International

11-12-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: India’s drugs regulator has ordered that the source and quality of an ingredient used to make cough syrups be checked and verified as a “top priority”, in the wake of the deaths of at least 141 children globally. In one of the world’s …

11-12-2023 BEIJING/ MANILA: A Philippine boat and Chinese ship have collided near a contested reef, in the latest territorial dispute between the two countries in the South China Sea. The Philippines said China had “harassed, blocked, and executed dangerous manoeuvres”. It comes a day after the Philippines accused China of …

11-12-2023 PARIS: Emmanuel Macron has been accused of betraying the French Republic after he took part in a Jewish ceremony inside his official residence, the Elysee Palace. In a country where the separation of religion is itself a religion, the lighting of a Hanukkah candle inside the historic Salle des …

11-12-2023 HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA: A US university president has quit after her comments about antisemitism on campus during a Congressional hearing triggered a major backlash. Elizabeth Magill, president of the University of Pennsylvania, refused to say whether students who called for the genocide of Jews would be punished. The university said …

11-12-2023 TEHRAN/PARIS: The family of Mahsa Amini have been banned from flying to France to collect a top human rights prize in her honor. Amini’s parents and brother were stopped from boarding their flight and had their passports confiscated, their lawyer said. They were travelling to Strasbourg to be presented …

11-12-2023 UNITED NATIONS/ GAZA CITY: A senior UN aid official has warned that half of Gaza’s population is starving, as fighting there continues. Carl Skau, deputy director of the UN World Food Program, said only a fraction of supplies needed have been able to enter the Strip – and nine …

10-12-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies DUBAI/ NEW DELHI: India’s environment minister, Bhupender Yadav, on Saturday demanded “equity and justice” in UN climate negotiations, holding that rich countries should be leading global climate action. The comments underlined India’s long-held position that, as a developing country, it should not be a forced …

10-12-2023 BRUSSELS/ LONDON/ STOCKHOLM: Europe on Friday reached a provisional deal on landmark European Union rules governing the use of artificial intelligence including governments’ use of AI in biometric surveillance and how to regulate AI systems such as ChatGPT. With the political agreement, the EU moves toward becoming the first …

10-12-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies SYDNEY: Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday the country’s migration intake needed to be wound back to a “sustainable level”, as he flagged the release this week of details of migration system changes. Long reliant on immigration to supply what is now one …

10-12-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: India’s wheat inventories at state warehouses have dropped to 19 million metric tons, the lowest in seven years, two government sources said as two years of falling production forced state-run agencies to sell more grain to private players. Last year, India, the world’s …