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Showing posts from May, 2024

India heatwave kills at least 33, including election officials

At least 33 people, including election officials on duty, died of suspected heatstroke in India's states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha on Friday, and the heatwave in the region is expected to continue until Saturday, authorities said. India has been experiencing a blisteringly hot summer and a part of capital Delhi recorded the country's highest ever temperature at 52.9 degrees Celsius (127.22°F) this week, though that may be revised with the weather department checking the sensors of the weather station that registered the reading. While temperatures in northwestern and central India are expected to fall in the coming days, the prevailing heatwave over east India is likely to continue for two days, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which declares a heatwave when the temperature is 4.5 C to 6.4 C higher than normal. Fourteen people died in Bihar on Thursday, officials said, including 10 people involved in organising the seven-phase national elections that are...

Yemen's Houthis attack US aircraft carrier Eisenhower in Red Sea

Yemen's Houthis launched a missile attack in the direction of the US aircraft carrier Eisenhower in the Red Sea in response to US and British strikes on Yemen, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on Friday. A US defence official told Reuters they were not aware of any attack on the Eisenhower. Six US and British strikes have killed 16 people and wounded 41, including civilians, Saree said in a televised statement. Strikes on the province of Hodeidah targeted the port of Salif, a radio building in Al-Hawk district, Ghalifa camp and two houses, Saree said. Read more: Yemen's Houthis launch attacks at six ships in three seas The US and British militaries said they launched strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday to deter the group from further disrupting shipping in the Red Sea. The US Central Command said US and British forces had hit 13 targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The British defence ministry said the joint operation targeted three...

Nurse in New York fired after calling Israel's war in Gaza 'genocide'

A New York City hospital fired a Palestinian American Muslim nurse after she called Israel's war in Gaza a "genocide" during an acceptance speech for an award for her work with bereaved mothers who lost their children during pregnancy and childbirth. A spokesperson of the hospital, NYU Langone Health, said on Thursday that labor and delivery nurse Hesen Jabr had previously been warned not to bring her views "on this divisive and charged issue into the workplace." Jabr posted on Instagram that she was awarded on May 7, when she made her remarks, adding that she was handed a termination letter later in the month. In a portion of her acceptance speech, she spoke about mothers who had lost babies during the war in Gaza, saying the award was "deeply personal" to her. "It pains me to see the women from my country going through unimaginable losses themselves during the current genocide in Gaza," Jabr said in the video of her speech that she posted o...

Israel reopens Gaza food sales as Rafah raid chokes aid

The Israeli military has lifted a ban on the sale of food to Gaza from Israel and the occupied West Bank as its battlefield offensive chokes international aid, according to Palestinian officials, businessmen and international aid workers. Army authorities gave Gazan traders the green light to resume their purchases from Israeli and Palestinian suppliers of food such as fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy goods this month, days after Israeli forces launched an assault on the enclave's southernmost city of Rafah, the people said. The offensive against Rafah, a key gateway into Gaza from Egypt, has effectively halted the flow of UN aid to the devastated Palestinian territory. Israel is coming under mounting global pressure to ease the crisis as humanitarian agencies warn of looming famine. "Israel phoned Gazan distributors who had been purchasing goods from the West Bank and Israel before the war," said Ayed Abu Ramadan, chair of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce. "It told the...

India's Delhi sees first heat-related death this year as capital sizzles

India's capital, Delhi, has recorded its first heat-related death this year, media reported on Thursday, as India's northwest swelters in record high temperatures. The heat-related fatality was a 40-year-old laborer who died of heatstroke on Wednesday, The Indian Express newspaper reported. Record Delhi heat, reading under review The temperature in Delhi reached a record high of 52.9 degrees Celsius (127.22°F) in the Mungeshpur neighborhood on Wednesday, while parts of northwest and central India have been experiencing heat wave to severe heat wave conditions for weeks. The reading for Mungeshpur may be revised however, as maximum temperatures in other parts of the city ranged from 45.2°C to 49.1°C. Delhi's lieutenant governor on Wednesday asked the government to ensure measures were taken to protect laborers by providing water and shaded areas at construction sites and granting them paid leave from noon to 3 p.m. Why is India seeing more heat waves? The India Meteorologica...

Modi eyes a third win in India election. Who is he and how did he come to power?

