Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh said on Saturday they would not return to Myanmar to “be confined in camps” after making a visit to the country as part of efforts to encourage their voluntary repatriation. Nearly one million Rohingya Muslims are living in camps in the Bangladeshi border district of Cox’s …
Read More »China slams US arms sales to Taiwan
American weapon dealers have “swarmed” to Taiwan, seeking new business opportunities, Beijing has said. US military support for Taiwan is turning the island into a “powder keg” and risks igniting a regional conflict, China has warned, urging Washington to cease weapon sales to Taipei, while warning of “consequences” for countries …
Read More »Sudan paramilitary RSF to attend Jeddah talks with armed forces
Envoys of Sudan’s army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are in Jeddah for talks on Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said, as the gathering’s international mediators pressed for an end to a conflict that has devastated the country. The U.S.-Saudi initiative is the first serious attempt to end three weeks …
Read More »King Charles and Queen Camilla crowned in historic ceremony
King Charles III was anointed and crowned on Saturday in Britain’s biggest ceremonial event for seven decades, a sumptuous display of pageantry dating back 1,000 years. In front of a congregation of about 100 world leaders and a television audience of millions, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of …
Read More »Two Palestinians killed in Israeli military raid in West Bank
Israeli troops have shot and killed two Palestinians during a raid on a refugee camp in the northern part of the West Bank, amid increasing tensions following the martyrdom of a top leader of the Islamic Jihad resistance movement in an Israeli jail. The two martyrs shot by the occupation …
Read More »Saudi Arabia to execute 3 opponents of Neom project, UN experts warn
Three members of a Saudi Arabian tribe opposed to the kingdom’s Neom megacity project have been sentenced to death, according to over a dozen UN rights experts. The men are from the Howaitat tribe, which inhabits the desert area in northwestern Saudi Arabia where the futuristic megacity is under construction. …
Read More »Eight killed in second Serbia mass shooting, suspect arrested
Police arrested a suspect on Friday after eight people were killed and 14 wounded in Serbia’s second mass shooting in two days in what President Aleksandar Vucic called a “terrorist attack” as the government approved tough new gun controls. The Balkan country was already reeling from a mass shooting on …
Read More »UK court jails Nigerian senator for more than 9 yrs for kidney-trafficking plot
A London court has jailed Nigerian politician Ike Ekweremadu for nine years and eight months in Britain’s first illegal organ-harvesting prosecution, the Crown Prosecution Service said on Friday. Ekweremadu’s wife Beatrice, 56, and London-based doctor Obinna Obeta, 51, were sentenced to four years and six months, and ten years, respectively, …
Read More »Fears of recession in Europe’s biggest economy rise
New orders at German factories have registered the biggest plummet since the covid-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020, according to the latest data which has raised fears that Europe’s biggest economy might slip into recession. Demand for new orders declined by 10.7% on a seasonally and calendar-adjusted basis in March 2023 …
Read More »Iran expelled four Azerbaijani diplomats in a tit-for-tat measure
Tehran has expelled four Azerbaijani diplomats after a similar decision by Baku amid heightened tensions between the two neighbors. Iran’s news agency IRNA reported on Friday that the diplomats were declared persona non grata last month. They were working at Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran and its consulate in the northwestern …
Read More »Fighting rages in Khartoum, civilians say they have been forgotten
Heavy gunfire echoed around Khartoum again on Friday as civilians trapped in the Sudanese capital said the army and rival paramilitary forces were fighting on and ignoring their plight. “It’s been four days without electricity and our situation is difficult… We are the victims of a war that we aren’t …
Read More »China, Russia foreign ministers among group meeting in India
Foreign ministers from a group of nations led by China and Russia met Friday in the Indian coastal resort state of Goa, where they were expected to discuss regional security, combating terrorism, and deepening economic and cultural ties. India’s Foreign Minister Subhramanyam Jaishankar in opening remarks to the Shanghai Cooperation …
Read More »World leaders gather in London for King Charles’ coronation
King Charles will hold a reception on Friday for world leaders gathered in London for his coronation this weekend, the biggest ceremonial event to be staged in Britain for 70 years. Charles, 74, and his wife Camilla will be crowned at London’s Westminster Abbey in a glittering but solemn religious …
Read More »White House says Russia’s claims that US is behind Kremlin drone attack are ‘false’
Russia’s claims that the United States is behind a drone attack on the Kremlin are false, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday. “I can assure you that there was no involvement by the United States in this. Whatever it was did not involve us,” Kirby told …
Read More »Iraq extends 10,000 bpd oil supply deal with Jordan
Iraq has extended an agreement with Jordan for another year to supply it with 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil under preferential terms, the Iraqi oil ministry said on Thursday. The announcement came after a meeting on Thursday between Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani and Jordan’s Energy Minister …
Read More »UK reviews AI models as rapid growth fuels safety concerns
Britain’s competition regulator said on Thursday it would start examining the impact of artificial intelligence on consumers, businesses and the economy and whether new controls were needed on technologies such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While research on AI has been going on for years, the sudden popularity of generative AI applications …
Read More »At least seven teachers killed in shootings in northwest Pakistan school – Geo TV
At least seven teachers were killed in a shooting at a school in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, in an apparent retaliation to an earlier attack in which another teacher was shot dead, Geo TV reported. Both incidents took place on Thursday in the Parachinar area of Kurram tribal district near …
Read More »F-16 shipment to Taiwan delayed – minister
The arrival of the first batch of new US aircraft was pushed to 2024, the top defense official said. Delivery of 66 F-16V fighter jets from the US to Taiwan has been delayed due to pandemic-related production and supply-chain problems, the island’s defense minister, Chiu Kuo-cheng, said on Thursday. The …
Read More »South Africans call for UK to return 530 carat Great Star of Africa diamond
South Africans are calling for Britain to return the world’s largest clear-cut diamond, known as the Great Star of Africa, as many South Africans view Britain’s acquisition of the jewels as illegitimate. As King Charles III prepares for his coronation on Saturday, demands for the return of the Great Star …
Read More »Ukraine’s Zelenskiy, in The Hague, says Putin must face justice
Russian President Vladimir Putin must be brought to justice for his war in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday in The Hague, calling for the creation of a special tribunal dedicated to judging Russia’s invasion. “We are going to set up a separate tribunal to show these people …
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