International

24-12-2023 LONDON: British equities logged solid weekly gains heading into the Christmas holidays on Friday amid rising hopes that major central banks, including the Bank of England, could consider interest rate cuts next year. The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) edged 0.04% higher, extending gains to a fourth week, while FTSE …

24-12-2023 TEHRAN:  An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said the Mediterranean Sea could be closed if the United States and its allies continued to commit “crimes” in Gaza, Iranian media reported on Saturday, without explaining how that would happen. Iran backs Hamas against Israel and it accuses the United States of …

24-12-2023 WASHINGTON/ HOUSTON/ MEXICO CITY: The United States on Friday reopened two rail crossings between Texas and Mexico vital for exports, five days after their closure in response to increased migrant traffic, and new US data showed migrant numbers at the southern US border remained high last month. US Customs …

24-12-2023 PRAGUE: Bells rang across the Czech Republic on Saturday and flags flew at half-mast as the country mourned victims of the country’s worst mass shooting that killed 14 at a Prague university on Thursday. Archbishop Jan Graubner served a mass at the main St. Vitus cathedral at the Prague …

24-12-2023 JERUSALEM/ GAZA CITY: Israeli forces fought Hamas militants on Saturday in northern Gaza, where it is seeking full control so it can focus on the south, a day after the UN Security Council called for more aid for the Palestinian enclave but stopped short of demanding a ceasefire. Thick …

23-12-2023 TOKYO: Japan is going through a “once in a generation” political crisis, analysts say, as the government fights to clean up its image in the face of a corruption scandal. Four cabinet ministers from the long-term ruling party have resigned in the past fortnight, as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida …

23-12-2023 GAZA CITY: The mother and grandfather of five-month-old Palestinian baby Muhammad Hani al-Zahar held his dead body in front of a hospital following the resumption of hostilities in Gaza on the first day of December but when footage of the grief-stricken family holding the body in their arms went …

23-12-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI: India’s drugs regulator has banned the use of an anti-cold drug combination in children aged below four and ordered that drugs should be labelled accordingly, in the wake of the deaths of at least 141 children globally linked to cough syrups. The …

23-12-2023 WASHINGTON: Washington does not see any change in China’s tone on Taiwan, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told CNBC on Thursday when asked about media reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Joe Biden that Beijing will reunify Taiwan with China. NBC News and other media outlets reported …

23-12-2023 LONDON: The budget picture for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has deteriorated, official data showed on Thursday, but a smaller debt interest bill thanks to slowing inflation could yet restore some of his limited room for pre-election tax cuts. Public sector net borrowing, excluding state-owned banks, totalled 116.4 billion …