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14-01-2024 TAIPEI: William Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won Taiwan’s presidential election despite China’s warnings not to support him. After voters ignored Beijing’s threats and overwhelmingly supported him in the election, Taiwan’s president-elect, Lai Ching-te, pledged on Saturday to protect the self-governing island from “intimidation” by …

13-01-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: India’s annual retail inflation rose at the fastest pace in four months in December, driven by a rise in prices of some food items, raising expectations that the central bank will stay away from interest rate cuts for some time. Annual retail inflation …

13-01-2024 THE HAGUE: The UN’s top legal body has now heard two days of powerful legal argument on the “crime of all crimes”: genocide. It is now for the judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to decide whether Israel, in its war in Gaza, is guilty of an …

13-01-2024 GENEVA: Get ready for a scorching year ahead as El Nino gears up to turn 2024 into a potential heatwave nightmare, surpassing the record-breaking temperatures of 2023. The United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization issues a stern warning, urging the world to brace for the impact of this climate phenomenon …

13-01-2024 WASHINGTON/ SANA’A: The United States launched new strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen for a second straight day after the Iran-aligned group warned it would retaliate for a series of attacks on its facilities. The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday that Tomahawk missiles were fired …

13-01-2024 WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her longtime partner Clarke Gayford finally tied the knot in a private ceremony on Saturday after cancelling their wedding plans due to the strict COVID-19 controls imposed by the government. Ardern, 43, and Gayford, 47, had scheduled their wedding for …

13-01-2024 NEW YORK: Two skiers were killed and at least two were left injured in two different snow-related accidents that hit regions across the West and Northwest last week. A skier, Corey J Zalewski’s body was recovered during a recovery mission on Friday after an avalanche hit a backcountry area …

12-01-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: Authorities in India’s most populous state halted some payments this week to teachers of subjects such as mathematics and science in Muslim religious schools, known as madrasas, after the end of a federal government scheme. The funding halt, affecting more than 21,000 teachers …

12-01-2024 TEHRAN/ DUBAI: Iran seized a tanker with Iraqi crude destined for Turkey on Thursday in what appeared to be a retaliation for the seizure last year of the same vessel by Tehran’s arch foe the United States, Iranian media reported. The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker St Nikolas, which last year …

12-01-2024 QUITO: Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa says his country is “at war” after drug gangs took more than 130 prison guards and other staff hostage and briefly captured a TV station during a live broadcast. “We are at war, and we cannot cede in the face of these terrorist groups,” …