Category: World

CHERBOURG: President Emmanuel Macron on Friday launched the first of a new fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarines that aims to ensure French naval superiority in the coming decades. The first French submarine to be launched in a decade, the Suffren is the frontrunner for a new line of Barracuda attack-class vessels, 12 of which have […]

WASHINGTON: US Labour Secretary Alex Acosta resigned on Friday, amid a backlash over a secret plea deal he negotiated a decade ago with Jeffrey Epstein, the financier accused of sexually abusing young girls. Acosta, 50, a former federal prosecutor, had been facing mounting calls to quit over the deal that saw Epstein serve just 13 […]

PARIS: Hundreds of undocumented migrants surged into the Pantheon in central Paris on Friday, briefly occupying the vaunted memorial complex to demand talks with the prime minister on regularising their status, activists said. Around 700 migrants and their supporters joined the demonstration, with some pushing into the historic complex at around midday on Friday, a […]

India’s ruling party will revive a plan to build secured camps to resettle scores of Hindus in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley, a senior leader said, a proposal that would almost certainly heighten tensions in the restive region. Ram Madhav, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary responsible for Kashmir, said his Hindu […]

At least six people were killed and 14 wounded on Friday when a suicide bomber attacked a wedding ceremony in eastern Afghanistan, an official told AFP. The Taliban, who have pledged to try to reduce civilian casualties, denied responsibility for the blast in Nangarhar province, according to a statement posted on its official website. The area, […]

The United Kingdom (UK) will send a second warship to the Gulf, officials said on Friday, temporarily deploying two vessels near Tehran’s waters as tensions surge after armed Iranian boats threatened a British oil tanker. The UK officials said the move was part of a pre-planned rotation and was meant to ensure a continued British […]

WASHINGTON: The future US military chief said on Thursday that the United States needs to maintain strong military-to-military ties with Pakistan, based on the shared interests of the two countries. Gen Mark Milley, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also warned at his nomination hearing that a premature withdrawal of […]

BEIRUT: More than 80 fighters were killed in clashes on Thursday between regime and jihadist-led forces in northwest Syria, as violence raged on the edge of an opposition bastion despite a September truce deal. In nearby Afrin, a car bombing killed 13 people in the latest violence to hit the city that Turkey-backed rebels seized […]

RIYADH: Diplomatic fallout over journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder appears to be slowing the flow of high-rolling Saudis to Turkey, as calls grow within the oil-rich kingdom to boycott the holiday magnet. Each year hundreds of thousands of Saudi tourists visit Turkey, thanks to its milder climate, turquoise waters and status as a crossroads between East […]

China on Thursday labelled as “slander” a letter sent to top United Nations officials by more than 20 countries condemning Beijing’s treatment of ethnic minorities. An estimated one million mostly Muslim ethnic minorities are held in internment camps in the northwest region of Xinjiang — a system that Beijing defends as necessary to counter religious […]