Many of those curbs remain in place today, even though English is now cited as the most comfortable language for nearly half of Singaporeans.

Since the 1990s, the Speak Mandarin Campaign has shifted its focus to English-educated ethnic Chinese, and away from those who speak dialects.

"The campaign has achieved what it set out to do - it has established Mandarin as the common language among Chinese Singaporeans and dismantled the dialect landscape," reads a letter by two filmmakers published last week in local newspaper the

Jorge Rodríguez said 250 buildings had been damaged or lost, mostly in La Guaira, where the BBC verified footage of a 10-storey hotel reduced to rubble. On Thursday, people were searching for loved ones there.

Juan Ortiz told the BBC one of his close friends had been confirmed dead, another was believed to be under the rubble, and around 20 people he knew who live in the coastal area were missing.

"I'm in shock and confusion, and frustrated that I

The UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) has paused the planned evacuation of more than 11,000 sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz after a cargo ship passing through the waterway was attacked.

IMO chief Arsenio Dominguez said several boats had already been evacuated, but the agency wanted to ensure that "necessary safety guarantees" would continue to be in place.

The British maritime security agency UKMTO reported on Thursday that a ship had been struck 7.5 nautical miles southeast of Oman's port of

A group of women, who have alleged sexual assault or rape in France, are calling for the abolition of the statute of limitations which they say has prevented them seeking justice in criminal proceedings.

It is the first time more than 50 women alleging sexual assault and rape by men, including Jeffrey Epstein, his former business partner and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel and billionaire businessman Mohammed Al Fayed, have come together collectively to demand the change to French law.

Currently, there is a 20-year statute of

TPS recipients can legally live and work in the US for up to 18 months, subject to extensions. During this period, they can not be removed or detained by authorities on the basis of their immigration status.

The US first provided TPS to Haitians after a major earthquake in 2010 and to Syrians after their country descended into civil war in 2012.

Thursday's decision is likely to have implications for TPS holders from other countries too.

In his ruling, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that

Rumours continue to swirl about whether pop queen Taylor Swift will marry NFL star Travis Kelce at New York City's Madison Square Garden over the 4 July Independence Day weekend, after city officials confirmed someone applied for a street closure permit nearby.

Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for the mayor's office, told the BBC a permit was filed in early June to close roads around Madison Square Garden from 2 to 4 July.

The New York Times first reported the permit news and that several players on Kelce's Kansas City

Rodríguez addressed the nation on state television channel VTV more than two hours after the quakes.

Prior to that, official information had been very scant, no doubt due to the fact that communication channels to some of the worst affected areas were down. But it is also a result of restrictions placed on independent media under the Maduro government, which have led to the closure of hundreds of mainly local radio stations and news sites, which in the past would have been key to providing localised updates.

Rodríguez was

Vusimusi "Cat" Matlala, a central figure in a major ongoing police graft inquiry in South Africa, has pleaded guilty to corruption, fraud and money-laundering charges as part of a deal with state prosecutors.

He was accused of bribing top police officials to win a 360m rand ($22m; £16.5m) tender for his health company Medicare24 in 2024.

The plea deal, which has not yet been accepted by the magistrate, would result

Weekend temperatures could also hit 40C in the Austrian capital Vienna, and a code red comes into effect in eight out of 12 provinces in the Netherlands from midnight on Thursday local time, with the chance of 39C in localised eastern areas.

The UK's Met Office has extended its red extreme temperatures warning until Friday evening, for parts of London and south-eastern England.

In Italy , Florence's Uffizi museum has halted ticket sales until 28 June, and only those with a previous