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07-01-2025 Bureau Report + Agencies SYDNEY: Australia’s southeast sweated in a heatwave that intensified on Sunday, elevating bushfire risk and prompting authorities to issue fire bans for more parts of Victoria state. Australia is in the grips of a high-risk bushfire season, with firefighters last week battling a large blaze …

07-01-2025 CAIRO: Egypt is expected to receive a $1.2 billion disbursement from the International Monetary Fund this month as part of an $8 billion program with the international lender, Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk said on Sunday. Last month, the IMF said it reached a staff-level agreement with Egypt on the …

07-01-2025 LONDON: Elon Musk said Nigel Farage should quit as leader of Britain’s right-wing Reform UK party in an abrupt withdrawal of support by the US billionaire for the Brexit campaigner who is trying to shake up the British political establishment again. “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage …

07-01-2025 DAMASCUS: Syria’s new Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani has called on the United States to lift crippling sanctions on his country, as he visited Qatar as part of a regional trip to seek support after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Following a meeting with Qatar’s prime minister on Sunday, …

07-01-2025 KINSHASA: M23 rebel fighters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have taken control of a strategic town in the east of the Central African country, local politicians say, adding to the armed group’s recent gains in the region. The group took control of Masisi, a town and …

07-01-2025 GAZA STRIP: Hamas and Israel are wrangling over the details of a potential ceasefire agreement, with the Palestinian group telling Reuters it has approved a list of 34 captives presented by Israeli authorities to be released as part of the first phase of that deal. Israel has denied that …

07-01-2025 NEW YORK: The first congestion charge scheme for vehicles in the US has come into effect in New York City. Car drivers will pay up to $9 (£7) a day, with varying rates for other vehicles. The congestion zone covers an area south of central park, taking in well-known …

06-01-2025 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ RAIPUR: The body of an Indian journalist who had reported on alleged corruption in the country has been found in a septic tank in Chhattisgarh state. Mukesh Chandrakar, 32, went missing on New Year’s Day and his family registered a complaint with the …

06-01-2025 JERUSALEM/ GAZA CITY: Hamas has posted a video showing a 19-year-old Israeli captive, as indirect talks between the group and Israel on a ceasefire and hostage release deal resume in Qatar. The footage shows Liri Albag calling for the Israeli government to reach a deal. She was taken hostage …

06-01-2025 WASHINGTON: Americans have been gathering to remember Jimmy Carter as a nearly week-long state funeral gets under way for the 39th US president. Saturday’s procession from Carter’s home in Plains, Georgia, to Atlanta marked the beginning of the six-day public goodbye for the statesman, who passed away last month …