30-07-2024 NAYPYIDAW: In October of 2021, La Awng travelled from his native Kachin State in Myanmar to Laukkai, the capital of the country’s autonomous Kokang region near the border with China, planning to work in a casino. Instead, he was trafficked into a cyber-scamming business run by Chinese criminal networks. …

30-07-2024 BEIRUT/ JERUSALEM: Since October, the near-daily cross-border attacks between Israel and Hezbollah, the powerful Iranian-backed militia and political movement in Lebanon, have killed hundreds of people and forced tens of thousands from their homes on both sides, raising fears that the relatively contained violence could escalate into an all-out …

30-07-2024 ROME: Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said China is an “important interlocutor” in managing global tensions, as she met President Xi Jinping in Beijing. President Xi in turn hailed the “long-established friendly” ties, as well as “tolerance, mutual trust and mutual respect” between Beijing and Rome. During her …

30-07-2024 CARACAS: President Nicolas Maduro has won Venezuela’s presidential election, according to partial results announced by the electoral council. The head of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Elvis Amoroso – who is a close ally of Maduro said that with 80% of ballots counted, President Maduro had 51% of the …

30-07-2024 JERUSALEM/ BEIRUT: Israel’s security cabinet has authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister to decide when and how to retaliate for a deadly rocket attack Israel and the US say was carried out by the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah. Ministers met in emergency session in the …

29-07-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ CHENNAI: The Indian links of some US presidential election contenders probably mean little additional benefit for ties, experts said, against the backdrop of bipartisan support for closer relations with the South Asian nation to counter an assertive China. Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris …

29-07-2024 BERLIN: Germany on Wednes­day banned the Hamburg Islamic Centre, an association that has been under investigation for several months over its alleged support for Hezbollah and its links to Iran. Tehran reacted in fury, summoning Germany’s ambassador to Iran to condemn a “hostile action” it branded as a “clear …

29-07-2024 GAZA CITY: More than 50 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in central and southern Gaza, with one air raid hitting a school where thousands of displaced people were sheltering, according to Palestinian officials. At least 30 people were killed in an Israeli attack on Khadija School in …

29-07-2024 WASHINGTON/ NEW YORK: Vice President Kamala Harris cast herself as the “underdog” in the presidential race and called her Republican opponent Donald Trump “just plain weird,” while Trump painted Harris as “evil,” “sick” and “unhinged” as the rivals exchanged barbs from afar yesterday. The dueling appearances capped a whirlwind …

29-07-2024 EDMONTON: The fierce wildfire which swept through the Canadian town of Jasper in recent days melted cars to the road and turned homes to ash. The first images of the devastation at the famous tourist town have emerged, after a 100m (328ft) firewall swept through late on Wednesday. It …