Narendra Modi often says he likes to think big, dream big, and act big. Having sold tea at a railway station as a boy while his mother washed dishes to make ends meet, the man who could be only the second Indian to win three national elections in a row has come a long way from his humble beginnings. And, he is still thinking big. Opinion polls ahead of the election starting on April 19 and ending on June 1 predicted he would equal the three-term record of India's first prime minister, the Western-educated and wealthy Jawaharlal Nehru, who famously called India's independence in 1947 a "tryst with destiny. If he wins, it may be the 73-year-old Modi's last term in office and he wants to cement a legacy of setting India on the path to abolishing poverty and becoming a fully developed nation by 2047, the 100th year of independence from British colonial rule. He has set a tentative target of increasing the size of the economy by about eight times to $29 trillion by then and...

US-manufactured munition employed in lethal Rafah strike: Report

An analysis of video footage and a review by explosive weapons experts revealed that munitions manufactured in the US were used in a deadly Israeli airstrike Sunday on a displacement camp in the Gaza Strip's southernmost city of Rafah. CNN footage showed large areas of the camp engulfed in flames, as numerous civilians, including men, women and children, desperately sought shelter from the nighttime attack. Rescuers were seen retrieving charred bodies, including children, from the debris. Videos that show tents engulfed in flames following the strike on the “Kuwait Peace Camp 1” were geolocated. In one video on social media, which was confirmed to be the same location by matching details such as the camp's entrance sign and ground tiles, the tail of a US-made GBU-39 small diameter bomb (SDB) is visible, according to four experts who reviewed the footage. Manufactured by Boeing, the GBU-39 is a high-precision munition "designed to attack strategically important point target...

Iran's Tasnim news agency: Iran made sea-launched ballistic missile available to Houthis

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday that Tehran's sea-launched ballistic missile Ghadr has been made available to Yemen's Houthis. "Iran's sea-launched ballistic missile, named Ghadr, now has been made available to Yemen's (Houthi) fighters," - reported Tasnim, which is believed to be affiliated to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards. "Now, the missile … has become a weapon capable of presenting serious challenges to the interests of the United States and its main ally in the region, the Zionist regime," Tasnim said. Iran's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read also: Iran to change nuclear doctrine if existence threatened, adviser to supreme leader says Iran supports the Houthis but has repeatedly denied arming the group. The Houthis have been attacking shipping lanes in and around the Red Sea to show support for Palestinians in the Gaza war impacting a shipping route vital to ...

China, Japan agree to restart ruling party talks after six-year hiatus

China and Japan have agreed to resume regular talks between their ruling parties for the first time in six years, officials from Japan's coalition government said on Wednesday. Ties between Asia's top two economies have been strained by issues including Japan's concerns about China's maritime activities in the East and South China Seas, and China's protests against Japan's release of treated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. But the agreement to restart the talks comes after Chinese Premier Li Qiang praised what he called a restart in relations with US-allied Japan and South Korea after their leaders met for the first three-way summit in four years on Monday. The three agreed to revive trade and security dialogue hampered by global tensions. Toshimitsu Motegi, secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, reached the agreement on talks with Liu Jianchao, who leads the Communist Party's body in charge of manag...

At 101, D-Day US veteran heads to France for 80th anniversary

World War Two U.S. Army veteran Jake Larson is 101 years old and a survivor of D-Day, history’s largest amphibious invasion on June 6, 1944, and he is heading to France for the 80th anniversary to honor the brothers-in-arms who did not make it home. Sitting in his home in Martinez, California, alongside photos and mementos from his years in the National Guard and the U.S. Army, Larson can recall every moment from the day he landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day and calls himself "the last man." He carried 74 pounds (34 kg) of gear in his pack, the waves rocked the landing crafts up and down four feet (1.2 meters) at times, the Germans fired 14-inch (35.5-cm) shells overhead and small arms from the dunes. “I walked in over that minefield, where so many were killed. Not only from the mines, but from the small arms fire. And they're all up there above. Those guys there, those there are the ones that deserve recognition. And I'm here to make sure that happens. I honor those guys...

Google, Amazon, Apple lobby group opposes India's EU-like antitrust proposal

A US lobby group representing tech giants Google, Amazon and Apple has asked India to rethink its proposed EU-like competition law, arguing regulations against data use and preferential treatment of partners could raise user costs, a letter shows. Citing the increasing market power of a few big digital companies in India, a government panel in February proposed imposing obligations on them under a new antitrust law which will complement existing regulations whose enforcement the panel said is "time-consuming". India's "Digital Competition Bill" is on the lines of the EU's landmark Digital Markets Act 2022. It will apply to big firms, including those with a global turnover of over $30 billion and whose digital services have at least 10 million users locally, bringing some of the world's biggest tech firms under its ambit. It proposes to prohibit companies from exploiting the non-public data of its users and promoting their own services over rivals, and al...

