International

04-10-2021 BEIJING: A high-profile rape allegation at Chinese tech giant Alibaba has sparked a social media storm in recent weeks about the “toxic” work culture of pressuring employees to drink at work gatherings. As public scrutiny of corporate misbehavior grows in China, can the age-old tradition of business drinking be …

04-10-2021 MILAN: A small private plane has crashed into an empty building in Milan, killing all eight people on board. The plane took off from Milan’s Linate airport and was heading for the island of Sardinia, but it came down soon after on the outskirts of the city. Witnesses described …

04-10-2021 LONDON/ OSLO: The world’s longest under-sea electricity cable, transferring green power between Norway and the UK, has begun operation. The 450-mile (725km) cable connects Blyth in Northumberland with the Norwegian village of Kvilldal. At full 1,400 megawatt capacity it will import enough hydro-power to supply 1.4 million homes, National …

04-10-2021 BAGHDAD: War-torn Iraq will hold parliamentary elections on October 10, a year ahead of schedule, to appease an anti-government protest movement as corruption and economic crisis continue to plague the country. The country is emerging from almost two decades of conflict and insurgency since the 2003 US-led invasion toppled …

03-10-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is in disarmament talks with some factions of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Prime Minister Imran Khan has said, as the government seeks stability in the country in the backdrop of a fast evolving situation in Afghanistan. PM …

03-10-2021 EDINBURGH: The world’s major economies must do more at the upcoming United Nations COP26 climate summit in Scotland to show they are serious about wanting to tackle global warming and heed the warnings of young activists, policymakers said on Saturday. COP26 President Alok Sharma said there was renewed urgency …

03-10-2021 WASHINGTON/ NEW YORK: Tens of thousands of women have marched across cities in the United States to protest increasing restrictions on abortion. The 660 demonstrations around the US on Saturday, including on the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington DC, were largely sparked by a Texas law that …

02-10-2021 Bureau Report SYDNEY/ NEW DELHI: Australia and India hope to reach a long-pending landmark trade deal by the end of 2022, according to a joint statement released on Friday announcing the formal relaunch of stalled negotiations. Bilateral trade was around Aus$24 billion (US$17 billion) last year, with India exporting …

02-10-2021 MANAMA/ JERUSALEM: Anti-Israel protests broke out in Bahrain on Friday, a day after Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s visit to open the Jewish state’s first embassy in the country. Police fired tear gas during one rally as scattered, small-scale protests took place around the tiny Gulf state. Protesters marched …

02-10-2021 PARIS: A decades-long manhunt for a notorious French serial killer appears to be over after a former military police officer confessed in a suicide note to being the murderer. The man, identified by French media as Francois Verove, was found dead on Wednesday in the southern town of Le …