26-10-2024 BERLIN: It costs €15,000 (£12,500) for the whole “package”, we are told. For that we would be given an inflatable dinghy, with an outboard motor and 60 life jackets, to get across the English Channel. This is the “good price” offered by two small-boat smugglers to an undercover BBC …
Read More »Israeli strikes kill 42 in Gaza as tanks tighten siege of north
25-10-2024 GAZA STRIP: Israeli strikes across Gaza killed 42 people on Wednesday as Israeli forces intensified a siege of northern parts of the Palestinian enclave, surrounding hospitals and refugee shelters, and ordering residents to head south, medics and residents said. The Gaza health ministry and the World Health Organization said …
Read More »Commonwealth nations to discuss climate change at Samoa summit
25-10-2024 APIA: The leaders of the Commonwealth group of nations will meet at a welcome banquet in Samoa in the South Pacific on Thursday, with climate change and reparations for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade both likely to be on the agenda. Leaders and officials from 56 countries …
Read More »‘Iranian hackers aim at US election websites & media before vote’
25-10-2024 WASHINGTON/ NEW YORK: An Iranian hacking group is actively scouting US election-related websites and American media outlets as Election Day nears, with activity suggesting preparations for more “direct influence operations,” according to a Microsoft blog published on Wednesday. The hackers dubbed Cotton Sandstorm by Microsoft and linked to Iran’s …
Read More »Israel, Hezbollah exchange heavy fire as Blinken pushes for peace
25-10-2024 BEIRUT/ JERUSALEM: Israeli strikes pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday and Hezbollah said it fired precision guided missiles for the first time at Israeli targets, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken toured the region, pushing for a halt to fighting in both Gaza and Lebanon. The strikes on …
Read More »China & India should manage differences: Xi tells Modi
25-10-2024 Bureau Report +Agencies NEW DELHI/ BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed on Wednesday to boost communication and cooperation between their countries and resolve conflicts to help improve ties that were damaged by a deadly military clash in 2020. The two leaders met on …
Read More »Nigeria drops charges against Binance cryptocurrency boss
25-10-2024 ABUJA: Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency has dropped a money-laundering case against a top cryptocurrency executive to allow him to get medical treatment abroad. Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen, was arrested on a business trip to Nigeria in February and later charged alongside his company Binance with laundering $35.4m (£28m) which …
Read More »Georgia’s ruling party holds mass rally ahead of crucial vote
25-10-2024 TBILISI: Three days before Georgians vote in an election billed as a decisive moment in their country’s future, the founder of the governing Georgian Dream party has told thousands of supporters “we choose peace, not war”. After 12 years in government, Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream faces a close race …
Read More »5 dead, 22 injured in attack at Turkish Aviation Company
25-10-2024 ANKARA: At least five people have been killed and 22 injured in an attack at the headquarters of an aviation company near the Turkish capital Ankara, authorities have confirmed. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that two attackers, a woman and a man, have been “neutralized”, adding that the attack …
Read More »‘IDF soldiers should refuse orders that may be war crimes’
25-10-2024 JERUSALEM: As someone who served four Israeli prime ministers and was deputy head of the country’s National Security Council, Eran Etzion’s judgement was trusted at the highest levels of the state. A longstanding critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he is also someone whose years of public service earned …
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