Spain, Ireland and Norway recognise Palestinian statehood

Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognised a Palestinian state on Tuesday, despite an angry reaction from Israel, which has found itself increasingly isolated after more than seven months of conflict in Gaza. Madrid, Dublin and Oslo said they sought to accelerate efforts to secure a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. The three countries say they hope their decision will spur other European Union countries to follow suit. "It's the only way of advancing toward what everyone recognises as the only possible solution to achieve a peaceful future, one of a Palestinian state that lives side by side with the Israeli state in peace and security," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised address. Spain was recognising a unified Palestinian state, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, under the Palestinian National Authority with East Jerusalem as its capital, he said. The move means 146 of the 193 member-states of the United Nations now re...

12 Indians killed in quarry collapse after cyclone rains

Torrential rains in the wake of a powerful cyclone caused the collapse of a quarry in India’s Mizoram state killing 12 people, government officials said on Tuesday. “So far 12 bodies have been found, we are looking for more,” deputy commissioner of Aizawl district Nazuk Kumar told AFP. Rescue efforts in the quarry were being hampered by “heavy rains”, police director general Anil Shukla said, NDTV news network reported. Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma offered compensation to families of the victims of the “landslide due to Cyclone Remal”. “I pray for the success of rescue and relief operations and wish a speedy recovery of the injured,” India’s President Droupadi Murmu said on social media. Read In Mizoram, several highways and key roads were disrupted by landslides. All schools were shut and government employees were asked to work from home. India’s weather office has issued warnings of extremely heavy rainfall across Mizoram and other northeastern states on Tuesd...

Papua New Guinea orders thousands to evacuate from path of 'active' landslide

Thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate from the path of a still-active landslide in Papua New Guinea by the government on Tuesday, after parts of a mountain collapsed, burying an initial estimate of more than 2,000 people. Relief teams in the Pacific nation have been trickling into the difficult-to-access northern Enga region since Friday though officials said the odds of finding survivors were slim. Residents said they have been using shovels and bare hands to search for survivors. "The landslide area is very unstable. When we're up there, we're regularly hearing big explosions where the mountain is, there is still rocks and debris coming down," Enga province disaster committee chairperson Sandis Tsaka told Reuters. "The landslide is still active, as people are digging through the rocks, more is still coming down." A state of emergency has been declared across the disaster zone and a neighbouring area, with a combined population of between 4,500 to...

Egyptian guard killed in shooting on Rafah border, Israel and Egypt investigating

A member of Egypt's security forces was killed in a shooting incident near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip and an investigation is under way, Egypt's military spokesperson said in a statement on Monday. Israel's military had earlier said it was investigating reports of an exchange of fire between Israeli and Egyptian soldiers. "A few hours ago (Monday), a shooting incident occurred on the Egyptian border. The incident is under review and discussions are being held with the Egyptians," the Israeli military said in a statement. Israel seized control of the Rafah border crossing from the Gaza side of the border earlier this month as it stepped up its military offensive in the area, drawing strong criticism from Egypt. Egypt is worried that Palestinians could be displaced from southern Gaza by the offensive, and has also repeatedly accused Israel of holding up deliveries of humanitarian aid to the territory, something Israel denies. Read als...

More than 670 feared dead in Papua New Guinea landslide

More than 670 people are assumed to have died in Papua New Guinea's massive landslide, the UN migration agency estimated on Sunday as rescue efforts continued. Media in the South Pacific nation north of Australia had previously estimated Friday's landslide had buried more than 300 people. But more than 48 hours later the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the death toll may be more than double that, as the full extent of the destruction is still unclear and continuing dangerous conditions on the ground are hampering aid and rescue efforts. Only five bodies had been retrieved from the rubble so far. The agency based its death toll estimates on information provided by officials at Yambali Village in the Enga province, who say more than 150 houses were buried in Friday's landslide, Serhan Aktoprak, the chief of the agency's mission in Papua New Guinea said in an email statement. "Land is still sliding, rocks are falling, ground soil is cracking due to...

