August ties for world's hottest month on record, scientists say

2 min agoA Hong Kong court found the publisher of the Wall Street Journal guilty of deterring reporter Selina Cheng from taking a role at the Hong Kong Journalist Association. Cheng was dismissed weeks after her appointment as chair of the union in 2024, with the newspaper citing restructuring. The court cleared the publisher of a second charge.

32 min agoA fire broke out on the M/V June Aster near Coron in Palawan province on Wednesday night. The vessel was carrying 134 people—117 passengers and 17 crew members. The Philippines Coast Guard said at least five died and 87 remain missing, with 42 rescued, though it cautioned the figures are preliminary.

1 h agoPresident Trump offered $5,000 to each adult American if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress, speaking at the party's national convention in Dallas, Texas. He told supporters to vote in the midterms as if voting for him personally and warned that a Republican loss would mean losing border control, tax cuts, security and prosperity.

2 h agoMasked protesters gathered outside a Portsmouth hotel expecting asylum seekers, only to discover the building housed Pakistan's Under-19 cricket team. A local councillor clarified the misunderstanding and the protesters left. The England and Wales Cricket Board is reviewing security for the visiting team.

2 h agoThe EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said August pushed global temperatures to 1.65C above pre-industrial levels, matching the hottest month since records began. Extreme weather last month—including landslides and flash floods that killed hundreds in Nepal and Tibet, wildfires across Indonesia to Greece, and severe drought in Hungary and Romania—has been linked to climate change by researchers.

3 h agoA fire broke out aboard a ferry carrying 134 passengers and crew as it neared the tourist destination of Coron in Palawan. The vessel sank, leaving five people dead and 86 missing. Coast Guard footage showed the ship engulfed in flames as rescuers recovered bodies.

4 h agoPresident Trump addressed a Republican convention in Dallas on Wednesday, vowing his party would surge forward in November's midterms despite weak approval ratings and voter discontent over prices and the war with Iran. Trump said the conflict would end immediately after the elections, but White House officials have warned him it could extend through the end of his term in 2029.

4 h agoBrent crude futures rose to $101.34 a barrel as Iran said it attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz following U.S. strikes on five Iranian oil tankers. Oil flows through the strategic waterway remain well below pre-war levels, prompting the U.S. Energy Information Administration to raise its price forecasts for the year ahead.

5 h agoFive people were confirmed dead and more than 80 were missing after a fire broke out aboard the MV June Aster off Palawan island in the western Philippines on Wednesday night, the Philippine Coast Guard said. Forty-three people were rescued from the vessel in waters off Coron, Palawan. The ferry's manifest listed 117 passengers and 17 crew members.

5 h agoPresident Donald Trump pledged a $5,000 "dividend" to every adult American citizen if Republicans win both the House and Senate in the 2026 midterms, announcing the plan at the party's convention in Dallas on Wednesday. Trump said the funds would have to be spent within the United States. Some commentators accused him of attempting to bribe voters.