TEHRAN – Iran yesterday condemned as “unjustifiable” the reinstatement of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear programme, after the collapse of talks with Western powers and Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear sites.The measures, which bar dealings linked to the Islamic republic’s nuclear and ballistic missile activities, took effect overnight after Western powers triggered...
MUMBAI – A stampede that killed dozens at a south India political rally happened after a crowd of thousands waited hours in baking heat without sufficient safeguards, officials and witnesses said yesterday.Some 27 000 people thronged a public road in Tamil Nadu state in hopes of seeing popular actor-turned-politician Vijay on Saturday, but panic broke...
COLOMBO – A Buddhist monk injured in a cable car crash in Sri Lanka died yesterday, raising the death toll to eight in the worst accident of its kind, police said.Seven monks, including three foreigners, were killed instantly when their cabin plunged down the mountainside near a forest monastery in the northwestern Kurunegala district on...
PARIS – A Paris court yesterday convicted former French president Nicolas Sarkozy on charges of criminal conspiracy but acquitted him of corruption and accepting illegal campaign financing in his trial into accusations late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi helped fund his victorious 2007 presidential run. The trial is the latest in a string of legal troubles...
BREST – The French navy has seized nearly 10 tonnes of cocaine worth more than US$600 million from a fishing vessel off the coast of west Africa, French authorities said yesterday. The seizure by two navy ships on Monday followed a tip-off by anti-drug and maritime intelligence authorities and British police, authorities in France’s northwestern...
MANILA – The Philippines shut schools and scrapped flights yesterday as a fresh storm threatened to hit just days after a super typhoon killed nine people in the archipelago.Severe Tropical Storm Bualoi is forecast to intensify into a typhoon on Friday and then slam into the southern end of the Philippines’ largest island, Luzon.“Widespread flooding...
TOKYO – Japan’s international aid agency said Thursday it will cancel a friendship exchange programme with African nations after false beliefs spread that it would open the door to waves of migrants.The Japan International Cooperation Agency said it would scrap the “JICA Africa Hometown” initiative, which was designed to foster cultural and social exchanges between...
PESHAWAR – Pakistan police and security sources said aerial bombing in a remote border region killed at least 23 civilians yesterday in an area where militancy has been rising. An opposition MP accused the military of carrying out the night raid as part of a counter-terrorism operation, but no official statement has been released by...
JOHANNESBURG – South African police have arrested five Mexican nationals after a raid on a crystal meth lab at a remote farm, a spokesman said yesterday, the latest in a series of such busts. Police were investigating a link between the lab raided Friday and Latin American drug cartels, a spokesman for the elite Hawks...
LONDON – Britain was set Sunday to recognise a Palestinian state, UK media said, ahead of key United Nations (UN) talks where several nations are poised to follow suit to pressure Israel over Gaza. Prime minister Keir Starmer “will set out the position later on today,” his deputy David Lammy told the BBC, stopping short...