The Horn News

Proudly American, Fiercely Independent

Upcoming film addresses fancy public toilets in Japan

Wim Wenders is making a film about high-end public toilets in Japan that will have what the renowned German director calls “social meaning” about people in modern cities. “My first reaction was, I must admit: What? Toilets? Chotto mattene,” he said Wednesday, using the Japanese expression for “wait a minute”…. Read More

Musk agrees to abide by EU speech codes on Twitter

Elon Musk, who is offering to buy Twitter, has given his support to a new European Union law aimed at protecting social media users from harmful content after he met with the bloc’s single market chief. EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he… Read More

Pandemic gets tougher to track as testing loses popularity

Testing for COVID-19 has plummeted across the globe, making it much tougher for scientists to track the course of the pandemic and spot new, worrisome viral mutants as they emerge and spread. Experts say testing has dropped by 70 to 90% worldwide from the first to the second quarter of… Read More

China’s new space station gets supplies for next crew

A Chinese cargo vessel docked with the country’s under-construction space station Tuesday ahead of a new three-person crew expected to arrive next month. The Tianzhou-4 spacecraft was slung into space atop a Long March-7 Y5 rocket at 1:56 a.m. from the Wenchang Launch Base in the southern island province of… Read More

Putin celebrates Victory Day… despite ongoing war

Russian President Vladimir Putin used his country’s biggest patriotic holiday Monday to again justify his war in Ukraine but did not declare even a limited victory or signal where the conflict is headed, as his forces pressed their offensive with few signs of progress. The Russian leader oversaw a Victory… Read More

US and Italy are united on Ukraine… but differently

Italian Premier Mario Draghi meets with U.S. President Joe Biden this week in Washington as Europe faces another “whatever it takes” moment with Russia’s war in Ukraine raging on its eastern flank. Both Rome and Washington will emphasize their historic friendship and shared desire to help Ukraine defend itself from… Read More

China sees trade weaken amid virus restrictions

China’s export growth tumbled in April as global demand weakened, adding to pressure on the world’s second-largest economy after Shanghai and other industrial cities were shut down to fight virus outbreaks. Exports rose 3.7% over a year earlier to $273.6 billion, down sharply from March’s 15.7% growth, customs data showed… Read More

Police find cocaine stash amid coffee bean bags

Swiss police say an investigation is underway after workers at a Nespresso factory in western Switzerland found 500 kilograms (over 1,100 pounds) of cocaine, with a street value of $50 million, as they unloaded coffee beans that had arrived by train. Regional police in Fribourg said late Thursday they were… Read More

Hong Kong reopens beaches as Beijing relaxes COVID rules

Hong Kong reopened beaches and pools and relaxed other pandemic restrictions Thursday, a day after China’s capital, Beijing, announced it would ease its tough quarantine rules for arrivals from overseas. The two Chinese cities are at opposite ends of COVID-19 outbreaks. Hong Kong is emerging from by far its deadliest… Read More