17-06-2024 MINA: Saudi Arabia on Monday warned of a temperature spike in Makkah as Muslim pilgrims wrapped up the Hajj in searing conditions, with more than a dozen heat-related deaths confirmed. One of the world’s largest religious gatherings unfolded during the oven-like Saudi summer again this year, and authorities recorded …
Read More »India has more nuclear weapons than Pakistan: SIPRI
17-06-2024 STOCKHOLM: India possesses more nuclear weapons than Pakistan in 2024, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) annual assessment. The watchdog, in its assessment of the state of armaments, disarmament and international security, revealed United States owns the most warheads, followed by Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, …
Read More »Thailand’s election at risk as court decision looms
17-06-2024 BANGKOK: Thailand’s nearly one-month-long Senate selection process kicked off last week, amid accusations that the system is skewed in favor of the conservative establishment, and as legal threats against the opposition risk derailing tentative steps back towards democracy. After seizing power in a 2014 coup, the Thai military directly …
Read More »US Dr calls for warning labels on social media platforms
17-06-2024 NEW YORK: The United States Surgeon General has called on Congress to require social media platforms to carry warning labels on their effects on young people’s lives, similar to those now mandatory on cigarette boxes. In a Monday opinion piece in The New York Times, Dr Vivek Murthy said …
Read More »Indian suspect to kill Sikh separatist pleads not guilty
17-06-2024 WASHINGTON/ PRAGUE/ NEW YORK: An Indian man suspected by the U.S. of involvement in an unsuccessful Indian government-backed plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil pleaded not guilty on Monday to murder-for-hire conspiracy charges in federal court in Manhattan. Nikhil Gupta has been accused by US federal …
Read More »11 dead after two shipwrecks in Mediterranean Sea
17-06-2024 ROME: At least 11 people have died and 64 others are missing after two shipwrecks off southern Italy, according to a German charity, the Italian coast guard and United Nations agencies. The German aid group RESQSHIP, which operates the Nadir rescue ship, said it picked up 51 people from …
Read More »JNIM claims responsibility for June attack in Burkina Faso
17-06-2024 OUAGADOUGOU: An armed group linked to al-Qaeda, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), has claimed responsibility for what it said was an attack on June 11 that killed more than 100 Burkina Faso soldiers in the Mansila area near the border with Niger, the SITE Intelligence Group said. On Sunday, …
Read More »Ties are ‘back on track’ with Australia: China’s Premier
16-06-2024 CANBERRA/ SYDNEY: Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Australia on Saturday, saying relations were “back on track” as he started the first visit by a Chinese premier to the major trading partner in seven years. Australia is “uniquely positioned to connect the West and the East” and stands as …
Read More »Singapore oil slick closes beaches on Resort Island
16-06-2024 SINGAPORE CITY: Beaches on Singapore’s resort island and wealthy expat haven of Sentosa were closed after an oil spill at a nearby port on Friday spread to its waters. Sentosa Development Corp., which manages the island, was alerted on Friday night to “instances of oil spillage in the sea …
Read More »India’s opposition leveraged caste to shock Modi in election
16-06-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ AYODHYA/ VARANASI: A seminal moment in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unsuccessful campaign to retain his parliamentary majority occurred days before India’s marathon election began in April. Speaking in the constituency that includes the Hindu temple town of Ayodhya, lawmaker Lallu Singh said that …
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