18-02-2025 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: The ePlane Company, an Indian electric aircraft startup, said on Monday it has agreed to supply 788 air ambulances in a deal valued at more than $1 billion, at a time when the country is grappling with worsening traffic congestion in busy cities. …

18-02-2025 JERUSALEM: Israel’s prime minister has said he is working to make US President Donald Trump’s plan to remove and resettle Gaza’s population “a reality”. Benjamin Netanyahu said he was co-operating with the US on a “common strategy” for the Palestinian territory after a meeting with US Secretary of State …

18-02-2025 KINSHASA: Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have entered Bukavu, the second-largest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, seizing the regional governor’s office. Some people lined the streets to clap and cheer the fighters as they marched and drove into the city centre without resistance. It is the second city …

18-02-2025 KYIV: Kyiv has not been invited to talks between the US and Russia aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian government source has told media. The US special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg had said Kyiv would be involved in Monday’s talks in Saudi Arabia, but …

18-02-2025 MUNICH: A series of US declarations rocked last week’s Munich Security Conference and caused discord among the European politicians in attendance. Now US and Russian officials are expected to meet in Saudi Arabia next week to begin negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine. However, Ukraine and European politicians …

17-02-2025 PARIS: European leaders will gather in France tomorrow for an emergency summit amid US efforts to agree a deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. Governments on the continent fear the White House could strike a deal which damages European security and will seek to present a …

17-02-2025 TAIPEI: The US State Department has removed a statement on its website that it does not support Taiwan independence, among changes that the island’s government praised on Sunday as supporting Taiwan. The fact sheet, opens new tab on Taiwan retains Washington’s opposition to unilateral change from either Taiwan or …

17-02-2025 SYDNEY: Australia will ban foreign investors from buying existing homes in the country for two years, its government said on Sunday, in an effort to boost under-pressure housing supply. “We’re banning foreign purchases of established dwellings from April 1, 2025, until March 31 2027,” treasurer Jim Chalmers said in …

17-02-2025 JERUSALEM/ WASHINGTON: Israel has received a shipment of heavy MK-84 bombs from the United States, after US President Donald Trump lifted a block imposed on the export of the munitions by the administration of predecessor Joe Biden, the defence ministry said on Sunday. The MK-84 is an unguided 2,000 …

17-02-2025 KYIV: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for the creation of an “army of Europe” amid rising concern the US may no longer come to the continent’s aid. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, he said US Vice-President JD Vance had made it clear the old relationship between Europe …