy beta experience,” read an announcement on the Dreadnought…