19-07-2025 DAMASCUS/ SUWEIDA: Over the last five days, Rima says she has witnessed “barbaric” scenes. The 45-year-old Druze woman has lived in the southern Syrian city of Suweida her whole life, and never thought her once-peaceful hometown would become the scene of a bloodbath. “There were bodies everywhere outside our …

19-07-2025 GAZA/ SANA’A/ JERUSALEM: The Health Ministry in Gaza says an “unprecedented” number of starving Palestinians are pouring into hospitals across the besieged territory. As the daily death toll in Gaza continues to mount, with at least 35 people killed in Israeli attacks today, Hamas’s military wing says its fighters …

18-07-2025 JAKARTA: Indonesian police have uncovered an international baby trafficking syndicate which has allegedly sold at least 25 infants to buyers in Singapore since 2023. Authorities made 13 arrests related to the syndicate in the Indonesian cities of Pontianak and Tangerang this week, and rescued six babies who were about …

19-07-2025 LONDON/ KABUL: The identities of more than 100 British officials, including members of the Special Forces and MI6, were compromised in a data breach that also put thousands of Afghans at risk of reprisal, it can be reported. The latest fallout from the breach was kept secret by an …

19-07-2025 DAKAR: France handed over control of its last major military facility in Senegal on Thursday, marking the end of its armed forces’ long presence in the West African country and a milestone in a withdrawal from the wider region. The commander of French forces in Africa, General Pascal Ianni, …

19-07-2025 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: India is confident of meeting its oil needs from alternative sources if Russian supplies are hit by secondary sanctions, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday. Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that countries purchasing Russian exports could face sanctions if Moscow …

19-07-2025 BEIJING, July 17 (Reuters) – Days of record-breaking heat across large swathes of China pushed power demand to an all-time high in excess of 1.5 billion kilowatts on Wednesday, energy officials said, with temperatures forecast to feel like 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas on Thursday. …

19-07-2025 WASHINGTON: Most Americans think President Donald Trump’s administration is hiding information about accused sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and give it poor marks on the issue after pledging to make public documents in the case, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. The two-day poll, which closed Wednesday, showed 69% of respondents thought the …

19-07-2025 WILMINGTON: Mark Zuckerberg and current and former directors and officers of Meta Platforms, opens new tab agreed on Thursday to settle claims seeking $8 billion for the damage they allegedly caused the company by allowing repeated violations of Facebook users’ privacy, a lawyer for the shareholders told a Delaware …

18-07-2025 BAGHDAD: A fire that tore through a five-storey shopping centre in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut has left at least 61 dead, local officials said. The blaze at the mall, which opened seven days ago, broke out on Wednesday night and has since been brought under control. Videos …