Aid trucks expected to start entering Gaza through Kerem Shalom crossing

About 200 aid trucks, including four fuel trucks, are expected to enter Gaza on Sunday through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, Khaled Zayed, the head of the Egyptian Red Crescent Society in North Sinai, told Reuters. Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV shared video on social media site X of what it said were the aid trucks as they entered the crossing. The Rafah border crossing, which was the main entry point into Gaza for humanitarian aid and commercial supplies, has been shut for almost three weeks, since Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the crossing as it stepped up its military offensive in the area on May 6. Some food supplies bound for Gaza have begun to rot with the Rafah crossing closed. Egypt and the U.S. agreed on 24 May to send aid via Israel's nearby Kerem Shalom crossing until legal arrangements are made to reopen Rafah from the Palestinian side, the Egyptian presidency said. A global hunger monitor has warned of imminent famine i...

6 NATO countries to create ‘drone wall’ for border protection: media

Six countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will set up a "drone wall" to protect their borders, the Ukrainian news outlet European Pravda reported on Saturday. Baltic states, namely Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, as well as Poland, Finland, and Norway, will join the initiative, said the report. "This is a completely new thing -- a 'drone wall' stretching from Norway to Poland, and the goal is to use drones and other technologies to protect our borders," Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite has said. Read also: NATO drills show it is preparing for potential conflict with Russia, Moscow says Under the initiative, the participating countries will use unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor their border areas. They will also deploy anti-drone systems to protect their borders from drones, which could be used by "hostile countries" for smuggling and provocations, according to the initiative. from Latest World News, International...

Voting beings for last leg of IIOJ&K election

Voting began Saturday for a southern constituency in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJ&K), where a major election was held for the first time since Aug. 5, 2019, when the Indian government scrapped the region’s autonomy. The Anantnag-Rajouri constituency (formerly Anantnag constituency) came into being after the redrawing of electoral boundaries in 2022, which many Kashmiri parties said was aimed at denting their electoral advantage. Earlier, the Anantnag constituency consisted exclusively of assembly segments with the overwhelming majority being from the ethnic Kashmiri Muslim population and its boundaries entirely in Kashmir Valley. But the redrawing has added nearly 800,000 people from other religious and ethnic groups, mainly Gujjar and Pahari Muslims. The Hindu nationalist government in February granted the Pahari community the Scheduled Tribe status, which comes with reservations in jobs and other benefits. Pollsters believe the move could benefit the allies...

Mediated Israel-Hamas talks on hostage deal expected next week

Mediated negotiations between Israel and Hamas to reach a deal to free Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip are due to restart next week, an official with knowledge of the matter said on Saturday. The decision to restart the talks, said the source, who declined to be identified by name or nationality given the sensitivity of the issue, was taken after the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency met the head of the CIA and the prime minister of Qatar, which has been a mediator. "At the end of the meeting, it was decided that in the coming week negotiations will open based on new proposals led by the mediators, Egypt and Qatar and with active US involvement," the source said. Read also: Israel strikes eastern Rafah as ceasefire talks end with no deal Efforts to achieve the release of more than 120 hostages abducted during Hamas' Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel within the framework of a ceasefire deal have so far fallen short. Both sides have blamed the other fo...

Missing Algerian man found alive from neighbour's cellar after 26 years

An Algerian man who disappeared in 1998 was discovered to be alive and being held captive by his neighbour in his cellar after 26 years, announced Algerian authorities earlier this month. As per Al Jazeera, the country’s justice ministry said the man, identified as Omar bin Omran or Omar B, disappeared when he was 19 years old and was long assumed to have been kidnapped and killed, considering the incident occurred when the country was going through a civil war. He was found alive years later at the age of 45, being held captive by a neighbour in a sheepfold hidden by haystacks just 200 meters from his old home in Djelfa, part of northern Algeria. The ministry also informed regarding the ongoing investigation into the heinous crime and stated that the victim was receiving medical and psychological care. The alleged captor, a 61-year-old doorman, was apprehended by police as he attempted to flee the scene. The discovery of the kidnapping came to light after the suspect's brothe...

