International

29-06-2022 PARIS: Moody’s ratings agency has confirmed that Russia defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time in a century, after bond holders did not receive $100 million in interest payments. The historic default follows a series of unprecedented Western sanctions that have increasingly isolated Russia from the global …

29-06-2022 ISTANBUL/ WASHINGTON: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday he would meet US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid for talks on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the bloc’s expansion into two Nordic states. Analysts believe the meeting could play a crucial …

29-06-2022 AQABA/ AMMAN: Amman: A poisonous gas leak in Jordan’s southern port city of Aqaba has killed at least 13 people and injured some 250, authorities said. Video carried by state-run media outlets showed a crane hoisting a large tanker from a truck and then dropping it on the deck …

28-06-2022 ELMAU CASTLE/ MUNICH: G7 leaders will condemn China’s “distorting” international trade practices in an end-of-summit statement on Tuesday, a senior US official said. “You’ll see leaders release a collective statement, which is unprecedented in the context of the G7, acknowledging the harms caused by China’s non-transparent, market distorting, industrial …

28-06-2022 DUBAI: Iran said on Monday that the revival of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers depends on Washington, amid expectations that talks to save the pact will resume soon after the top EU diplomat’s trip to the Islamic Republic. “The ball is in Washington’s court now,” Foreign Ministry …

28-06-2022 SANA’A: The World Food Program (WFP) has announced further dramatic cuts to food aid in Yemen, leaving millions of Yemenis already suffering through war unable to get enough food. The WFP said on Sunday that it was forced into the rationing as a result of not receiving enough funding, …

28-06-2022 TOKYO: Japan braced for a possible power crunch on Monday as temperatures climbed across the country and the rainy season ended in the Tokyo area at its earliest point since 1951, raising fears of a long, hot summer amid fuel price rises. The Japanese government warned that electric power …

28-06-2022 BAGHDAD/ TEHRAN/ RIYADH: Iraq’s prime minister met with leaders in rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran on Sunday, discussing regional stability as part of Baghdad’s efforts to mediate between the two Middle East heavyweights. Mustafa al-Kadhemi visited Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran, after earlier meeting with Saudi Arabia’s de …

27-06-2022 COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has raised its fuel prices, causing further pain for people as officials from the United States arrived for talks in an effort to support the island nation amid its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948. Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said on Sunday it had …

27-06-2022 Bureau Report MELBOURNE/ SYDNEY: The highest earning speed camera locations in Victoria have been revealed from between October and December last year. More than 375,000 drivers were issued infringements from Victorian speed cameras, the fines totaling more than $108 million. New figures show a camera on the Western Ring …