04-05-2024 WASHINGTON/ NEW DELHI/ TOKYO: US President Joe Biden has called Japan and India “xenophobic”, grouping them together with Russia and China as countries that “don’t want immigrants”. His criticism of Japan comes just weeks after he called the US-Japan alliance “unbreakable” during a state visit from Prime Minister Fumio …
Read More »Apple sees biggest fall in sales for a year
04-05-2024 CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA: Apple Boss Tim Cook tried to beat back doubts about the future of the tech giant, after it reported its biggest sales fall in more than a year. Sales slumped 4% year-on-year in the first three months of 2024 to $90.8bn (£72.5bn), weighed down by a sharp …
Read More »Celebrity scandals & secret recordings dominate Trump trial
04-05-2024 NEW YORK: Scandal, hush-money payments, secret recordings and Donald Trump’s alleged gag order violations took centre stage during his tenth day in court. The court heard testimony from Keith Davidson, a lawyer who brokered porn star Stormy Daniels’ hush-money deal. Questioning of Davidson grew hostile, as the defence tried …
Read More »Turkey halts trade with Israel over Gaza ‘tragedy’
04-05-2024 ISTANBUL: Turkey has suspended all trade with Israel over its offensive in Gaza, citing the “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the strip. The Turkish trade ministry said the measures would be in place until Israel allowed an “uninterrupted and sufficient flow” of aid into Gaza. Trade between the two countries …
Read More »Face of 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman revealed
03-05-2024 BAGHDAD: What would it be like to meet one of our closest human relatives from 75,000 years ago in the flesh? Scientists have produced a remarkable reconstruction of what a Neanderthal woman would have looked like when she was alive. It is based on the flattened, shattered remains of …
Read More »Gaza under heavy bombardment as Hamas-Israel battles rage
03-05-2024 GAZA CITY: Palestinian armed groups have been attacking Israeli troops stationed at a main junction in central Gaza, where witnesses have reported extensive fire exchanges. The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says Israel “impeded” and “denied” a significant number of aid missions to northern Gaza in …
Read More »Apathy in Indian election a worry for Modi’s campaign
03-05-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: A lower turnout so far in India’s long general election has rattled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign managers, raising into question whether his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies can achieve the landslide victory predicted by opinion polls just one month ago. …
Read More »Cambodia blames heatwave for deadly ammo blast
03-05-2024 PHNOM PENH: Cambodia has blamed factors including the heatwave gripping south-east Asia for a deadly ammunition warehouse explosion. Twenty soldiers were killed in the incident in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia on Saturday. Rejecting claims that rebellious soldiers were to blame, officials said the blast was caused by a combination …
Read More »Solomon Islands lawmakers choose Jeremiah Manele as new PM
03-05-2024 HONIARA: Solomon Islands lawmakers selected a new prime minister in a secret ballot on Thursday, choosing foreign minister Jeremiah Manele, who has pledged to continue the Pacific Island nation’s foreign policy that saw it grow close to China. Governor General Sir David Vunagi announced outside parliament house that Manele …
Read More »Violence flares at UCLA as police end protests
03-05-2024 LOS ANGELES/ NEW YORK: Mounting tensions on US campuses boiled over on Wednesday when pro-Israel supporters attacked an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA, hours after police arrested activists who occupied a building at Columbia University and cleared a tent city from its campus. Eyewitness videos from the University …
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