International

31-01-2025 DAMASCUS: Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has been named president for the “transitional period”, state media report, seven weeks after he led the rebel offensive that overthrew Bashar al-Assad. Rebel military commander Hassan Abdul Ghani also announced the cancellation of Syria’s 2012 constitution and the dissolution of the …

31-01-2025 STOCKHOLM: A man who sparked violent protests after burning the Quran has been shot dead in Sweden. Salwan Momika was killed in an apartment in Sodertalje, Stockholm, on Wednesday evening, prosecutors told media. Unrest broke out after Momika set fire to a copy of Islam’s holy book outside Stockholm …

31-01-2025 JERUSALEM/ GAZA: Israel has delayed the release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners, after hostages were released in chaotic scenes in Gaza Seven hostages two Israelis and five Thais were released in Khan Younis earlier, as hundreds of people swarmed round the Red Cross convoy One of the Israeli …

31-01-2025 WASHINGTON: Officials believe that all passengers and crew onboard American Eagle Flight 5342, which collided midair Wednesday evening with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport, were killed, and are pivoting search-and-rescue teams to recovery operations. “At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from …

30-01-2025 WASHINGTON: Democrats in the United States Senate have blocked the passage of a bill that would sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza. The vote on …

30-01-2025 PRAYAGRAJ, INDIA: Arvind Agrawal has been running a business supplying stationery items across India for four decades in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state. The city is currently hosting the Mahakumbh, often simply called the Kumbh, the world’s largest religious gathering of Hindus. His mobile phone comes alive every few …

30-01-2025 GAZA STRIP: Adham Bartawi had hoped for the best when he set off back to his family home in the north of Gaza after more than a year but he was shocked at what he found. “Half our house is gone,” the 31-year-old told media from the ruins of …

30-01-2025 COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visited three European capitals on Tuesday, days after US President Donald Trump reiterated his interest in acquiring Greenland. Over the space of a day, Frederiksen met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and NATO leader Mark …

30-01-2025 JERUSALEM/ WASHINGTON: Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House next week, the Israeli prime minister’s office has said. The visit, yet to be confirmed by the Trump administration, is set to take place on 4 February. Netanyahu’s office said in a …

30-01-2025 WASHINGTON: A US judge temporarily blocks a sweeping White House order to pause federal grants, loans and other financial assistance from taking effect. In her first-ever briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s plan to pause trillions of dollars in US government funding is about being “good …