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PARIS (AP) — A pro-Russian hacking group claimed responsibility for a major cyberattack that halted package deliveries by France’s national postal service just days before Christmas, prosecutors said Wednesday.After the claim by the cybercrime group known as Noname057, French intelligence agency DGSI took over the investigation into the hacking attack, the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement to The Associated Press.The group has been accused of other cyberattacks in Europe, including around a NATO summit in the Netherlands and French government sites. It was the target of a big European police operation earlier this year.Central computer systems at French…

The late Emperor Hirohito of Japan should be held accountable under international law for the crimes of Unit 731, according to Chinese scholars who say the wartime ruler authorised the infamous programme but was shielded from prosecution by US policy after World War II.The secret Japanese military unit in northeastern China, which was responsible for human experimentation, biological warfare and at least tens of thousands of civilian deaths, had been created by imperial order in 1936, said Zhou Donghua, a contemporary history professor at Hangzhou Normal University.Before Japan’s surrender, evidence of its crimes was systematically destroyed on the instruction of…

That underscored a sluggish state of affairs at Mao Geping, about two months after opening its first overseas location in the city, and the broader challenges faced by Chinese beauty – dubbed C-beauty – brands seeking to expand sales outside the mainland.The cosmetics firm was named after founder Mao Geping, China’s most famous make-up artist, who was behind numerous mainland films, television programmes and reality shows.“Mao Geping is finally here in Hong Kong,” trumpeted the firm’s account on the Chinese social media platform RedNote, which only had 30 followers. This post received four heart emojis.According to its prospectus, Mao Geping…

MOSCOW (AP) — Three people, including two police officers, were killed in an explosion in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian investigators said, just days after a car bomb killed a high-ranking general not far away.The two traffic police officers were approaching a “suspicious individual” when an explosive device detonated, Investigate Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement. The two officers, as well as another person standing nearby, died from their injuries.Investigators and forensic experts are working at the scene, Petrenko said.The incident took place in the same area of the Russian capital where Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov was killed by…

As Hamdaniyah Surbakti, a 62-year-old resident of Aceh province, began to pick up the pieces of her house that was destroyed by last month’s severe floods, she inevitably thought about the 2004 tsunami that devastated Indonesia and other parts of the world.“It was worse than the 2004 tsunami,” said Hamdaniyah, referring to the recent torrential rains and flash floods that swept across northern Sumatra.“When the tsunami came, it only hit one area around [the provincial capital of] Banda Aceh. The flood this time covered almost all of Aceh.”On December 26, 2004, a 9.1 underground earthquake erupted off Sumatra, with the…

Washington is not pursuing a forceful strategy towards China but Beijing’s “historic” military build-up is making the US increasingly vulnerable, the Pentagon said in its annual report to Congress on military developments related to China.“We do not seek to strangle, dominate, or humiliate China … We seek only to deny the ability of any country in the Indo-Pacific to dominate us or our allies,” the 100-page report released on Tuesday said.“China’s historic military build-up has made the US homeland increasingly vulnerable” it added, citing Beijing’s growing arsenal of nuclear, maritime and conventional long-range strike, cyber and space capabilities “able to…

Hong Kong stocks rose on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street’s rally, as investors grew more confident about earnings growth prospects despite fading expectations for near-term US rate cuts.The Hang Seng Index increased 0.2 per cent to 25,812.34 at 9.50am local time, erasing the 0.1 per cent loss recorded on Tuesday. The Hang Seng Tech Index climbed 0.4 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index were little changed.Hong Kong’s stock market will trade for only half a day on Wednesday and remain closed on Thursday and Friday for the Christmas holiday.Leading the gainers, search-engine giant…

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Search teams on Wednesday recovered the cockpit voice and flight data recorders from the jet that crashed and killed Libya’s military chief and other senior officers, while efforts to retrieve the victim’s remains were still underway, Turkey’s interior minister said. The private jet carrying Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other officers and three crew members crashed in Turkey on Tuesday after taking off from the capital, Ankara, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to…

KARACHI: Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) has made a groundbreaking discovery at its LAL X-1 exploratory well in Kashmore, Sindh, marking a significant step into the country’s unconventional gas sector. While the well’s initial flow rate of 0.138 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) may seem modest, industry analysts say the find is a major technical achievement. For the first time, hydrocarbons have been successfully extracted from the Lower Alabaster Formation, a geological layer previously considered too challenging to exploit in the region. Unlike conventional gas reservoirs, where hydrocarbons flow freely through porous rock, the LAL X-1 well tapped tight…

LAHORE: The Pakistan Railways (PR) has made significant progress during 2025 in revenue generation, safety, infrastructure upgradation, digitization and administrative reforms, delivering tangible benefits for passengers and contributing positively to the national economy. According to senior railways officer Babar Raza, Pakistan Railways generated over Rs93 billion in revenue during 2025, while Rs50 billion is expected in the first half of the financial year 2025–26. He said if the current momentum continues, the organization is likely to achieve a historic milestone of Rs100 billion in revenue by the end of financial year. He said the upgradation of the safety department to…