Blog

Darlington Public School bested more than 220 other architecture projects at the 2024 World Architecture Festival in Singapore. Photo: CNN / Brett Boardman A humble suburban school in Australia has fended off competition from skyscrapers, museums and airport terminals to be named World Building of the Year 2024. Darlington Public School, in the Sydney suburb of Chippendale, beat more than 220 other shortlisted designs to win the coveted annual prize at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore on Friday. Opened last fall, the project combines an angular brick campus building, featuring a distinctive "sawtooth" roof, with landscaped outdoor spaces, including a large basketball court and a community garden. Softly curved metal screens surround a series of open-air terraces, allowing da...

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi pictured here entering the European Union building in Geneva in December 2014. Photo: AFP / Fabrice Coffrini Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi denied US charges that Tehran was linked to an alleged plot to kill Donald Trump and called on Saturday (local time) for confidence-building between the two hostile countries. "Now ... a new scenario is fabricated ... as a killer does not exist in reality, scriptwriters are brought in to manufacture a third-rate comedy," Araqchi said in a post on X. He was referring to the alleged plot which Washington said was ordered by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards to assassinate Trump, who won Tuesday's (local time) presidential election and takes office in January. "The American people have made their decision. ...

Josep Borrell, right, examines destroyed Russian military equipment in Kyiv. Photo: AFP / Sergei Supinsky EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell sought to reassure Ukraine of Europe's unwavering support on Saturday, days after Donald Trump's election win cast uncertainty over its war effort. Borrell, the first top EU official to visit Kyiv since Trump's win, said that the purpose of his visit was to stress EU support for Ukraine, as its war with Russia nears 1000 days. The European Union has already provided 122 billion euros (NZ$219 billion) in military and financial support to Ukraine and trained about 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers, said Borrell, adding that the bloc aimed to reach 75,000 by the end of the winter. "This support remains unwavering. This support is absolutely needed for you ...

By Andrew Mills, Reuters The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on a camp in Gaza. Photo: AFP / Saeed Jaras Qatar will stop trying to mediate a Gaza ceasefire deal until Hamas and Israel show a "sincere willingness" to return to the negotiating table, an official briefed on the matter told Reuters on Saturday, in the biggest setback to efforts to reach a truce since the war began. The Gulf country has also concluded that Hamas' political office in Doha "no longer serves its purpose", the official added, in a blow to the Palestinian militant group whose top leaders have been assassinated by Israel. Qatar, alongside the United States and Egypt, has played a major role in rounds of so-far fruitless talks to broker a ceasefire to the year-long war in Gaza. The latest round of talks in mid...