The Oberoi Rajvilas in Jaipur, India, has been named the world’s best hotel in Travel + Leisure’s “World’s Best 100 Hotels” for 2024. Renowned for its luxurious accommodations, including private gardens and plunge pools, the hotel offers a serene environment where guests can enjoy morning yoga and a variety of spa services. Visitors have praised the property as a “truly magical place.” The rankings were based on a survey of 186,000 readers, who cast ov

KYIV -- Ukrainian forces pushed on with their major cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk region for a second week Wednesday, claiming to have taken more ground, captured more Russian prisoners and destroyed a jet bomber while launching what officials said was a massive attack on Russian military airfields. Since the start of the day, assault troops had advanced one to two kilometers in some parts of Kursk, the commander of the Ukrainian military, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in a video pos

TOKYO -- Typhoon Ampil is expected to make landfall in Japan on Friday, the country's weather forecasters said Wednesday of what will be the second weather system to strike the archipelago in a week. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) forecasts that the slow-moving typhoon, currently south of Japan, will close in on the eastern or northern part of the country Friday through Saturday with a "strong force." In an advisory at 5:05 p.m., Typhoon Ampil was packing gusts of up to 162

A growing number of Americans are choosing not unlikely to have children, according to recent research by the Pew Research Center. A 2023 survey of 1,916 adults ages 18 to 49 who do not have children It revealed that 47 percent have no plans to become parents, according to a survey that included 770 adults ages 18 to 49 who do not have children and say they are not too or not at all likely to have them. This figure represents a 10 percentage point increase since 2018 and a 3 point rise from

Gaza Strip (AP) -- The Israeli military ordered more evacuations in southern Gaza early Sunday after a deadly airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the north killed at least 80 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. Israel said it targeted a militant command post, killing 19 fighters. Israel has repeatedly ordered mass evacuations as its troops have returned to heavily destroyed areas where they had previously battled Palestinian militants. The vast majority of Gaza's popula

Vietnam has been voted the most affordable country for expatriates, according to a survey by InterNations, as reported by CNBC. The annual research, which surveyed 12,000 expats across 174 territories, sought insights into the best places to live, quality of life, personal finance and working abroad. In the “personal finance” category, Vietnam ranked first out of 53 destinations, maintaining its top position from 2021, 2022 and 2023. The personal finance index measures respondents&

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Kamala Harris introduced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to the nation at a raucous rally Tuesday in battleground Pennsylvania that was aimed at building momentum for the newly minted Democratic presidential ticket in the sprint toward Election Day. “He’s the kind of person who makes people feel like they belong and then inspires them to dream big. ... That’s the kind of vice president America deserves,” Harris said while standing with Walz in Philadelphia. T

Diplomatic pressure mounted Monday to avoid an escalation between Iran and Israel following high-profile killings that have sent regional tensions soaring, while numerous governments urged their citizens to leave Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Sunday that his country was "determined to stand against" Iran and its allied armed groups "on all fronts." As its war against Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza nears its 11th month, Israel has been bracing for ret

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on Monday, ending 15 years in power as thousands of protesters defied a military curfew and stormed her official residence. Shortly after local media showed the embattled leader boarding a military helicopter with her sister, Bangladesh’s military chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman announced plans to seek the president's guidance on forming interim government. He promised that the military would stand down, and to launch an investigation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The US is deploying additional military might in the Middle East as a defensive measure with a goal of deescalating tensions in the region, a White House official said on Sunday. Regional tensions have increased following the assassination on Wednesday of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tehran a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander from the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Both groups are back

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said late Friday that he had agreed to debate his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, on Fox News on Sept. 4. "I have agreed with FoxNews to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. It was not immediately clear if Harris had agreed to the debate. Trump's post came hours after the vice president had secured the Democratic Party's nomination as standar

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- An Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank killed a commander in the Palestinian armed group Hamas on Saturday, Hamas media reported, while Palestinian news agency WAFA said four other men were also killed. The identities of the others were not clear, according to the WAFA report, which cited health officials. The Israeli military said it had carried out an airstrike against a militant cell around the West Bank city of Tulkarm. Hamas media said a vehicle c

Landslides in southwest China on Saturday destroyed homes and caused a highway bridge to collapse, killing at least two people and leaving around 17 others missing, authorities said. State broadcaster CCTV said "local mountain torrents and landslides" swept away part of Ridi village in Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province. The disasters killed two people and left 12 missing, CCTV reported, adding that "the disaster situation is undergoing further verification.&quo

WASHINGTON --US Vice President Kamala Harris has officially earned the necessary number of delegate votes in a virtual voting process to become the Democratic Party's standard-bearer for the Nov. 5 presidential election, the party's national committee chief said Friday. Just a day after online voting kicked off, Harris, the only party candidate, received more than a majority of votes from delegates to become the nation's first woman-of-color presidential nominee as she has been

For the third year in a row, Austria’s capital Vienna has been named the “world’s most liveable city” by The Economist magazine. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s evaluation of 173 cities worldwide, Vienna achieved an impressive score of 98.4 points, with perfect scores in four out of five categories: Stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Following Vienna, Copenhagen in Denmark, Zurich in Switzerland and Melbou

LONDON -- The Bank of England cut interest rates from a 16-year high on Thursday after a narrow vote in favour from policymakers divided over whether inflation pressures had eased sufficiently. Governor Andrew Bailey -- who led the 5-4 decision to lower rates by a quarter-point to 5 percent -- said the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee would move cautiously going forward. "We need to make sure make sure inflation stays low, and be careful not to cut interest rates too quickly or by too m

WAYANAD, India — Hopes of finding more than 180 missing people alive waned as rescue workers searched through mud and debris for a third day Thursday after landslides set off by torrential rains killed at least 194 people in southern India. The rescue work was challenging in a forested, hilly area while more rain fell, said PM Manoj, a spokesperson for Kerala state’s top elected official. Nearly 40 bodies were found some 30 kilometers from the area in Wayanad district where the mai

Deadly landslides in the southern Indian state of Kerala killed at least 188 people, local government officials said on Wednesday, as rescuers resumed search operations for the 225 missing people feared trapped by mud and debris. The landslides in the hilly Wayanad region took place in the early hours of Tuesday, trapping people in their homes while they were asleep. The local government is compiling data on the number of people residing in the area, those found after the landslide and those sti

Incheon Airport has been ranked third on the list of the World’s Best Airports by Skytrax, an international air transport rating organization. The top spots were claimed by Doha’s Hamad International Airport in Qatar and Singapore Changi Airport, respectively. This marks the first time since 2019 that Incheon has placed in the top three. Skytrax surveyed passengers from over 100 countries between August 2023 and March 2024, evaluating more than 570 airports worldwide. The criteria

The upcoming US presidential election on Nov. 5 has set the stage for a new showdown between former Republican President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic candidate. According to the Associated Press, recent surveys indicate that Vice President Harris has secured the delegates to be the Democratic nominee, effectively replacing President Joe Biden as the party's candidate.