More than 300 buried in Papua New Guinea landslide, local media says

More than 300 people and over 1,100 houses were buried by a massive landslide that levelled a remote village in northern Papua New Guinea, local media reported on Saturday. Hundreds are feared dead in the landslide that hit Kaokalam village in Enga Province, about 600 km (370 miles) northwest of capital Port Moresby, around 3 a.m. on Friday (1900 GMT on Thursday). The landslide in the Pacific nation north of Australia buried more than 300 people and 1,182 houses, the Papua New Guinea Post Courier said, citing comments from a member of the country's parliament, Aimos Akem. Akem did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment via social media. More than six villages had been impacted by the landslide in the province's Mulitaka region, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said on Saturday. "Australia’s High Commission in Port Moresby is in close contact with PNG authorities for further assessments on the extent of the damage and casualties...

Putin wants Ukraine ceasefire on current frontlines

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to halt the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that recognises the current battlefield lines, four Russian sources told Reuters, saying he is prepared to fight on if Kyiv and the West do not respond. Three of the sources, familiar with discussions in Putin's entourage, said the veteran Russian leader had expressed frustration to a small group of advisers about what he views as Western-backed attempts to stymie negotiations and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's decision to rule out talks. "Putin can fight for as long as it takes, but Putin is also ready for a ceasefire – to freeze the war," said another of the four, a senior Russian source who has worked with Putin and has knowledge of top level conversations in the Kremlin. Read: US assesses Russia launched space weapon in path of American satellite He, like the others cited in this story, spoke on condition of anonymity given the matter's sensitivity. For ...

Iran releases 1st investigation report on President Raisi's helicopter crash

The General Staff of Iran's Armed Forces on Thursday released the first report on the causes of a recent helicopter crash that resulted in the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage. Following the crash, a senior investigation committee composed of experts, specialists and technicians arrived at the scene on Monday morning, the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted the report by the General Staff of Iran's Armed Forces as saying. Read: Iranian late president Raisi buried after dying in helicopter crash According to the report, the helicopter had remained on its predetermined course all along the way and had not deviated from the flight route. Almost one minute and a half before the incident, the pilot of the crashed helicopter had contacted the other two helicopters of the president's convoy, the report said. No trace of bullets or similar items have been detected on the wreckage of the crashed helicopter, it said. After crashing into the mountain, th...

World Court orders Israel to halt assault on Gaza's Rafah

Judges at the top United Nations court ordered Israel on Friday to halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah in a landmark emergency ruling on South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide. Reading out the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the body's president Nawaf Salam said the situation in the Palestinian enclave had deteriorated since the court last ordered Israel to take steps to improve it. Conditions had been met for a new emergency order. "The state of Israel shall immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part," he said. The court also ordered Israel to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to allow in humanitarian aid and said it must provide access to the besieged enclave for investigators and report back on its progress within one m...

Mourners pack Iranian city for Raisi burial

Many thousands of mourners packed the streets of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad on Thursday for the funeral of President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed four days ago in a helicopter crash, footage broadcast by Iranian media showed. Raisi, 63, was widely seen as a candidate to succeed 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who wields ultimate power in Iran. Mohammad Mokhber, who had been first vice president, is serving as interim president until a June election. Flowers were thrown at his coffin as it moved slowly aboard a truck through throngs of mourners to be buried at the gold-domed Imam Reza shrine, Iran's holiest Islamic site and revered as the resting place of the 9th century Imam Ali al-Reza. Raisi hailed from Mashhad, 900 km (560 miles) east of Tehran. Earlier, thousands had paid their respects as his coffin was driven in a motorcade through the eastern city of Birjand. Eight passengers and crew were killed when the helicopter crashed in mountainous terrain near the Aze...

In India's heat, Delhi labourers toil in 'red hot' conditions

Working on a highway project in one of India's hottest areas this summer, Banwari Singh handles iron bars that he says often turn "red hot". Temperatures hit 47.8 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit) last Sunday, among the highest recorded in India this year, in Najafgarh, an area on the outskirts of New Delhi where Singh works. "This is among the hottest it has been in this area," Singh, in checked trousers, a half-sleeved shirt, a bright orange safety vest and a hard-top hat, said. "But we have no option. If we want to eat, we have to work whatever the conditions are," said the 40-year-old, resting near a pillar he is helping to build. The northwest of India is experiencing an unusually hot summer and the national weather office has forecast three times the usual number of heatwave days this May. Experts say climate change adds fuel to the heat. Delhi shut schools earlier this week as temperatures rose. Voters in India's national election fac...

