International

4-01-2026 SANA’A: Yemen’s southern separatist movement said on Friday it aimed to hold a referendum on independence from the north in two years, as Saudi-backed forces fought to recapture areas the separatists seized last month in a move that triggered a major feud between Gulf powers. The statement by the …

04-01-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: India is asking refiners for weekly disclosures of Russian and US oil purchases, people familiar with the matter told media, adding that they expect Russian crude imports to dip below 1 million barrels per day as New Delhi seeks to clinch a trade deal with …

04-01-2026 TEHRAN: Iran’s United Nations ambassador Amir Saeed Iravani has written to the UN secretary-general and the president of the UN Security Council (UNSC), urging them to condemn “unlawful threats” towards Tehran from United States President Donald Trump amid ongoing protests in the country. The letter sent on Friday came …

03-01-2026 PYONGYANG: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter, Ju Ae, who is widely speculated to be his potential successor, made her first public visit to the Kumsusan Mausoleum in Pyongyang alongside her parents, state media images show. Photographs released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Friday captured …

03-01-2026 BEIJING: China’s BYD is set to overtake Elon Musk’s Tesla as the world’s biggest seller of electric vehicles (EVs), marking the first time it has outpaced its American rival for annual sales. On Thursday, BYD said that sales of its battery-powered cars rose last year by almost 28% to …

03-01-2026 BANJUL: Seven bodies were recovered and 96 people rescued after a boat potentially carrying more than 200 migrants capsized overnight in northwest Gambia, the country’s defence ministry said on Thursday, adding search and recovery operations were continuing. It was the latest deadly incident along one of the world’s most …

03-01-2026 KABUL: Heavy rains and snowfall in Afghanistan have ended a prolonged dry spell but triggered flash floods in several areas, killing at least 17 people and injuring 11 others, according to authorities. The dead included five members of a family in a property where the roof collapsed on Thursday …

03-01-2026 TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is among some 60 female lawmakers petitioning for more women’s toilets in the parliament building to match their growing representation in the legislature. A record 73 women were elected into the 465-seat Lower House in October 2024, exceeding the previous high of 54 …

03-01-2026 DHAKA/ NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD: On December 31, the final day of 2025, India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar did what India’s men, women’s and Under-19 cricket teams had only recently refused to do. He shook hands with a Pakistani representative in public. Jaishankar and Ayaz Sadiq, the speaker of Pakistan’s …

03-01-2026 KHARTOUM: On the outskirts of Kosti, a city in south-central Sudan that has transformed into a giant way station for the desperate, Aziza sits with her children on the open sandy ground. There are no walls to protect them, and no roof to shield them from the sun or …