Pittards are calling in administrators after failing to secure necessary funds.

New Zealand’s government announced an inquiry into its banking sector amid concerns that lenders are making excessive profits.

Some right-wing US politicians want Ukraine to vote as scheduled next year. Ukrainians don't.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov thanked North Korea for aiding Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine as he landed in Pyongyang for a two-day visit on Wednesday. Mr Lavrov is in North Korea for meetings viewed as preparatory efforts ahead of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s visit as Moscow and Pyongyang slide closer in diplomatic cooperation against Ukraine and the West. Moscow “deeply” valued Pyongyang’s “unwavering and principled support” for Russia in the war, Mr Lavrov said, speaking at a reception hosted by North Korean officials on Wednesday. Mr Lavrov’s visit to Pyongyang happened in the backdrop of Russia’s threat to the US for its decision to send long-range missiles to Ukraine for the first time. Russia claimed the move increased the risks of a direct conflict between Nato and Moscow. Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Tuesday that the Ukrainian military used the US-supplied ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) for the first time this week and struck two Russian military airfields. Amid the growing friendship between North Korea and Russia, there was tangible activity of likely military support being sent to Moscow as a US think-tank on Tuesday shared satellite images showing continued activity around a North Korean port near Russia. It captured at least six trips by sea between North Korea’s port of Rajin and Russia’s Dunai port since late August. These shipments were possibly related to the transfer of North Korean munitions to Russia, the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said. “Likewise, the Russian Federation extends its complete support and solidarity with the aspirations of the DPRK,” Mr Lavrov said, referring to North Korea by its official name Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. North Korea, he said, has remained unfazed by any pressure of the US and the West”. This week’s visit will offer a "valuable opportunity" to review and outline practical steps for the implementation of the agreements reached between the two leaders, Mr Lavrov said. North Korea’s foreign minister Choe Son Hui said the bilateral ties between North Korea and Russia are now developing into an “unbreakable comradely relationship” under the leadership of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un. North Korean state media said that the Russian foreign minister’s visit comes at a time when the ties between the two nations have reached a strategic high and will mark a “significant occasion” in further consolidating relations between the countries.” Photos of Mr Lavrov’s visit shared by North Korea showed he was welcomed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s foreign minister as people holding flowers and flags of both nations dotted the way. Mr Lavrov started his visit a month after Russia hosted the North Korean leader Mr Kim in a grand ceremony to mark his rare visit after the pandemic. During the six-day visit, the North Korean leader extended an invitation to Mr Putin to Pyongyang as the two discussed military cooperation in the backdrop of Russia’s war in Ukraine and tensions in the Korean peninsula. The Russian foreign minister may also brief North Koreans on the results on Mr Putin’s anticipated visit to China, Russia’s TASS news agency reported. In a separate incident, a North Korean cargo-passenger ferry that had carried foreign tourists from Japan or South Korea was seen at a drydock at the same port. This could be most likely for maintenance, the CSIS said. It is not immediately clear if the vessel was used to supplement trade activity between Russia and North Korea. However, North Korea has recently shared a shipment of weapons with Russia last week, the White House said last week, terming it a troubling development. The allegations were refused by the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. Read More Russia's foreign minister will visit North Korea amid claims of weapons supplied to Moscow US says North Korea delivered 1,000 containers of equipment and munitions to Russia for Ukraine war North Korea releases letters from Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin vowing to take ties to ‘new heights’ North Korea vows strong response to Pentagon report that calls it a 'persistent' threat Satellite images show spike in border activity as North Korea ‘supplies weapons to Russia’ for Ukraine war

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the UK’s next general election wasn’t a priority for him right now,

ZURICH Billionaires increased in numbers and overall wealth last year, Swiss bank UBS said on Thursday, with the

A Hong Kong court has upheld a ruling that favored the granting of equal inheritance rights to same-sex couples

After a long inquiry, a judge has concluded many questions about Melissa Caddick's fate will go unanswered.

Fiji claimed the last place in the World Cup quarter-finals in the most dramatic of fashions on Sunday, suffering a shock 24-23 defeat at the hands of Portugal but picking up a bonus point which was...

Robert Bowers, an American truck driver, was sentenced to death on Wednesday for massacring 11 Jewish worshippers five years ago in the deadliest...

A man whose wife disappeared in 1998 has died by suicide just as the cold case was getting renewed attention. Jim Sweeten, 79, called police in Texas to say that he was going to take his own life. Law enforcement found him dead at his home at an RV park in Welasco, about five miles from the border with Mexico on Wednesday, according to Fox 23. The authorities said he was found in a shed with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The discovery was made just two days after the disappearance of his wife, 25 years ago, was once again in the news as police found a barrel in a body of water close to the home in Oklahoma where they had lived until she disappeared. Peggy Sweeten, a special education teacher, was 52 when she vanished. The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma wrote on Facebook that “Law enforcement returned to the former Sweeten home Monday this week to conduct an underwater search and retrieve a metal barrel that was discovered a few weeks ago and could possibly have been a burn barrel that was noticed to be missing around the same time as Peggy’s disappearance. No human remains were located. This is a cold case that has been under active investigation”. When she vanished, Mr Sweeten claimed that she had left with a lover, but no evidence was found to support this theory, and he shortly stopped cooperating with the investigation. He rejected efforts to conduct a property search or take part in a polygraph test. When questioned in 2011, Mr Sweeten told officials that he thought “he should consult an attorney,” according to Valley Central. A detective wrote in an application for a search warrant that Mr Sweeten “appeared to be deceptive and evasive” and he “appeared to be attempting to find out how far the investigation had progressed and what [the investigator] knows and what direction the investigation was headed”. Police assumed that Ms Sweeten was dead as the years passed following her disappearance. She was last seen on 13 January 1998. Police shared the worry with local media that, as the investigation progressed, Mr Sweeten might kill himself or flee to Mexico, according to Fox 23. Mr Sweeten was a former Kansas superintendent who had been having an affair with a teacher from another district, according to the 2011 warrant. He filed for divorce just weeks after Ms Sweeten’s disappearance. He claimed to police that when he got back from a conference, Ms Sweeten had left him a note to say that she was leaving him, but all her belongings, including her car, clothes, and personal mementos, were left behind. There was nothing indicating that she was planning to leave. Mr Sweeten told law enforcement that his wife had met a man online, but she never used email and didn’t have an email address. Read More Thirty tonnes of explosive chemicals go missing in the Mojave Desert Oklahoma lures Enel solar panel manufacturing facility with $180M incentive package More women sue Texas, asking court to put emergency block on state's abortion law

The Philippine economy expanded faster than expected in the first quarter, as resilient post-pandemic demand helped defy elevated