International

11-03-2023 PARIS: This month, French lawmakers are expected to pass legislation for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which, for the first time in France’s history, will permit mass video surveillance powered by artificial intelligence (AI) systems. When governments embark on the slippery slope towards the expansion of surveillance powers, it has …

11-03-2023 OTTAWA: The Canadian government on Thursday announced that ‘terrorism financing laws’ will be amended to allow Canadian humanitarian aid organizations to help needy families in Afghanistan, following pressure from aid agencies. Currently, Canadian aid organizations have ceased operations in Afghanistan due to some legal constraints which are in conflict …

11-03-2023 LOS ANGELES: Another big storm was headed for California on Thursday, the latest in a winter parade that has already brought near-record snowfall and heavy rains. Over the coming days, two atmospheric rivers moisture-laden weather systems chugging in from the Pacific – were expected to dump heavy snow on …

11-03-2023 BEIJING: Xi Jinping was handed a third term as Chinese president on Friday, capping a rise that has seen him become the country’s most powerful leader in generations. The appointment by China’s parliament comes after Xi locked in another five years as head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) …

11-03-2023 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Group is set to relaunch an iconic 50-year-old beverage brand, Campa Cola, this summer. It bought the brand from its makers, Pure Drinks, last August for 220 million rupees ($2.7m; £2.2m). The soda will be offered in cola, lemon and …

10-03-2023 BERLIN/ HAMBURG: A shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness meeting hall in the German city of Hamburg has left eight people dead, including the suspected gunman, police said Friday, as the motive for the attack remained unclear. The shooting took place at the Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall in Hamburg at …

10-03-2023 Bureau Report NEW DELHI/ AHMEDABAD: The prime ministers of India and Australia on Thursday lent a touch of cricket diplomacy to their ties as they inaugurated a test match between their two teams in the western city of Ahmedabad. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Indian host Narendra Modi …

10-03-2023 SEOL/ PYONGYANG: South Korea’s military says it has detected that North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile towards waters off its western coast. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapon was fired at about 6:20pm on Thursday from an area near the western coastal city of Nampo. …

10-03-2023 UNITED NATIONS/ KYIV: After another blackout at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has appealed for a protection zone, saying he was “astonished by the complacency” of the organization he leads, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Russian forces …

10-03-2023 ISTANBUL: Turkey’s opposition picks the man it thinks can beat President Erdogan, Israel kills six Palestinians in a Jenin raid, and it’s been a month since the earthquakes that devastated Turkey and Syria. Many observers think that the political opposition in Turkey has its best chance yet of unseating …