Top News

22-03-2025 KABUL: A United States citizen abducted by the Taliban has been released after two years in captivity, according to the US Department of State. The release on Thursday of George Glezmann, who was abducted while travelling as a tourist in Afghanistan in December 2022, marks the third time a …

22-03-2025 KINSHASA: Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have pushed deeper into the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), capturing the town of Walikale despite growing international calls for a ceasefire. The rebels entered the mining hub in North Kivu province on Wednesday, a day after DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and his …

22-03-2025 KHARTOUM: The Sudanese army has recaptured the presidential palace in Khartoum from the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, military leaders have said. Video and photographs posted on social media and verified by media show jubilant soldiers waving their guns, cheering, and kneeling to pray. The army appears poised to …

21-03-2025 ISTANBUL: Thousands of Turks were expected to ramp up protests on Thursday over what they called the undemocratic detention of Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu despite a ban on gatherings, police barricades and dozens of detentions over social media posts. Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival, was taken in …

21-03-2025 NEW DELHI: Police in India’s northern state of Punjab detained hundreds of farmers and used bulldozers to tear down their temporary camps in a border area where they had protested for more than a year to demand better crop prices. The farmers had camped on the border with adjoining …

21-03-2025 KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government has given final approval for a marine robotics company to renew the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which vanished more than a decade ago. The missing aircraft, with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board, is believed to have crashed in the …

21-03-2025 HELSINKI: Finland has been ranked as the world’s happiest country for the eighth successive year, with experts citing access to nature and a strong welfare system as factors. It came ahead of three other Nordic countries in this year’s UN-sponsored World Happiness Report, while Latin America’s Costa Rica and …

21-03-2025 BEIJING/ OTTAWA: Four Canadians were executed in China on drug-related charges earlier this year, Canadian authorities have confirmed. All of them were dual citizens and their identities have been withheld, Canada’s foreign minister Melanie Joly said. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Canada reportedly urged Ottawa to “stop …

21-03-2025 TEHRAN: A French tourist detained by Iranian authorities for more than two years has been released and returned to France, President Emmanuel Macron has said. Olivier Grondeau, 34, is “free” and with his family, Macron wrote on X on Thursday, adding; “we share his family’s immense happiness and relief.” …

21-03-2025 GAZA STRIP/ JERUSALEM: Gaza’s Health Ministry says 506 Palestinians, including 200 children, have been killed and 909 injured in the enclave since Israel shattered the ceasefire on Tuesday. At least 85 people have been killed and 133 injured in the war-torn territory since dawn alone, according to the Ministry. …