27-06-2024 CAIRO/ RAFAH: Israeli forces pounded several areas across Gaza on Wednesday, and residents reported fierce fighting overnight in Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave. Residents said fighting intensified in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah, where tanks were also trying to force their way north amid …
Read More »Modi wins test of strength with election of speaker
27-06-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi passed the first big political test of his third term on Wednesday as a candidate from the ruling coalition was elected speaker of the lower house of parliament, defeating an opposition lawmaker. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) …
Read More »UK Conservatives suffer fall in support after betting scandal
27-06-2024 LONDON: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives suffered a further fall in support after five party officials, including two candidates, were being investigated over bets on the timing on an early election, according to a new poll. The scandal is undermining the Conservatives’ efforts to close the gap on …
Read More »Julian Assange lands in Australia after leaving US court
27-06-2024 CANBERRA: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has landed in Australia, after walking free from a US court. He hugged his wife and father at the airport as a small group of supporters cheered his arrival. He pleaded guilty to one charge in the court in the Northern Mariana Islands on …
Read More »New mpox strain in DR Congo ‘most dangerous yet’
27-06-2024 KINSHASA: A new strain of the mpox virus spreading quickly along the eastern border of Democratic Republic of Congo is “incredibly worrying”, say health officials monitoring its spread. The virus, which can cause lesions across the whole body, is making some people very ill and can be deadly. The …
Read More »US journalist in court as spy trial starts in Russia
27-06-2024 MOSCOW: For nearly fifteen months, Evan Gershkovich has been locked away in a Moscow jail. Today the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter went on trial a thousand miles from the Russian capital in Yekaterinburg: the city where he was arrested on espionage charges while on a reporting trip for …
Read More »Macron’s election gamble puts French democracy on table
27-06-2024 PARIS: Two neighboring countries are approaching elections that were called out of the blue. Both have governments that are expected to fall. In both countries political tensions have divided families and friends. Stop at this point, all attempts to draw parallels between the British and French elections must cease. …
Read More »China space probe returns with rare Moon rocks
26-06-2024 BEIJING: China’s lunar probe has returned to Earth with the first ever samples from the Moon’s unexplored far side. The Chang’e-6 landed in the Inner Mongolia desert on Tuesday, after a nearly two-month long mission which was fraught with risks. Scientists are eagerly awaiting the Chang’e-6 as the samples …
Read More »India buys record amount of sunoil as rates fall
26-06-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: Indians bought a record 500,000 metric tons of sunflower oil for June delivery, as competition between leading suppliers Russia and Ukraine made it cheaper than soyoil and palm oil, two leading buyers and a customs official told media. Higher sunflower oil purchases by …
Read More »Judges block parts of Biden’s student Loan Repayment Plan
26-06-2024 WICHITA, KANSAS: Two federal judges in Kansas and Missouri on Monday at the urging of several Republican-led states blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from further implementing a new student debt relief plan that lowers payments. US District Judge Daniel Crabtree in Wichita, Kansas, blocked, opens new tab the US …
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