21-03-2025 KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government has given final approval for a marine robotics company to renew the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which vanished more than a decade ago. The missing aircraft, with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board, is believed to have crashed in the …

21-03-2025 HELSINKI: Finland has been ranked as the world’s happiest country for the eighth successive year, with experts citing access to nature and a strong welfare system as factors. It came ahead of three other Nordic countries in this year’s UN-sponsored World Happiness Report, while Latin America’s Costa Rica and …

21-03-2025 BEIJING/ OTTAWA: Four Canadians were executed in China on drug-related charges earlier this year, Canadian authorities have confirmed. All of them were dual citizens and their identities have been withheld, Canada’s foreign minister Melanie Joly said. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Canada reportedly urged Ottawa to “stop …

21-03-2025 TEHRAN: A French tourist detained by Iranian authorities for more than two years has been released and returned to France, President Emmanuel Macron has said. Olivier Grondeau, 34, is “free” and with his family, Macron wrote on X on Thursday, adding; “we share his family’s immense happiness and relief.” …

21-03-2025 GAZA STRIP/ JERUSALEM: Gaza’s Health Ministry says 506 Palestinians, including 200 children, have been killed and 909 injured in the enclave since Israel shattered the ceasefire on Tuesday. At least 85 people have been killed and 133 injured in the war-torn territory since dawn alone, according to the Ministry. …

20-03-2025 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI: India’s antitrust officers grilled media executives and seized data in an investigation into price fixing by global advertising agencies GroupM, Interpublic, Publicis and Dentsu, with raids continuing well past midnight into a second day on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said. …

20-03-2025 Don’t judge a blob by its cover. WELLINGTON: Once dubbed the world’s ugliest animal for its soft, lumpy appearance, the blobfish has made a stunning comeback: it was crowned this week as Fish of the Year by a New Zealand environmental group. The annual competition, held by the Mountain …

20-03-2025 ISTANBUL: The Mayor of Istanbul has been detained as part of a Turkish corruption investigation just days before he was due to be selected as a presidential candidate. Ekrem Imamoglu, from the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP), is seen as one of Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan’s strongest political …

20-03-2025 JERUSALEM/ GAZA: At least 13 people have reportedly been killed in air strikes across Gaza overnight, after Israel said it was resuming combat operations in the Palestinian territory. Two civilians were killed and five others injured when an Israeli drone hit a tent near the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, the …

20-03-2025 DOHA: Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame have held direct talks for the first time since Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized two major cities in eastern DRC. In a joint statement issued with Qatar, whose emir mediated the talks in Doha, the …