Social Media

Residents confronted Amsterdam's mayor on a controversial plan to move legal sex work from the city's historic Red Light District to a suburban "erotic centre". In a meeting hall in the south of the city, hundreds of angry locals who don't want a "mega brothel" on their doorstep teamed up with sex workers who want to stay in their red neon booths. In the middle of the row is Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema, who is sticking to a plan that few people seem to like. Amsterdam's red light district relocation proposal sparks concerns "It's not possible," one mother said in tears at the meeting in the south of Amsterdam, near one of three sites that Halsema has proposed for the 100-room erotic centre.

One day after China simulated “joint precision strikes” on Taiwan during military exercises around the island, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu condemned Beijing’s actions in an exclusive interview with CNN and warned that “they seem to be trying to get ready to launch a war against Taiwan.” “Look at the military exercises, and also their rhetoric, they seem to be trying to get ready to launch a war against Taiwan,” Wu said.

A global scamming network has robbed ordinary investors of more than a billion dollars. BBC Eye identified a shadowy network of businessmen who appear to be behind it. First, you hear a phone ringing. An elderly man answers. The caller introduces himself as "William Grant", from the trading firm Solo Capitals. He says he has a "great promotion" to offer. The elderly man sounds vulnerable and confused. "I'm not interested, I'm not interested," he says. But William Grant is persistent. "I only have one question," he tells the old man. "Are you interested in making money?" Jan Erik, a 75-year-old pensioner in Sweden, is about to get scammed - again. The call was made from the offices of Solo Capitals, a purported cryptocurrency trading firm based in Georgia. The recording is hard to listen to - not only does the elderly man, Jan Erik, sound muddled, he tells the caller he has already lost one million Swedish Krona (about £80,000) in trading scams.

While carrying credit card debt is never advisable, now is a particularly tough time for consumers, with the average interest rate hitting a record high in the first quarter of 2023. The average credit card interest rate is now 20.92%, which is higher than it's been at any point since the Federal Reserve began tracking annual percentage rates (APRs) in 1994, according to a new study from WalletHub. For new credit card offers, the average interest rate in the first quarter hit 22.15%, up from 18.32% during the same period a year earlier, according to the study.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Americans in the nation's capital weighed in on whether President Joe Biden should run for reelection in 2024, with many sharing concerns about the chief executive's age. "No, he's too old," Anthony of New York told Fox News. "He can't form a coherent sentence. I don't think he's fit to run."

The US and the Philippines are holding their largest-ever joint military drills a day after China concluded large-scale exercises around Taiwan. Over three days, China's military rehearsed blockades of Taiwan in response to the island's leader meeting the US House Speaker last week. Washington criticised China's display of firepower as disproportionate, while Taiwan President Tsai said it was "irresponsible" and she had the right to make visits to the US. The US drills had been earlier planned. Filipino and US officials say the drills show their commitment to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region that is open and free. Washington announced last month that their annual Balikatan exercise with the Philippines would be their largest ever - involving more than 17,000 troops, including 12,000 from the US.

The Italian coastguard is carrying out two large-scale operations to rescue around 1,200 migrants from overcrowded boats off the coast of Sicily. About 800 people are travelling on one of the fishing boats, while around 400 are on another. The country's coastguard has already rescued around 2,000 people in other operations since Friday. At least two people died during the weekend's boat crossings, German non-profit ResQship said. Migrant arrivals to Italy have risen steeply compared with the same period last year, despite efforts by the right-wing coalition government to clamp down on irregular migration. The boat carrying 400 people, which is believed to have set out from Tobruk in Libya, was still without help late on Monday evening, according to an unofficial hotline for migrants in distress, Alarm Phone.

Chinese technology giant Alibaba has announced plans to roll out its own artificial intelligence (AI) ChatGPT-style product called Tongyi Qianwen. Its cloud computing unit says it will integrate the chatbot across Alibaba's businesses in the "near future" but did not give details on its timeline. In recent months, technology companies around the world have unveiled their own so-called generative AI chatbots. Earlier this year, Alibaba revealed it was working on a rival to ChatGPT.

