NEW DELHI – India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, covering technology and renewable energy, were announced after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian counterpart Mark Carney hailed a new...
ABIDJAN – Deep in the desert of Niger, scientists have unearthed an unknown species of dinosaur, a giant of its kind not seen in more than a century. Around 95 million years ago, the Spinosaurus, a massive beast with a blade-shaped head crest and interlocking teeth, roamed the African continent. Scientists believe it rivalled the...
RIYADH – Drones hit the US embassy in Riyadh yesterday as Iran hit back at industrial and diplomatic targets across the Middle East and Washington warned its citizens to evacuate the entire region. Four days after US and Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader and triggered a regional war, AFP reporters in the Saudi capital...
Recently in Budapest, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made an unusually pointed observation. “Usually when you’re trying to end wars, the international community applauds you,” he said. “This is one of the few wars I’ve ever seen where some people in the international community condemn you for trying to help end a war.” The...
PARIS – The biggest disruption to global air transport since the Covid pandemic continued yesterday, with thousands of flights affected and busy Middle Eastern hubs including Dubai and Doha shattered, as Iran lashed out after US-Israeli strikes. Israel and Iran traded new attacks yesterday, after Tehran hit both the Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest...
BAGHDAD – Iranian top officials yesterday vowed to avenge their slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and declared a new wave of strikes on US bases in the Gulf, defying US President Donald Trump’s threat of an unprecedented escalation in force. As crowds gathered in Tehran, explosions rang out and the Israeli military announced that...
ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia on Tuesday revoked the licence of independent online outlet Addis Standard, saying it harmed national interests, in the latest curb on press freedom. Africa’s second most populous nation, with around 130 million inhabitants, ranks 145th out of 180 in the press freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). According to...
ROME – The number of people in Somalia experiencing crisis-levels of food insecurity has nearly doubled in the past year to 6.5 million people, UN-backed experts warned on Tuesday. The Horn of Africa country has been plagued by conflict and suffered two consecutive failed rainy seasons, as well as a drop in the amount of...
SEOUL – South Korea has recorded its biggest annual birth rate bump in 15 years, official figures showed yesterday, but still far below the threshold needed to stop its population shrinking. The country has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, pouring billions of dollars into efforts to encourage citizens to have more...
HAVANA – The US-imposed oil blockade on Cuba is upending the lives of everyday workers, who are switching jobs and ditching their cars to make do amid rolling blackouts and fuel shortages. Yixander Diaz jettisoned both his ride and his work when the father of two, a taxi driver, turned to bricklaying. “Times are tough,”...