Donatella Versace has said her family's luxury fashion label will no longer use real furs in its products, according to an interview with a British magazine.The Italian fashion queen and Versace's creative director told The Economist's 1843 magazine that it would stop the practice, without providing further details on the change."Fur? I am out of that," Versace said. "I don't want to kill animals to make fashion."It doesn't feel right." (W Magazine)Versace's headquarters in Milan, Italy, could n

British Prime Minister Theresa May was expected to announce retaliatory action against Russia on Wednesday after Moscow rejected her “unfounded accusations” over the poisoning of a Russian former double agent on UK soil.Relations between the two countries have deteriorated rapidly in the 10 days since ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were attacked with a nerve agent in sleepy Salisbury, southwest England.The British premier said on Monday it was “highly likely” that Russia was behind

Stephen Hawking, who has died aged 76, was Britain's most famous modern day scientist, a genius who dedicated his life to unlocking the secrets of the Universe.Born on January 8, 1942 -- 300 years to the day after the death of the father of modern science, Galileo Galilei -- he believed science was his destiny.But fate also dealt Hawking a cruel hand.Most of his life was spent in a wheelchair crippled by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a form of motor neurone disease that attacks the nerves

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced the departure of his top diplomat Rex Tillerson, to be succeeded by the current CIA chief Mike Pompeo. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. (Yonhap)"Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State.He will do a fantastic job!" Trump tweeted."Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service!" he added.The US president announced the appointment of Gina Haspel to head the Central Intelligence Agency -- the first woman tapped for the p

GENEVA (AFP) -- The UN’s expert on human rights in North Korea said Monday that he sees the “potential for rapid progress” after the announcement of a summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.Tomas Ojea Quintana, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in North Korea, made the comments as he introduced his report on the country to the Human Rights Council. Tomas Ojea Quintana (Yonhap)“Today, we witness what appears to be a potential for rapid progress on the po

PARIS - The Chinese Communist Party's decision to give President Xi Jinping a mandate to rule for life is further evidence of the world's slide towards more nationalist, authoritarian regimes, analysts said.China's rubber-stamp parliament, meeting in the imposing Great Hall of the People for an annual session, made Xi the most powerful leader since Mao Zedong on Sunday by scrapping term limits that would have forced him to step down after 2023.The decision moves one-party China further away from

Slovakia's Henrieta Farkasova won the first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics on Saturday in women's vision impaired downhill skiing.   Farkasova and her guide Natalia Subrtova finished in 1min 29.72 sec, beating second-placed Millie Knight of Britain and her guide Brett Wild by 0.86 sec.   It was the Slovakian's sixth Paralympic gold in vision impaired skiing. Belgium's Eleonor took the bronze medal, finishing the course in 1min 31.60 sec.   Slovakia's Henrieta Farasova and her g

ADDIS ABABA -- Washington's top diplomat Rex Tillerson said Thursday the United States was "a long way from negotiations" with North Korea, which this week made a shock offer to discuss denuclearisation. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson holds a news conference with African Union (AU) Commission Chairman Moussa Faki, of Chad, after their meeting at African Union headquarters, Thursday, March 8, 2018 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)"We're a long way from negotiations, we j

NEW YORK -- Health service provider Cigna said Thursday it had reached an agreement to acquire pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts in a cash and stock deal worth approximately $67 billion (54 billion euros).The firms said the deal would create a wider portfolio of health services with greater choice, as well as helping make them more affordable."Together, our two organizations will help make the healthiest choices the easiest choices, putting health and pharmacy services within reach of ev

The EU said Wednesday it would hit flagship US products including peanut butter, orange juice and bourbon whiskey with counter measures if US President Donald Trump goes ahead with threatened steel and aluminium tariffs. US President Donald Trump (Yonhap)The blow by Brussels came hours after Trump's trade offensive brought the resignation of his top economic advisor Gary Cohn, an influential ex-Goldman Sachs banker who fiercely opposed the measures. EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said

