MOSCOW – The Kremlin yesterday slammed Azerbaijan’s detention of Russian journalists and urged Baku to release them, further escalating a diplomatic rift between the ex-Soviet neighbours. Moscow and Baku been been embroiled in a spat after two ethnic Azerbaijanis died over the weekend following Russian police raids targeted at the diaspora in Yekaterinburg in a...
LISBON – Portugal recorded its highest-ever single-day temperature in June 46.6 degrees Celsius while last month was the hottest in Spain, the countries’ weather services said yesterday. The IPMA agency said the record temperature — the equivalent of 115.9 degrees Fahrenheit — was registered on Sunday at Mora, about 100 kilometres east of the...
WASHINGTON – Republican senators struggled yesterday for a second day to pass president Donald Trump’s flagship spending bill, which would slash welfare programmes for the poor while adding an eye-watering US$3 trillion to the national debt. The president wants his “One Big Beautiful Bill” – which polls show is wildly unpopular among Americans – to...
NAIROBI – The impact of US aid cuts has already taken a toll in South Sudan and children are dying, Action Against Hunger told AFP on Tuesday. The east African nation has remained deeply poor and unstable since independence in 2011 and is massively dependent on international aid despite its oil wealth.It is among the...
The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo said yesterday that a peace deal with Rwanda aimed at ending decades of violence in eastern DRC paves the way for “a new era of stability”. Rich in natural resources, especially lucrative minerals, the vast DRC’s east has been plagued by deadly fighting that has ravaged the...
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Saturday the United States was “not going to stand” for the continued prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges. “The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to...
BEIRUT – Israeli strikes killed three people in southern Lebanon on Saturday despite a ceasefire in force there, authorities said, with Iran-backed Hezbollah suggesting its patience for the “ongoing aggression” was wearing thin.The Lebanese health ministry said an “Israeli enemy” drone strike on a car in Kunin, south Lebanon, killed one man and wounded another...
NAIROBI – Chanting “Ruto must go,” thousands of protesters flooded Nairobi’s streets to demand the resignation of the president. They waved Kenyan flags and carried branches as a symbol of peaceful opposition. Police had deployed barricades and razor wire to seal off major roads, especially those leading to the State House, President Ruto’s official residence,...
US President Donald Trump took a victory lap at NATO’s Hague summit yesterday, joining leaders in reaffirming the “ironclad” commitment to protect each other after allies agreed to his demand to ramp up defence spending. The unpredictable US leader appeared keen to take the plaudits as he secured a key foreign policy win by getting...
GAZA CITY – Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed another 21 people waiting for aid in the Palestinian territory yesterday, as rights groups and United Nations agencies slammed the United States-backed system for distributing food there. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 21 people were killed and around 150 wounded “as...