05-08-2025 MANILA: India and the Philippines have staged their first joint sail and naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea. The two-day joint military deployment that kicked off on Sunday is likely to anger China, which claims nearly the entire key waterway and has separate territorial disputes with the …
Read More »Thailand’s soaring captive lion population
05-08-2025 BANGKOK: Behind a car repair business on an unremarkable Thai street are the cherished pets of a rising TikTok animal influencer: Two lions and a 200kg (440lb) lion-tiger hybrid called “Big George”. Lion ownership is legal in Thailand, and Tharnuwarht Plengkemratch is an enthusiastic advocate, posting updates on his …
Read More »India’s imports of Russian oil ‘not acceptable’: US Officials
05-08-2025 Bureau Report + Agencies WASHINGTON/ NEW DELHI: A top United States official has accused India of financing Russia’s war in Ukraine by buying oil from Moscow, as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on New Delhi to cut off its energy imports from Russia. “What he (Trump) said very …
Read More »Texas Democrats flee state to block redistricting
05-08-2025 WASHINGTON/ HOUSTON: Democratic state lawmakers have fled Texas to try to stop a vote on a new congressional map that would heavily favor Republicans. The proposed redistricting, unveiled by Texas’s majority Republicans last week and backed by President Donald Trump would create five new Republican-leaning seats in the US …
Read More »Netanyahu asks Red Cross to help hostages in Gaza
05-08-2025 JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of not wanting a ceasefire deal and requested that the International Red Cross bring food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza, after public fury ignited over propaganda videos showing two emaciated Israeli captives. Tens of thousands of protestors …
Read More »Boeing workers go on strike after rejecting contract
05-08-2025 VIRGINIA: More than three thousand Boeing defence workers went on strike on Monday, in a fresh blow to the embattled aviation giant. It comes after union members at operations in Missouri and Illinois, who build F-15 fighter jets and other military aircraft, voted against the firm’s latest offer over …
Read More »68 migrants die in boat capsize off Yemen
05-08-2025 SANA’A: At least 68 migrants have died after a boat with about 157 people on board sank off the coast of Yemen in bad weather. The vessel capsized off Yemen’s southern province of Abyan on Sunday, the Yemen chief for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) told media. He …
Read More »India to maintain Russian oil imports despite Trump threats
04-08-2025 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite US President Donald Trump’s threats of penalties, two Indian government sources told media, not wishing to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. On top of a new 25% tariff on India’s exports to the …
Read More »Israeli forces kill 62 Palestinians in Gaza in 20 hours
04-08-2025 GAZA STRIP: Sixty-two Palestinians, most of them aid seekers, have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since dawn on Saturday, hospital sources in the besieged enclave have told media. The death toll includes 38 Palestinians seeking aid at distribution sites operated by the controversial United States and Israel-backed …
Read More »Nordic countries hit by ‘truly unprecedented’ heatwave
04-08-2025 MADRID/ OSLO: Cold Nordic countries are being seared by “truly unprecedented” heat, as hot weather strengthened and lengthened by carbon pollution continues to roast northern Europe. A weather station in the Norwegian part of the Arctic Circle recorded temperatures above 30C (86F) on 13 days in July, while Finland …
Read More »