25-08-2024 BEIJING: Icelandic supermarkets have been left in a pickle, after a viral TikTok trend saw an unprecedented surge in demand for cucumbers leaving suppliers racing to keep up. It comes after social media influencers in the small Nordic country began sharing a salad recipe of grated cucumbers, sesame oil, …

25-08-2024 GAZA CITY: A 10-month-old baby has been partially paralyzed after contracting polio in Gaza, United Nations officials have said. According to the UN, Gaza, now in its 11th month of war, has not registered a polio case for 25 years, although type 2 poliovirus was detected in samples collected …

25-08-2024 KYIV/ NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has paid a historic visit to Ukraine, telling President Volodymyr Zelensky he is prepared to play a personal role to bring peace. The Indian leader was criticized by President Zelensky last month when he hugged Russia’s President Vladimir Putin during a …

24-08-2024 BERLIN: Three people have been killed and another four seriously injured in a knife attack in the western German city of Solingen, police say. The attack happened during a festival in the city centre on Friday evening. The attacker is reported to be still at large. Bild website says …

24-08-2024 GABORONE: A 2,492-carat diamond, the second largest in the world has been discovered in Botswana, says the Canadian mining company that found the stone. The diamond was discovered in the Karowe Diamond Mine in northeastern Botswana using X-ray technology, Lucara Diamond Corp said in a statement on Thursday. Lucara did …

24-08-2024 MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin says Ukrainian forces have tried to attack the Kursk Nuclear Power Station in an overnight raid. The Russian leader did not offer evidence for the claim but said on Thursday that Moscow has informed the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency …

24-08-2024 TEHRAN: In the shadowy corridors of Tehran’s power, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at the end of July widely believed to have been carried out by Israel shattered a fragile equilibrium. The timing of this escalation in the longstanding conflict between Iran and Israel could not have …

24-08-2024 CAIRO/ JERUSALEM: Israeli negotiators have reportedly arrived for the next round of ceasefire talks in Cairo, where the issue of the Egypt-Gaza border is expected to be discussed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied reports suggesting Israel is considering agreeing to an international force being deployed along the Philadelphi …

24-08-2024 SANA’A: Weapons dealers in Yemen are openly using the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to sell Kalashnikovs, pistols, grenades and grenade-launchers. The traders operate in the capital Sana’a and other areas under control of the Houthis, a rebel group backed by Iran and proscribed as terrorists …

24-08-2024 CHICAGO: Donald Trump isn’t in Chicago but his presence hangs over everything and he is clearly following events here. A couple of aides told me, a little implausibly, that the former president is not tuning into the Democratic National Convention because he has no interest in watching a Democratic …