Global News

The Italian fashion designer and billionaire brand owner Giorgio Armani has died at the age of 91.

He was the archetype of Italian style and elegance, reimagining men’s and women’s suits for a modern audience.

His company Armani expanded from fashion into an empire spanning beauty, fragrance, music, sport and even luxury hotels, bringing in more than £2bn a year.

Donatella Versace paid tribute to the late designer on her Instagram page, posting a picture of him, saying: “The world lost a giant today, he made history and will be remembered forever.”

In a statement on the brand’s Instagram page, it said Armani ” worked until his final days, dedicating himself to the company, the collections and the many ongoing future projects”.

It also said he was “indefatigable to the end” and “driven by relentless curiosity and a deep attention to the present and to people”.

The designer was seen as a pioneer in many ways, elevating red carpet fashion to what we see today.

He was also the first designer to ban underweight models from the runway, after the death of model Ana Carolina Reston in 2006 from anorexia nervosa.

Russell Crowe described Armani as a man who “made a mark acknowledged around the globe”.

The actor said he “adored” Armani and was meant to be seeing him this month, adding that the designer was there for “so many significant moments in my life”.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also paid tribute, saying: “With his elegance, sobriety, and creativity, he was able to bring lustre to Italian fashion and inspire the entire world.

“An icon, a tireless worker, a symbol of the best of Italy. Thank you for everything.”

In a profile in The Financial Times, in one of the designer’s last interviews, Alexander Fury wrote: “He put women into a uniform of suits just as radical as Chanel’s, creating forceful, confident clothing that helped to power the working woman’s social revolution of the 1980s.

“By contrast, he relaxed menswear, deconstructing traditional tailoring in a manner that has affected how just about every suit in the world is made.”

A friend of Hollywood, he understood the power of publicity and dressed some of its biggest stars for the red carpet including for the Oscars – including Zendaya, Cate Blanchett and Julia Roberts.

He also designed stage outfits for Lady Gaga and various costumes for films American Gigolo and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Even as he entered his 10th decade, Armani continued to present new collections on the French and Italian catwalks.

His March 2025 show was designed to make a statement on global politics, with him stating that he “wanted to imagine new harmony” as he believed “that is what we all need”.

Concern over his health was first expressed in June this year, when he missed Milan fashion week.

He directed a couture show in Paris in July 2025, but did this remotely from his home in Milan. – BBC.

South African Airways said it had cancelled flights to Perth and Sao Paulo on Thursday after receiving confirmation from the SAA Pilots Association that they planned to strike following a deadlock in pay talks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to strike Ukraine again with a new nuclear-capable ballistic missile following Moscow’s latest widespread attack on critical energy infrastructure.

More than a million households in Ukraine were left without power following the overnight bombardment, authorities in the country said Thursday. It’s Russia’s 11th large-scale assault on Ukraine’s energy supplies this year alone, according to the Energy Ministry in Kyiv, a strategy that has caused nationwide rolling blackouts.

Speaking at a security summit in Kazakhstan Thursday, Putin claimed the overnight attacks were a response to strikes on Russian territory using US-made ATACMS missiles. He also warned he would consider further launches of Russia’s new “Oreshnik” medium-range ballistic missile, first fired at Ukraine’s Dnipro region last week.

“We will respond to the ongoing strikes on Russian territory by Western-made long-range missiles, including the possible continuation of the Oreshnik test in combat conditions,” he said.

Putin also praised US President-elect Donald Trump, describing him as an “intelligent and experienced” politician capable of finding “solutions,” as tensions rise between Moscow and Kyiv’s Western partners.

The Russian leader claimed his forces hit 17 targets, describing them as “military facilities, defense industry facilities and their support systems,” without acknowledging the attacks on power infrastructure. “As I have said many times, there will always be a response from our side (to the use of American ATACMS),” Putin said.

Putin, who has previously said that Moscow considers itself entitled to use weapons against military targets belonging to countries that allow their weapons to be used against Russia, also threatened further strikes.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense is “selecting targets for hitting on Ukrainian territory,” he said. “These could be military facilities, defense industry enterprises or decision-making centers in Kyiv.”

Russia’s use of the Oreshnik ballistic missile, which carries multiple warheads, last week marked a decisive, and potentially dangerous moment in Moscow’s conflict with the West, and may be the first time such a weapon has been used in war.

South Korea is reeling after a whiplash six hours during which the country’s embattled president declared martial law but was forced to lift it amid widespread condemnation, throwing the country’s political landscape into chaos and uncertainty.

The saga began unfolding Tuesday night as most South Koreans prepared to go to sleep – prompting furious lawmakers to force their way past soldiers into parliament to strike down the decree, as protesters demanded President Yoon Suk Yeol’s removal and no return to the country’s painful authoritarian past.

By dawn, the president had caved – agreeing to lift martial law. But experts say he’s dug a political grave; opposition parties are trying to impeach him, police are investigating him for treason, and his own party is trying to oust him.

Questions are still swirling around the future of Yoon’s presidency, his party’s rule, and what happens next in one of the world’s most important economies and a major United States ally.

Here’s what we know.

What happened? What is martial law?

Yoon declared martial law around 10:30 p.m. local time Tuesday in an unannounced late-night TV address, accusing the country’s main opposition party of sympathizing with North Korea and of “anti-state” activities.

He also cited a motion by the opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, to impeach top prosecutors and reject a government budget proposal.

Martial law refers to granting the military temporary rule during an emergency, which the president has the constitutional ability to declare. But the announcement hit like a bombshell, sending shock waves through a democratic nation and sparking an astonishing late-night political showdown.

In a nation with a strong contemporary tradition of free speech, Yoon’s military decree banned all political activities, including protests, rallies, and actions by political parties, according to Yonhap news agency. It also prohibited “denying free democracy or attempting a subversion,” and “manipulating public opinion.”

In the end, the decree only lasted a few hours.