14-08-2025 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said India’s electoral system suffers from “serious discrepancies” and he pledged to continue challenging its integrity through public mobilization and potentially the courts. Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that controls the main opposition Congress party, last week accused authorities …

14-08-2025 GAZA STRIP: More than 100 organizations have signed a joint letter calling on Israel to stop the “weaponisation of aid” into Gaza, as “starvation deepens”. Humanitarian groups, including Oxfam and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), say they are increasingly being told they are “not authorized” to deliver aid, unless they …

14-08-2025 WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump has warned of “very severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to end the war in Ukraine following the two leaders’ upcoming summit in Alaska. Trump made the comments on Wednesday after holding a virtual meeting with European leaders, including Ukrainian President …

14-08-2025 KHARTOUM: In the cholera-stricken refugee camps of western Sudan, every second is infected by fear. Faster than a person can boil water over an open flame, the flies descend, and everything is contaminated once more. Cholera is ripping through the camps of Tawila in Darfur, where hundreds of thousands …

14-08-2025 SEOUL: A South Korean court has approved the arrest of Kim Keon-hee, the wife of jailed and impeached ex-President Yoon Suk-yeol, making her the country’s only former first lady to be arrested. Kim had earlier appeared in court on Tuesday for a five-hour hearing in which the prosecution requested …

14-08-2025 ATHENS: Greece is facing its hardest days yet of this year’s wildfire season, a senior firefighting official said, after dozens of new blazes erupted in a single day and extreme weather hampers extinguishing efforts. Strong winds, prolonged dryness and intense heat have worsened conditions across much of the mainland …

France, Germany, UK willing to reinstate sanctions on Iran 14-08-2025 PARIS/ BERLIN/ LONDON: France, Germany and the United Kingdom have told the United Nations they are prepared to reinstate sanctions on Iran, according to a joint letter. The letter, sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council, …

13-08-2025 LONDON: Britain’s jobs market has weakened again, official data showed, with payrolls falling for a sixth month and vacancies dropping further but wage growth stayed strong, underscoring why the Bank of England is so cautious about cutting interest rates. With the central bank’s policymakers split over the risks of …

13-08-2025 MADRID/ LISBON: Firefighters across Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and the Balkans were battling wildfires on Tuesday with another heatwave pushing temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across parts of Europe. Global warming is giving the Mediterranean region hotter, drier summers, scientists say, with wildfires surging each year …

13-08-2025 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: India’s retail inflation in July eased below 2% for the first time in eight years, on the back of falling prices of food items including vegetables and pulses, hurting some farmers, but will have limited impact on the central bank’s policy decision. Annual retail inflation …