International

31-12-2023 BEIJING: China’s government called the frontrunner for Taiwan’s next president “confrontational” and a destroyer of peace after he spoke at a presidential debate and said the island’s sovereignty and independence belong to its people. The Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections are happening at a time of fraught relations …

31-12-2023 LONDON: British shopper numbers at stores on Boxing Day rose from a year earlier, especially in London, research data showed on Wednesday, marking a strong start to the post-Christmas bargain-hunting spree. Research group MRI Software said footfall rose 4% across all UK retail destinations on Dec. 26. Known in …

31-12-2023 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA: Massive waves and coastal flooding are wreaking havoc for a third day in many of California’s coastal communities, where extreme conditions have forced water rescues, washed away cars and injured a handful of enthralled onlookers. The unusually large surf often towering over 20 feet has prompted beach …

31-12-2023 GAZA CITY: Israeli bombardments have destroyed 70 percent of Gaza homes, says the government’s media office. The Israeli war cabinet will meet to discuss captive-prisoner exchanges as Netanyahu vows to continue the war. US President Joe Biden’s administration again bypasses Congress on weapons sales to Israel. In Gaza, at …

31-12-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD: India has formally requested that Pakistan extradite the 2008 Mumbai attacks suspect Hafiz Saeed for trial in India, according to New Delhi’s Ministry of External Affairs. “We have conveyed a request along with relevant supporting documents to the government of Pakistan,” ministry …

31-12-2023 CAPE TOWN/ THE HAGUE: South Africa has filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing it of crimes of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza after nearly three months of relentless Israeli bombardment has killed more than 21,500 people and caused widespread destruction in the …

30-12-2023 MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA: Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) has agreed to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked the internet use of millions of people who thought they were doing their browsing privately. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, put a scheduled Feb. 5, 2024 trial in the …

30-12-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ BENGALURU: India’s blue-chip Nifty 50 (.NSEI) and BSE Sensex (.BSESN) rose around 20% in 2023, their second-best year since 2017 and were among the top-performing stock indexes globally. The rally was driven by sustained domestic mutual fund inflows, return of foreign buying, better-than-expected …

30-12-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies SYDNEY: Australia is bracing for an intense heatwave across its north and west during the New Year’s holiday weekend with temperatures forecast to touch more than 45 degrees Celsius (113°F), while severe thunderstorms were expected to hit the country’s east. The heatwave follows a wild …

30-12-2023 TEHRAN: Iran has executed three men and one woman who were convicted for their alleged links to Israel’s Mossad spy agency, according to media affiliated with the judiciary. “Four members of a sabotage group related to the Zionist regime…..were hanged this morning” in Iran’s northwestern province of West Azerbaijan, …