24-02-2025 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: Indian authorities are looking into “deeply troubling” information about US governmental activity in the country, New Delhi said on Friday, after President Donald Trump suggested that a US government agency had spent money trying to influence Indian elections. The Indian foreign ministry comment …
Read More »Congo President plans unity gov’t in response to crisis
24-02-2025 KINSHASA: Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi will launch a unity government, his spokesperson said on Saturday, as he faces domestic pressure over his handling of an offensive by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern provinces. The M23’s capture of swathes of eastern Congo and valuable mineral deposits has fanned fears of …
Read More »7 NZ churches targeted in suspected arson spree
24-02-2025 WELLINGTON: Seven churches have been targeted in a suspected arson attack that occurred overnight in New Zealand. Four churches in the town of Masterton, north of the capital Wellington, sustained “moderate to significant” damage, while evidence was found to suggest three more buildings had been targeted but did not …
Read More »Israel indefinitely delays Palestinian prisoner release
24-02-2025 JERUSALEM: Israel says it is indefinitely delaying the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, in another potentially major setback in the ceasefire process. It came after six Israeli hostages, including four kidnapped during the 7 October 2023 deadly Hamas attack on Israel, were released on Saturday. Israeli Prime …
Read More »Pope remains in ‘critical’ condition after ‘respiratory crisis’
24-02-2025 VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis’s condition continues to be “critical” after suffering a “prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis” earlier on Saturday, the Vatican has said. The pontiff is “more unwell than yesterday” and had received blood transfusions, the statement said. The Vatican said the 88-year-old was alert and in his armchair, …
Read More »‘Trump hasn’t got any plan’: Russians
24-02-2025 MOSCOW: Driving into Tver, the first thing I notice are the soldiers. They’re everywhere. On billboards, the sides of buildings, at bus stops. Portraits with the words “Hero of Russia”. Posters of troops with Kalashnikov rifles encouraging the public to “Love, be proud of and defend” Russia. In other …
Read More »Berlin stabbing suspect planned to kill Jewish people
24-02-2025 BERLIN: A 19-year-old Syrian man suspected of stabbing a Spanish tourist at Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial had planned for several weeks to kill Jewish people, Berlin police believe. The attack took place on Friday evening, with the assailant approaching the 30-year-old victim from behind before stabbing him and fleeing the …
Read More »Trump fires top US general CQ in shake-up at Pentagon
23-02-2025 WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown, the highest-ranking officer in the country, as part of a major shake-up of top military leadership. “I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to …
Read More »Congo army runaways loot & sow panic in Kivu town
23-02-2025 BRAZZAVILLE: The Congolese army called on deserters to rejoin their units on Thursday, as rogue soldiers fired guns and looted parts of the eastern town of Lubero after fleeing nearby clashes with advancing Rwandan-backed rebels. The unrest points to mounting disarray within the Congolese armed forces in the face …
Read More »Russia did in fact invade Ukraine: Trump
23-02-2025 WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump reversed course on Friday and said Russia did in fact invade Ukraine, and that Kyiv would soon sign a minerals agreement with the United States as part of efforts to end the Ukraine war. Trump had said on Tuesday that Ukraine “should have never started” …
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