08-11-2024 GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA: A United States military judge has ruled that plea agreements reached with the alleged plotters of the September 11, 2001, attacks are valid, reversing an order by the country’s defence minister. The order by the judge, Air Force Colonel Matthew McCall, means the three accused men …
Read More »30 killed in Israeli strike on Lebanese apartment building
08-11-2024 BEIRUT: First responders have recovered the bodies of 30 people killed in an Israeli air strike on an apartment building south of Beirut, Lebanon’s Civil Defence agency says. Tuesday evening’s attack destroyed one side of the four-storey building that was reportedly housing displaced people in the predominantly Sunni Muslim …
Read More »Algeria silent after civil war book wins top French award
08-11-2024 ALGIERS: For the first time, an Algerian author has won France’s top literary award, the Goncourt, with a searing account of his country’s 1990s civil war. Kamel Daoud’s novel Houris tells of Algeria’s blood-soaked “dark decade”, in which up to 200,000 people are estimated to have been killed in …
Read More »Republicans retake control of US Senate
08-11-2024 WASHINGTON: Republicans have retaken control of the US Senate, after flipping seats in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana. The results guarantee the Republicans at least 52 out of 100 seats in the new chamber, with a handful of races still undecided. Jim Justice, West Virginia’s current governor, won the …
Read More »German coalition on brink after Scholz fires key minister
08-11-2024 BERLIN: Germany’s governing coalition is in crisis after Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired a key minister and said he would call a vote of confidence in his government early next year. Scholz said he had no trust in Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who leads a rival party that has been …
Read More »Australia plans social media ban for under-16s
08-11-2024 CANBERRA: Australia’s government says it will introduce world-first legislation to ban children under 16 from social media. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the proposed laws, to be tabled in parliament next week, were aimed at mitigating the “harm” social media was inflicting on Australian children. “This one is for …
Read More »Harris concedes, promises peaceful transfer of power
07-11-2024 WASHINGTON: Kamala Harris tells supporters “do not despair” as she vows to help Donald Trump with the transfer of power. “I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time, but for the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case,” she says in …
Read More »Donald Trump sweeps to victory in historic comeback
07-11-2024 WASHINGTON: Donald Trump has won the US election and will make a historic return to the White House. The Republican told jubilant crowds in Florida: “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate”. Of the seven crucial swing states, Trump won North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and …
Read More »Protests against Gallant’s sacking dispersed in Israel
07-11-2024 JERUSALEM: Israeli police use skunk water and other extreme measures to disperse protests in Tel Aviv after PM Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. New Defence Minister Israel Katz promises return of captives and the “destruction” of Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel has killed at least 61 Palestinians in …
Read More »Saudi megafund’s success rests on fuzzy local bets
07-11-2024 RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s main mission is to diversify its heavily oil-dependent economy. But that “Vision 2030” project is undergoing a transition of its own. The kingdom’s $950 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF), tasked by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) with delivery, is increasingly focused on a collection of …
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