28-07-2023 DAMASCUS: At least six people have been killed and more than 20 wounded after a bomb exploded near a Shia Muslim shrine south of the Syrian capital Damascus a day ahead of Ashura, a day of mourning observed by Shia Muslims, according to the interior ministry. The blast near …

28-07-2023 MOSCOW: In a surprise visit to Pyongyang by a top Russian official Wednesday amid rising regional tensions, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was presented with a “warm letter” from President Vladimir Putin by his defence minister Sergey Shoigu. According to North Korean media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) Thursday, …

28-07-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: Gig workers have welcomed a new law in India’s largest state Rajasthan to impose a tax on revenue earned by digital platforms that operate in the state, including global giants Uber and Amazon, even as industry groups have warned it will eventually hurt …

28-07-2023 WASHINGTON: The White House has announced that United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Saudi leaders in Jeddah to discuss peace efforts in the Middle East but Thursday’s read-out made no mention of a possible normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, a US priority in the …

28-07-2023 TOKYO/ MADRID: United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) monitors said Thursday that July was set to be the hottest month in recorded history, warning that this was a taste of the world’s climate future. Searing heat intensified by global warming has baked parts of Europe, Asia and North …

28-07-2023 NEW YORK: Former Twitter executive, Esther Crawford, recently opened up about Elon Musk’s leadership style and its impact on the company, now known as X. In a candid post on Musk’s social media network, Crawford expressed surprise at Musk’s willingness to make drastic changes and his tendency to rely …

27-07-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: The Indian opposition’s newly-formed alliance has decided to table a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the country’s lower house of parliament, locally known as Lok Sabha. According to The Hindu, the move aimed at forcing the Indian premier to make …

27-07-2023 UNITED NATIONS: West Africa recorded more than 1,800 attacks in the first six months of the year resulting in nearly 4,600 deaths with dire humanitarian consequences, which according to a top regional official is just “a snippet of the horrendous impact of insecurity”. Omar Touray told the United Nations …

27-07-2023 ROME/ ATHENS: More than 40 people have died in Algeria, Italy and Greece as Mediterranean wildfires threaten villages and holiday resorts, and thousands have been evacuated. The entire island of Rhodes has been put into a state of emergency, as fires also rage on Corfu and Evia. The current …

27-07-2023 MEDAN: Elon Musk’s aspirations for X, the social media site formerly known as twitter, have hit a stumbling block in Indonesia after the site X.com was blocked under the country’s curbs on online pornography and gambling. Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Informatics said the site was restricted as the …