International

20-04-2023 PARIS: Even a traditional sing-song with a group of young Parisians is fraught with risk for a president attempting to persuade France to accept an unpopular increase in the pension age. Emmanuel Macron had given a TV address on Tuesday regretting “no consensus could be found” on the reform …

20-04-2023 NEW YORK: Fox News has settled a defamation lawsuit from the voting machine company, Dominion, over its reporting of the 2020 presidential election. In a last-minute settlement before trial, the network agreed to pay $787.5m (£634m) about half of the $1.6bn initially sought by Dominion. Dominion argued its business …

20-04-2023 ISLAMABAD/ ABBOTABAD: A court in Pakistan has ordered a Chinese national accused of blasphemy to be remanded into judicial custody for two weeks, police say. The man, identified only as Tian in the official police complaint, denied the accusation levelled by his co-workers during his court appearance in the …

20-04-2023 PYONGYANG: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said his country has completed the development of its first military spy satellite and ordered officials to proceed with a planned launch, according to state media. Kim, who was visiting the country’s National Aerospace Development Administration, said developing reconnaissance capabilities was …

20-04-2023 PARIS: Pakistani cinema is returning to the French Riviera for a second consecutive year. Canadian Pakistani filmmaker Zarrar Kahn’s debut feature film, In Flames, is set to have its world premiere next month at Quinzaine des Cineastes (Directors’ Fortnight), an independent selection that runs parallel to Festival de Cannes …

20-04-2023 LONDON: The London Metropolitan Police have been condemned by writers, journalist unions and activists for questioning and detaining a French publisher under the United Kingdom’s Terrorism Act. Ernest Moret, foreign rights manager for popular science fiction author Alain Damasio as well as Editions La Fabrique, was on his way …

20-04-2023 WASHINGTON/ MISSOURI: An 84-year-old man from Missouri has surrendered to authorities following accusations that he shot a black teenager who mistakenly rang his doorbell. Andrew Lester was arrested on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action after he allegedly shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl once in the head and …

19-04-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI: Apple has opened its first flagship store in India in a much-anticipated launch that highlights the company’s growing aspirations to expand in the country it also hopes to turn into a potential manufacturing hub. The company’s CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday posed …

19-04-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies UNITED NATIONS/ KABUL: Weak signs of recovery in Afghanistan’s economy are at risk of being undone by Taliban restrictions on women working for NGOs, the UN says. Donations to the UN are under threat of falling sharply because of the ban on Afghan women working …

19-04-2023 SANTIAGO: Police in Latin America have seized cocaine and other drugs worth $5bn (£4bn) in an operation lasting three weeks and spanning 15 countries. They also seized more than 8,000 illicit firearms and carried out almost 15,000 arrests. Police forces from Mexico in the north to Argentina in the …