18-04-2025 LONDON/ CAMBRIDGE: Scientists have found new but tentative evidence that a faraway world orbiting another star may be home to life. A Cambridge team studying the atmosphere of a planet called K2-18b has detected signs of molecules which on Earth are only produced by simple organisms. This is the …
Read More »Israeli troops will remain in Gaza ‘Security Zones’ after war
18-04-2025 JERUSALEM/ GAZA: Israel’s Defence minister has said troops will remain in so-called security zones they have established by seizing large areas of Gaza even after an end to the war. Israel Katz said the zones would provide a “buffer” to protect Israeli communities “in any temporary or permanent situation”, …
Read More »Millions watch as Swedish elk begin annual migration
18-04-2025 STOCKHOLM: Every spring for the past six years, millions of people have tuned in to a round-the-clock livestream of elk on the move in northern Sweden. “The Great Moose Migration” tracks the animals as they swim across the Angerman River and make their annual journey toward greener, summer pastures. …
Read More »Russian journalists jailed over alleged Navalny ties
17-04-2025 MOSCOW: A Russian court has sentenced four journalists to five and a half years in prison each after convicting them of “extremism” linked to their alleged work with an organization founded by the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Antonina Favorskaya, Konstantin Gabov, Sergey Karelin and Artyom Kriger were found …
Read More »France expels 12 Algerian officials as tensions escalate
17-04-2025 PARIS: France says it will expel 12 Algerian diplomatic and consular staff members and has recalled its ambassador from Algiers, deepening a crisis that threatens to unravel months of attempted reconciliation between the two countries. The announcement on Tuesday comes a day after Algeria ordered 12 French diplomats to …
Read More »Pakistan accelerates deportation of Afghans: UN
17-04-2025 UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has ramped up the forced mass deportation of Afghan refugees and migrants, with nearly 60,000 having crossed the border since the start of April, the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. Nearly three million Afghans in Pakistan are facing deportation after Prime Minister Shehbaz …
Read More »“Iran ‘must stop & eliminate’ nuclear enrichment”
17-04-2025 WASHINGTON/ TEHRAN: United States special envoy Steve Witkoff has said that Tehran “must stop and eliminate” its nuclear enrichment program to reach a deal with Washington, seemingly raising the bar of US demands ahead of another round of talks with Iranian officials. Witkoff’s remarks on Tuesday appear to contradict …
Read More »Obama calls Trump’s freeze of Harvard funding ‘unlawful’
17-04-2025 WASHINGTON: Former President Barack Obama is applauding Harvard University’s decision to refuse the White House’s demands that it change its policies or lose federal money, in his first social media post to criticize the Trump administration since at least Inauguration Day. President Donald Trump is freezing more than $2bn …
Read More »Hamas rejects Israeli ceasefire disarmament proposal
17-04-2025 CAIRO/ GAZA: Hamas is said to have rejected an Israeli proposal for a six-week ceasefire in Gaza which called for the armed group to give up its weapons. A senior Palestinian official familiar with the talks said the plan gave no commitment to end the war or for an …
Read More »Millions displaced as Sudan war enters third year
16-04-2025 UNITED NATIONS/ KHARTOUM: As Sudan’s civil war enters its third year, the conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has displaced approximately 13 million people, according to the United Nations. “The conflict has provoked the displacement of 13 million people, including 8.6 million internally displaced …
Read More »