07-09-2025 PARIS: France faces a slew of key sovereign debt rating reviews from next week, with the risk of a downgrade rising as the government, which looks set to lose a confidence vote on Monday, struggles to gain backing for an unpopular debt-cutting plan. While France’s rating was downgraded by …

07-09-2025 BANGKOK: Thailand’s parliament convened to choose a new prime minister after days of political chaos, in a vote that could be overshadowed by the dramatic departure from the country of its most powerful politician, Thaksin Shinawatra. Polarising billionaire Thaksin, the central figure in a tumultuous two-decade battle for power …

07-09-2025 KABUL: Rescuers have recovered hundreds of bodies from mountainous areas of southeastern Afghanistan, which was hit by a major earthquake at the weekend, taking the death toll to more than 2,500, according to a Taliban government spokesperson. Previous estimates said some 1,400 people were killed. Taliban spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat …

07-09-2025 UNITED NATIONS: Wildfires made significant contributions to air pollution last year, according to the United Nations’ weather and climate agency. In a report released on Friday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said wildfires, likely to have been made more frequent by climate change, are releasing a “witches’ brew” of …

07-09-2025 PYONGYANG: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told Chinese President Xi Jinping that North Korea will support China in protecting its sovereignty, territory and development interests, as the pair met just a day after an unprecedented show of unity with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing. The bilateral meeting …

07-09-2025 GAZA STRIP: The Israeli military’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza City is reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble, forcing residents to flee in panic, with nowhere safe in the enclave, which has been under unrelenting bombardment for 23 months. Israel’s round-the-clock assault on what UNICEF has dubbed the “city of fear” …

Hyderabad, Sept 6 (Shoukat-PMI)– The famous Balapur Ganesh Shobha Yatra is progressing in a peaceful manner. The Ganesh idol has reached Tank Bund via Abids and Liberty crossroads amid a heavy turnout of devotees. South Zone DCP Sneha Mehra, IPS, personally supervised the immersion arrangements to ensure smooth conduct of …

06-09-2025 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: India will continue to buy Russian oil as it proves economical, its finance minister said yesterday, despite the Trump administration’s decision to impose heavy import tariffs on Indian goods due, in part, to its energy purchases from Moscow. As Europe and the US …

06-09-2025 JAKARTA: Indonesia’s protests which escalated following the killing of a delivery rider have sparked a drive among South East Asians to show their support through delivery apps. Some in neighboring Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand are using the popular Grab and Gojek apps to order food in Indonesia for …

06-09-2025 BEIJING: When Chinese leader Xi Jinping organized his first parade to mark the anniversary of the end of World War Two, in 2015, he placed his two predecessors by his side in a show of respect and continuity of leadership. Ten years on and having eliminated domestic opposition as …