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20-02-2025 JERUSALEM/ DOHA/ GAZA: Israel and Hamas will begin indirect negotiations on a second stage of the Gaza ceasefire deal, officials said on Tuesday, as the Palestinian militant group said it would hand over more hostages, including the bodies of two children, this week. Khalil al-Hayya, leader of Hamas in …

20-02-2025 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ HYDERABAD: Thousands of investors in India are scrambling to recoup nearly $100 million after they were caught in a Ponzi scheme that duped them into making short-term investments promising high returns, according to a police statement and multiple victims Reuters spoke to. Indian …

20-02-2025 WASHINGTON: US Donald Trump has taken aim at Ukraine after its President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said it was a “surprise” his country had not been invited to talks in Saudi Arabia on ending the war with Russia. Saying he was “disappointed” by Ukraine’s reaction, he appeared to blame Ukraine for …

20-02-2025 RAWALPINDI: A couple in north-east Pakistan has been detained on suspicion of murdering a 13-year-old girl who worked for them as a maid, for allegedly stealing chocolates. The girl who goes only by one name, Iqra, succumbed to multiple injuries in hospital last Wednesday. A preliminary police investigation said …

20-02-2025 KHARTOUM: More than 200 unarmed civilians have been killed in a cluster of villages in Sudan over three days by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that is involved in a brutal conflict with the military, a local rights group has said. The Emergency Lawyers network said the attacks …

20-02-2025 BEIRUT: Israeli forces have pulled out from towns and villages in southern Lebanon but remain in five locations along the border in what the Lebanese government describes as a violation of a ceasefire deal. Tuesday marked the end of the deadline for the Israeli withdrawal from the country, which …

20-02-2025 VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis has developed pneumonia in both his lungs and his condition remains “complex”, the Vatican says. The 88-year-old has been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week and was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday. “The follow-up chest CT scan which the …

20-02-2025 MOSCOW/ WASHINGTON: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said his country won’t accept peacekeeping forces from NATO countries in Ukraine under any peace deal, following high-level talks with the US in Saudi Arabia. “Any appearance by armed forces under some other flag does not change anything. It is of …

19-02-2025 WASHINGTON/ NEW DELHI: Hours before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would levy reciprocal tariffs on its trading partners. It could hardly have come at a tougher time for India, which is already pressed by a slowing …

19-02-2025 JERUSALEM/ GAZA: Israel’s Defence Ministry says it is establishing a government body for the “voluntary departures” of Palestinians from Gaza as it pushes forward with the ethnic cleansing plan proposed by US President Donald Trump. Israeli media reports say the military is preparing to receive the bodies of four …