International

17-02-2026 ADDIS ABABA: The “extermination” of the Palestinian people must end, the chairman of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, has said, as dozens of heads of state gather for the regional body’s 39th summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. “In the Middle East, Palestine and the suffering …

17-02-2026 WASHINGTON: Speaking publicly for the first time after United States President Donald Trump’s social media account depicted him and his wife Michelle as monkeys, former President Barack Obama has deplored the degradation of the country’s political discourse to a “clown show”. “(What) is true is that there doesn’t seem …

17-02-2026 KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed hope for United States-brokered peace talks with Russia next week, but warned that Kyiv was being asked “too often” to make concessions and pressed his allies for “clear security guarantees”. Zelenskyy’s speech at the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday came as …

16-02-2026 JERUSALEM: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar will attend US President Donald Trump’s first formal Board of Peace meeting on February 19, two Israeli officials said on Saturday. US officials told media this week that Trump will announce a multi-billion dollar reconstruction plan for Gaza and detail plans for a …

16-02-2026 WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s weather forecaster on Sunday warned more flooding could hit the country’s North Island, a day after floods caused power outages, road collapses; home evacuations and was linked to the death of a man whose vehicle was submerged on a highway. There was “threat to life from …

16-02-2026 WASHINGTON: The US military is preparing for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran if President Donald Trump orders an attack, two US officials told media, in what could become a far more serious conflict than previously seen between the countries. The disclosure by the officials, who spoke …

16-02-2026 BERLIN: Indian novelist Arundhati Roy announced on Friday she was pulling out of the Berlin Film Festival after the head of the festival jury said filmmakers should avoid overtly political films. Roy, winner of the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel “The God of Small Things”, said in …

16-02-2026 LONDON: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed using a poison developed from a dart frog toxin, the UK and European allies have said. Two years on from the death of Navalny at a Siberian penal colony, Britain and its allies have blamed the Kremlin following analysis of material …

16-02-2026 TEHRAN: Iran is ready to consider compromises to reach a nuclear deal with the US if the Americans are willing to discuss lifting sanctions, an Iranian minister has told the BBC. US officials have repeatedly emphasized that Iran, not the US, is holding up progress in this protracted negotiating …

16-02-2026 SYDNEY: Australia said on Sunday it would spend AU$3.9 billion ($2.76 billion) to progress construction of a shipyard that will help deliver nuclear-powered submarines under the trilateral AUKUS defence pact with the US and Britain. Announced in 2021, AUKUS is Australia’s largest-ever defence investment and will see US-commanded Virginia-class …