LONDON – Upmarket London department store Harrods yesterday said it was in discussions with more than 250 women to settle claims of sexual misconduct by former owner Mohamed Al-Fayed. The disclosure came as the daughter of former England footballer Paul Gascoigne said she was assaulted by the late Egyptian billionaire when she worked at the...
BERLIN – An infection with the new mpox variant clade 1b has been detected in Germany for the first time, the Robert Koch Institute health authority said yesterday. The infection occurred abroad and was detected last Friday, the institute said, adding that it did not see an increased risk for Germany, but was “monitoring the...
SEOUL – South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador yesterday to criticise Pyongyang’s decision to send thousands of soldiers to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, the foreign ministry said, calling for their immediate withdrawal. About 1 500 North Korean special forces’ soldiers are already in Russia, acclimatising and likely to head to the frontlines after, Seoul’s...
N’DJAMENA – Chad president Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno has removed several high-ranking defence and security officials from their posts, days after dismissing the security minister. A presidential decree declared late on Wednesday the director generals of both the police and military police, the chiefs of general staff of the armed forces as well as the...
BEIRUT – Lebanese data scientist and volunteer rescue worker Bachir Nakhal started a crowdfunding effort to buy new ambulances for south Lebanon months ago, fearing Israel’s war in Gaza could spread to his country. But weeks into Israel’s war with Hezbollah, his worst fears came true when an ambulance he had helped purchase was bombed.“We...
BEIRUT – Lebanon said six people were killed in Israeli strikes yesterday on municipality buildings in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, where Hezbollah and ally Amal hold sway, with an official saying the mayor was among the dead. The attacks were among 11 strikes on Nabatiyeh city and its surroundings that created “a kind of...
BENGALURU – An Indian passenger aircraft was diverted yesterday after the latest in a string of hoax bomb threats made to airline companies involving the country. The Akasa Air flight, which was flying from India’s capital New Delhi to the southern city of Bengaluru, “received a security alert” and the flight was ordered to return...
NAIROBI – Kenya’s Senate yesterday launched the impeachment trial of deputy president Rigathi Gachagua after the embattled politician lost yet another court bid to stop the process. In a historic move last week, the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, voted overwhelmingly to impeach Gachagua on 11 charges, including corruption and abuse of office....
STOCKHOLM – Swedish prosecutors confirmed yesterday a rape probe following media reports that French footballer Kylian Mbappe was being investigated after a visit toStockholm, but did not name the suspect. On Monday, Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen reported that a rape investigation had been opened following Mbappe’s two-day visit to the Nordic capital. “In response...
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said yesterday that Israel – and not the United States — will decide how it will strike back after Iran fired around 200 missiles at his country earlier this month. The comments came as a top Iranian commander, whose absence sparked rumours that he could have been killed...