International

16-04-2023 HONG KONG SAR: Hong Kong Bishop Stephen Chow will embark on his first official visit to China on Monday, but is “unlikely” to meet representatives from the mainland’s “underground” churches, a spokesperson said, amid continuing strains between Beijing and the Vatican over the governance of the country’s Catholics. Chow …

16-04-2023 RIYADH/ SANA’A: Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni Houthi rebels have freed hundreds of prisoners of war as part of a multi-day exchange amid concerted efforts to end Yemen’s eight-year-old war, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Saturday’s first flight left the southern Saudi city of …

16-04-2023 KHARTOUM: Sudan’s military and a powerful paramilitary force have engaged in fierce fighting in the capital and elsewhere in the country, dealing a new blow to hopes for a transition to democracy and raising fears of a wider conflict. The fighting killed at least 27 people and wounded more …

16-04-2023 PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday signed into law his highly disfavored pension reforms, lifting the pension age from 62 to 64. The signing came hours after France’s top constitutional body cleared the change. The Constitutional Council annulled the opposition’s demand for a referendum however, it also removed …

16-04-2023 BERLIN: Germany’s final three nuclear power plants close their doors on Saturday, marking the end of the country’s nuclear era that has spanned more than six decades. Nuclear power has long been contentious in Germany. There are those who want to end reliance on a technology they view as …

15-04-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI: A group of historians from India’s leading universities have slammed recent revisions to school textbooks that include removing or trimming references to Islamic rule in the subcontinent and to the anger among some Hindu extremists at independence leader Mahatma Gandhi’s pursuit of …

15-04-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies PERTH/ SYDNEY: A powerful cyclone has hit Western Australia as a category five storm, setting a wind speed record but sparing populated areas from major damage. Severe Tropical Cyclone Ilsa struck the state close to Port Hedland, the world’s largest iron ore export hub, just …

15-04-2023 MINNEAPOLIS: Minneapolis has agreed to pay nearly $9m (£7.2m) to settle lawsuits filed by two black residents against Derek Chauvin. Both residents, who were arrested in 2017, said Chauvin had pressed his knee into their necks, the same tactic that killed George Floyd three years later. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob …

15-04-2023 LHASA: A top Tibetan leader has defended the Dalai Lama over a video that showed him asking a child to suck his tongue. Penpa Tsering, head of Tibet’s government-in-exile, has called the spiritual leader’s actions “innocent” and said it demonstrated his “affectionate behavior”. The video sparked outrage after it …

15-04-2023 TALLAHASSEE: Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill banning most abortions after six weeks, paving the way for drastic changes in access to the procedure across the state. Opponents argue six weeks is before many women know they are pregnant. The law will not go into effect …