International

29-12-2023 WASHINGTON/ MADRID/ ROME: US President Joe Biden hoped to present a firm international response to Yemen’s Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping by launching a new maritime force, but a week after its launch many allies don’t want to be associated with it, publicly, or at all. Two of …

29-12-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies LONDON/ NEW DELHI: India’s government has used the highly invasive Pegasus spyware to target high-profile journalists, according to a new investigation by Amnesty International and The Washington Post. The findings, published on Thursday, noted India’s repeated use of Pegasus against journalists, including one who was …

29-12-2023 GENEVA: The United Nations on Thursday said the human rights situation in the occupied West Bank was rapidly deteriorating and urged Israel to “end unlawful killings” against the Palestinian population. A report released Thursday demanded an immediate end to the use of military weapons and means during law enforcement …

29-12-2023 SEOUL: North Korea leader Kim Jong Un has ordered his country’s military, munitions industry and nuclear weapons sector to accelerate war preparations to counter what he called unprecedented confrontational moves by the US, state media said on Thursday. Speaking on the policy directions for the new year at a …

29-12-2023 SEOUL: The Israeli embassy in South Korea has removed a video showing an imaginary scenario in which Koreans are attacked by masked assailants in Seoul, a reference to Hamas, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Thursday. The ministry said in a statement sent to media that the video was deemed “inappropriate” …

29-12-2023 MONROVIA: At least 40 people have died after a gas tanker exploded in northcentral Liberia, the country’s Chief Medical Officer Francis Kateh said on Wednesday. Late Tuesday, a fuel truck crashed in Totota, Lower Bong Country, about 130km (80 miles) from the capital, Monrovia after exploding, the blast killed …

28-12-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies PARIS/ MUMBAI: A plane carrying suspected victims of human trafficking was rerouted to India while on its way to Nicaragua after being detained in France. It has now landed in Mumbai. While no evidence of trafficking was found, the inquiry gave way to concerns of …

28-12-2023 KINSHASA: Opposition candidates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s presidential election in which early results show the incumbent with a large lead, plan to march in the capital on Wednesday, despite authorities banning the protest. Five opposition presidential candidates informed the governor of Kinshasa in a letter published …

28-12-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: An explosion near the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday did not kill or wound any staff members, authorities said, adding that investigations into its cause were ongoing. Officials were still inspecting the area but it had been reopened to the general …

28-12-2023 TOKYO : Japan’s nuclear power regulator on Wednesday lifted an operational ban it imposed on Tokyo Electric Power’s massive Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant two years ago, clearing the path for it to resume a process towards a restart. Tepco has been eager to bring the world’s largest atomic power plant …