27-07-2025 DROSOPIGI ATHENS: Firefighters were battling wildfires near Athens and across Greece on Saturday as the Mediterranean country sweltered under the third heatwave of the summer, with some villages and settlements being evacuated. Explosions could be heard as huge clouds of smoke covered Drosopigi village 25 km north of Athens, …
Read More »Netanyahu, Trump ditch Gaza ceasefire talks with Hamas
27-07-2025 JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON/CAIRO, July 25 (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump appeared on Friday to abandon Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, both saying it had become clear that the Palestinian militants did not want a deal. Netanyahu said Israel was now mulling “alternative” options to …
Read More »Asian Paints aims to quash Indian antitrust probe
27-07-2025 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: India’s biggest paints maker, Asian Paints, opens new tab, is seeking to quash an antitrust inquiry, arguing that officials damaged its reputation by publishing and then deleting, allegations against its CEO from the investigation order, legal papers show. Rapid infrastructure and real estate …
Read More »UK, US blast HK rewards for help to catch activists overseas
27-07-2025 LONDON/ WASHINGTON/ VICTORIA: The United Kingdom and the United States have condemned Hong Kong authorities for offering payment in exchange for assisting in the arrest of pro-democracy activists living in the UK and the US, even as the British government begins the process of reinstating an extradition deal with …
Read More »Malaysians demand PM Anwar Ibrahim step down
27-07-2025 KUALA LUMPUR: Thousands of Malaysians have taken to the streets to protest rising living costs and a perceived lack of reform by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government. Saturday’s rally, organized by opposition parties, marked the first major protest in Southeast Asia’s sixth largest economy since Anwar was propelled …
Read More »Lebanese Shia families displaced by war now trapped by identity
27-07-2025 DAHIYEH/ BEIRUT: Fatima Kandeel, 43, and her two sons moved into a new rented apartment in the southern suburbs of Beirut in March. They had been staying with her sister Aida nearby for four months after a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon had stopped the worst, but not all, …
Read More »Cambodians flee border with Thailand as clashes continue
27-07-2025 ODDAR MEANCHEY: Explosions reverberated in the distance along the Thai-Cambodia border, as a Cambodian soldier waited his turn for surgery to remove shrapnel embedded in his body from a Thai artillery shell. The soldier said he was injured in fighting with Thai troops on Friday near the ancient Ta …
Read More »‘Talibanisation of Afghanistan should have us all worried’
26-07-2025 KABUL: Since returning to power, the Taliban has made spreading its ideology a key priority. From prisons and rehab facilities to military bases, “religious education” is becoming a cornerstone of Afghanistan’s institutions. By introducing courses in Quranic recitation and exegesis, as well as broader religious instruction, the group aims …
Read More »UK advises against travel to parts of Cambodia & Thailand
26-07-2025 LONDON: Britons have been urged to avoid all but essential travel to parts of Cambodia and Thailand following escalating conflict in the area. The British foreign ministry has advised Brits to avoid the region, which is experiencing the worst fighting between the countries in 13 years. Thailand scrambled an …
Read More »India’s agency probes Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group
26-07-2025 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: India’s financial crime-fighting agency searched 35 locations linked to Reliance Anil Ambani Group as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering and siphoning of public funds, a government source said on Thursday. The Enforcement Directorate alleges the group orchestrated a “well-planned” scheme to siphon …
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