Interest rates in major economies are expected to fall to pre-pandemic levels because of low productivity and ageing populations, according to a forecast. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said increases in borrowing costs are likely to be "temporary" once high inflation is brought under control. The Bank of England has been raising interest rates since December 2021, taking them from 0.1% to 4.25%. This has raised mortgage payments for many homeowners. Central banks in the UK, the US, Europe and other nations have been lifting interest rates to combat the rate of price rises, otherwise known as inflation.

At least 53 people have been killed, according to survivors, in one of the deadliest airstrikes by the Myanmar military in the ongoing civil war. They say that the dead include at least 15 women and a number of children. The BBC cannot verify the numbers. Tuesday's attack targeted a village in the north-western Sagaing region, which has opposed the military government. The military has increasingly used air strikes against their opponents since they seized power in February 2021. Communities in Sagaing have put up some of the strongest opposition to military rule in Myanmar, forming their own militias and running their own schools and clinics. One villager told the BBC that a military jet had flown over at around 07:00 local time (01:30 BST) and dropped a bomb, followed by a helicopter gunship which attacked the village for twenty minutes.

A man fractured his penis after it buckled against his partner while having sex in a notoriously risky position. The 37-year-old, from Indonesia, showed up to hospital with a swollen, bloody and severely bruised penis, which doctors said resembled an aubergine. The patient explained that he heard a 'loud popping sound' while having sex a few hours earlier in the reverse cowgirl position — when the woman is on top and faces away from her partner. Doctors found he had fractured his penis and rushed him in for emergency surgery, where they repaired the damage.

Buckingham Palace on Sunday revealed further details ahead of the coronation of King Charles III, which will take place in London in less than a month’s time. The new British sovereign will be crowned alongside his wife, Camilla, in a deeply religious service at Westminster Abbey that will take place on the morning of May 6. There will be two processions through the streets of the British capital on coronation day – one taking the King to be crowned and a larger parade back to Buckingham Palace after the historic service, where the monarch and members of the royal family will make a balcony appearance.

Droughts and heatwaves are causing Europe’s forests to turn brown in the summer months. Last year, 37 per cent of Mediterranean and central European forests were affected, a new study reveals. Researchers from ETH Zurich University and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) have been examining the phenomenon over the past 21 years. The results, published in the journal Biogeosciences, show that summer forest browning is spreading across Europe. What’s behind summer forest browning in Europe? Using high-resolution satellite data, researchers identified periods where areas of forest were not as green as they should be during summer.

The Dalai Lama has apologised after footage showed him asking a boy if he wanted to suck the Tibetan spiritual leader's tongue. His office said he wanted to apologise to the child and his family "for the hurt his words may have caused". The video also shows the Dalai Lama kissing the child on his lips. "His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident," his office said. The footage has sparked widespread criticism. According to the statement, the boy had asked the Dalai Lama if he could give him a hug - this is not visible in the 23-second clip being circulated online. It is not clear when and where the incident took place. Sticking one's tongue out can be a form of greeting in Tibet. The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since fleeing Tibet in 1959, following an uprising against Chinese rule there.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr slammed former President Donald Trump as "the weakest of the Republican candidates," predicting that Trump will ultimately lose to President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election. "I think ultimately the savvy Democratic strategists know [the Manhattan District Attorney's Office probe] is going to help Trump, and they want him to be the nominee because he is the weakest of the Republican candidates, the most likely to lose again to Biden," Barr said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.

China said it was simulating "sealing off" Taiwan in a third day of drills as it appeared to use an aircraft carrier to launch jets towards the island. Taiwan said it had detected jets to its east while China said its Shandong aircraft carrier had taken part. Beijing began the exercises on Saturday after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met the US House Speaker in California. So far however the drills are not as big as those that followed Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei last August. Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state. China sees it as a breakaway province that will eventually be brought under Beijing's control - by force if necessary. On Monday Taiwan said it had spotted another 70 warplanes and 11 ships in its surrounding waters.

Elon Musk's electric car company Tesla says it is expanding in China as it builds a new factory to make its large-scale batteries. The plant in Shanghai will be able to produce 10,000 of its "Megapack" energy storage units a year, the firm says. A Megapack is a very large battery that can be used to help stabilise energy grids and prevent power outages. Tesla already has Megapack plant in California, which also produces 10,000 of the units each year. Mr Musk said on Twitter that the new Chinese plant will be in addition to Tesla's US factory.