UNITED NATIONS, United States -- China has put a hold on a US request at the United Nations to ban 33 ships from ports worldwide and blacklist 27 shipping firms for helping North Korea circumvent sanctions, according to a document seen by AFP on Monday.The United States presented the request on Feb. 23 to a UN sanctions committee as part of a crackdown on smuggling of North Korean commodities, in violation of UN sanctions resolutions.China on Friday “placed a hold on the proposals” from the Unit

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday vowed to work with the Social Democrats for the "good of Germany", after the centre-left party cleared the last hurdle in the way of the veteran leader's fourth term by agreeing to join her new coalition. This file photo taken on February 9, 2018 shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel holding a flower bouquet given to her by the President of the German Horticultural Association in the chancellery in Berlin. Long dubbed the "Queen of Europe", Germany's veteran Ch

The Italian league postponed all seven Serie A matches scheduled for Sunday after the overnight death of Davide Astori, the Fiorentina captain.In this file photo taken on September 29, 2013 Cagliari's forward Davide Astori reacts during the Italian Serie A football match Cagliari vs Inter Milan at Nereo Rocco Stadium in Trieste. Astori was found dead on March 4, 2018. (Yonhap-AFP)The game between Udinese and Fiorentina, where Astori was due to play, had been called off in the morning, as had the

Italians went to the polls on Sunday in one of the country's most uncertain elections ever, with far-right and populist parties expected to make major gains and Silvio Berlusconi set to play a leading role.Polling stations opened at 0600 GMT and will close at 2200 GMT, with initial results expected early on Monday.Italians cast votes at a polling station in the general election, Sunday. (AFP)Tensions between far-right and anti-fascist activists have marred a gloomy campaign dominated by fears ab

Dozens of US couples donned crowns and cradled guns at a controversial ceremony in a Pennsylvania church on Wednesday, forcing a nearby school to close and angering protesters.   The incongruous event in Newfoundland, part of rural Pennsylvania that voted 68 percent for President Donald Trump in 2016, underscored the gulf between those who fiercely defend the US constitutional right to bear arms and advocates of greater gun control.   The event, in which couples commit to each other, was organiz

The half-brother of North Korea's leader expressed fears for his life months before he was assassinated in Malaysia in a Cold War-style hit, a court heard Tuesday. The chilling new detail emerged at the trial of two women, Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam, who are accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13 last year. Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, center, is escorted by police as she arrives for a court hearing at Shah Alam High Court

Japan has reported a fresh suspected sanctions violation by Pyongyang to the UN after spotting an apparent cargo transfer involving a North Korean tanker, the Japanese foreign ministry said Tuesday.The statement came after US President Donald Trump rolled out what he called the "heaviest sanctions ever" levied on the Pyongyang regime, designed to put the squeeze on North Korea's already precarious economy and fuel supply. The screenshot snapped Tuesday by Yonhap News Agency at the Japanese Forei

BERLIN -- A South Korean director in the eye of a #MeToo storm defiantly rejected abuse accusations against him at the Berlin film festival Saturday, saying he ensures no one “suffers” on the sets of his ultraviolent, sexually explicit art movies.Acclaimed filmmaker Kim Ki-duk, who has picked up prizes at the Cannes, Venice and Berlinale festivals, faced a barrage of questions from reporters about allegations of physical and sexual abuse by an actress he worked with in 2013. Director Kim Ki-duk

Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu clinched the first back-to-back men's Olympic figure skating title in more than six decades on Saturday to cement his status as the "Ice Prince" of the modern era.The 23-year-old superstar made light of a three-month injury hiatus to emulate American Dick Button, who won gold in 1948 and 1952.Hanyu led a Japanese one-two as Shoma Uno took silver, ahead of Spain's Javier Fernandez with bronze. (AFP)"I'm relieved to be able to skate here as a lot of people supported me," Hanyu

Ethiopia declared a state of emergency on Friday, a move capping a tumultuous week that saw the prime minister resign, a strike in the country's largest region and a massive prisoner amnestyCiting a decision by the council of ministers, the the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation said: "A state of emergency has been declared as of now."It gave no timeline for the emergency decree, the second since 2016, which was announced in a statement read by an anchor on the state broadcaster.The communique e