Category: World

Israeli aircraft attacked a Hamas target in Gaza on Thursday after a Palestinian rocket strike, the Israeli military said, in the first serious cross-border flare-up since a surge in fighting last month. The latest hostilities followed Israel’s closure of offshore waters to Gaza fisherman on Wednesday in what it said was a response to incendiary […]

WASHINGTON: Since its sale for a record $450 million, the whereabouts of the “Salvator Mundi,” said to be painted by Leonardo da Vinci, has become one of the art world’s greatest mysteries. On Monday, London-based art dealer Kenny Schachter, writing for the website Artnews, offered answers: the painting now resides on the gargantuan yacht owned […]

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not fly through Pakistani airspace on his way to Bishkek, where he has to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on June 13-14, despite the permission granted by the Pakistani government for doing so. The Indian premier will now use a circuitous route via Oman and Iran to […]

LONDON: Global carbon emissions grew by 2.0 per cent last year, the highest rate since 2010-2011, a closely-watched review by energy giant BP said on Tuesday, calling the trend “unsustainable”. “There is a growing mismatch between societal demands for action on climate change and the actual pace of progress, with energy demand and carbon emissions […]

WASHINGTON: Egypt, Jordan and Morocco have informed the Trump administration they will attend a US-led conference in Bahrain this month on proposals for boosting the Palestinian economy as part of a coming US peace plan, US officials said on Tuesday. Egypt and Jordan’s participation is considered especially important since historically they have been key players […]

The Saudi-led military coalition vowed to respond firmly to a missile attack by Yemeni Houthi forces on a civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday which wounded 26 people. The Western-backed alliance that has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen said the early morning attack proved Tehran’s support for what it called […]

WASHINGTON: The United States appears focused on improving relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan for ending the Afghan war, shows a message US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad released on Monday. Mr Khalilzad, a US diplomat of Afghan origin, said after a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul on Monday that the talks also focused […]

WELLINGTON: New Zealand announced on Monday that it will withdraw all of its troops from Iraq by next June. New Zealand has a small contingent of 95 so-called non-combat personnel deployed at the Taji Military Complex northwest of Baghdad, where they are tasked with training Iraqi security forces. The training mission is a joint operation […]

Landline internet connections were down across Sudan on Monday, a week after mobile online services were cut following a deadly crackdown on protesters. One week ago, security forces violently swept away a camp where demonstrators had been holding a sit-in outside the army headquarters in Khartoum, with over 100 people killed. In response, the opposition […]

MONTREAL: Canada will ban single-use plastics from 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday, declaring it a “global challenge” to phase out the plastic bags, straws and cutlery clogging the world’s oceans. “I am very pleased to announce that as early as 2021, Canada will ban harmful, single-use plastics from coast to coast,” Trudeau […]