Israeli forces kill dozens of Palestinians as they push deeper in Gaza's north and south

Israeli forces killed at least 35 Palestinians in aerial and ground bombardments across the Gaza Strip on Thursday and battled in close combat with Hamas resistance fighters in areas of the southern city of Rafah. Israel's invasion of Gaza has killed more than 35,000 people, with thousands more feared buried under the rubble. Israeli tanks advanced in Rafah's southeast, edged towards the city's western district of Yibna and continued to operate in three eastern suburbs, residents said. "The occupation is trying to move further to the west, they are on the edge of Yibna, which is densely populated. They didn't invade it yet," one resident said, asking not to be named. "We hear explosions and we see black smoke coming up from the areas where the army has invaded. It was another very difficult night," he told Reuters via a chat app. Simultaneous Israeli assaults on the northern and southern edges of Gaza this month have caused a new exodus of hundreds o...

Thousands bid farewell to Iran's Raisi ahead of burial

Thousands marched in Iran on Thursday on the final day of funeral rites for president Ebrahim Raisi, who will be laid to rest in his hometown days after dying in a helicopter crash. Raisi, 63, died on Sunday alongside his foreign minister and six others when their helicopter crashed in the country's mountainous northwest while returning from a dam inauguration. Thousands of people, holding placards of Raisi and waving flags, marched in the eastern city of Birjand on Thursday morning to bid the president farewell. His final resting place will be at the holy shrine of Imam Reza, a key Shiite mausoleum in the northeastern city of Mashhad, where the ultra-conservative president was born. Images published by Iranian media on Wednesday showed officials in Mashhad preparing for the final day of funerary rites. Large photos of Raisi, black flags and Shiite symbols were erected throughout the streets of Iran's second city, particularly around the Imam Reza shrine. Massive crowds had gat...

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to hit campaign trail as UK election race begins

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Labour Party rival Keir Starmer will kick off their election campaigns in earnest on Thursday, a day after Sunak surprised the nation by calling a vote for July 4. Sunak, whose Conservative Party trails Labour by around 20 percentage points in opinion polls, ended months of speculation centred on an election in October or November, and instead used a rain-soaked address to the electorate to kick off what is likely to be six weeks of frenetic campaigning. Both party leaders are expected to hit the campaign trail, seeking to seize the early initiative by meeting voters and delivering the messages they hope will earn them enough seats in parliament to form a majority government on July 5. At stake is control of the world's sixth largest economy which has endured years of low growth and high inflation, is still battling to make a success of its 2016 decision to exit the European Union, and is slowly recovering from twin shocks of COVID-19 and ...

China urges US to stop using Taiwan as tool to contain China

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Tuesday urged the United States to earnestly abide by its commitments of not using Taiwan as a tool to contain China, and stop hollowing out the one-China principle. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a query about US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's "congratulations" to Taiwan region's new leader. What the United States has done seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, and breaches its political commitment to maintaining only cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the Taiwan region. This sends a seriously wrong signal to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces. China deplores and opposes it, and has made serious representations to the United States, Wang said. There is but one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. The Taiwan question is at the very core of China...

Iran says used own drones to locate Raisi's helicopter

The Iranian military said Wednesday that it had used domestically produced drones to locate the helicopter of President Ebrahim Raisi after it crashed in the northwestern mountains. Raisi's helicopter came down on a fog-shrouded mountainside on Sunday as it returned to the city of Tabriz from a ceremony on the border with Azerbaijan. A huge search and rescue operation was launched, involving help from the European Union, Russia and Turkey before the crash site was located early on Monday. The Iranian military said that a drone dispatched by Turkey had failed to locate the crash site "despite having night-vision equipment" Read World leaders react to Iranian president's death "This drone failed to accurately announce the location of the helicopter crash and finally returned to Turkey," the military said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency. "Finally, in the early hours of Monday morning, the exact spot of the helicopter crash was disco...

Israeli president says Saudi normalisation could be ‘historic game-changer’

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has said that a normalisation of relations with Saudi Arabia could be a historic "game-changer" in the Middle East, CNN reported. Speaking at the Israel Democracy Institute, Herzog said that he had discussed the possibility with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Sunday. “There is an option for normalisation with Saudi Arabia. This is a move that could bring about tremendous change, a historic 'game-changer' that constitutes a victory over the empire of evil," Herzog said. Herzog said that “empire” was more than Hamas, and that Israel’s enemies were trying to destroy its international connections. “Iran and its proxies, along with various promoters of boycotts, are attempting in every way to damage these connections through an aggressive, cynical international campaign against us. This was evident yesterday in the outrageous statement by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, who equated the gove...