14-01-2024 GAZA CITY: Ten people in a house sheltering two displaced families in Rafah were among 135 people killed in Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours, Hamas-run health ministry officials said. The southern Gaza city’s population has swollen to well over a million people as displaced people from other …
Read More »‘US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin remains in hospital’
14-01-2024 WASHINGTON: The US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin remains in hospital in “good condition” following treatment for prostate cancer, the Pentagon has said. In a statement, it said Austin had resumed some of his duties and is in “contact with his senior staff”. It added that there was no specific …
Read More »Taiwan elects Ching as new President despite China’s warnings
14-01-2024 TAIPEI: William Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won Taiwan’s presidential election despite China’s warnings not to support him. After voters ignored Beijing’s threats and overwhelmingly supported him in the election, Taiwan’s president-elect, Lai Ching-te, pledged on Saturday to protect the self-governing island from “intimidation” by …
Read More »India’s retail inflation rises to four-month high in December
13-01-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: India’s annual retail inflation rose at the fastest pace in four months in December, driven by a rise in prices of some food items, raising expectations that the central bank will stay away from interest rate cuts for some time. Annual retail inflation …
Read More »South Africa & Israel play heavy on emotion in ICJ hearing
13-01-2024 THE HAGUE: The UN’s top legal body has now heard two days of powerful legal argument on the “crime of all crimes”: genocide. It is now for the judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to decide whether Israel, in its war in Gaza, is guilty of an …
Read More »El Nino threatens to make 2024 hotter than ever
13-01-2024 GENEVA: Get ready for a scorching year ahead as El Nino gears up to turn 2024 into a potential heatwave nightmare, surpassing the record-breaking temperatures of 2023. The United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization issues a stern warning, urging the world to brace for the impact of this climate phenomenon …
Read More »US launches new missile strike on Houthi target in Yemen
13-01-2024 WASHINGTON/ SANA’A: The United States launched new strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen for a second straight day after the Iran-aligned group warned it would retaliate for a series of attacks on its facilities. The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday that Tomahawk missiles were fired …
Read More »Former NZ PM Jacinda Ardern marries her long-term partner
13-01-2024 WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her longtime partner Clarke Gayford finally tied the knot in a private ceremony on Saturday after cancelling their wedding plans due to the strict COVID-19 controls imposed by the government. Ardern, 43, and Gayford, 47, had scheduled their wedding for …
Read More »Back-to-back avalanches in US kill 2 skiers
13-01-2024 NEW YORK: Two skiers were killed and at least two were left injured in two different snow-related accidents that hit regions across the West and Northwest last week. A skier, Corey J Zalewski’s body was recovered during a recovery mission on Friday after an avalanche hit a backcountry area …
Read More »India cuts pay for 21,000 teachers at Muslim religious schools
12-01-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: Authorities in India’s most populous state halted some payments this week to teachers of subjects such as mathematics and science in Muslim religious schools, known as madrasas, after the end of a federal government scheme. The funding halt, affecting more than 21,000 teachers …
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