World Echo

One of two doctors who are among the five people charged in the ketamine overdose death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry was barred by a federal judge on Friday from practicing medicine and through his lawyer afterward expressed remorse. Dr. Mark Chavez appeared in US District Court in Los Angeles for a brief arraignment on a single felony count of conspiracy to illegally distribute ketamine and was permitted to remain free on $50,000 bond. Chavez has previously signed an agreement with federal prosecutors to enter a guilty plea, which defense lawyer Matt Binninger told reporters his client would do at a later proceeding to be scheduled within a few weeks. No plea was entered on Friday. As part of the bond conditions set by Magistrate Judge Jean Rosenbluth, Chavez also surrendered his passport and was ordered not to practice medicine. He had agreed to surrender his medical license at a separate administrative hearing earlier this week, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. ...

Cryptocurrency investors and industry executives calling on Vice President Kamala Harris to pursue a softer regulatory stance on the industry are planning to raise at least $100,000 for the Democratic nominee at a Sept. 13 Washington fundraiser. The grassroots event is scheduled to take place between the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus conferences, and aims to bring together a diverse group of donors, the organizers told Reuters. Tickets to the fundraiser range from $500 to $5,000, said Cleve Mesidor, executive director of the Blockchain Foundation and one of the organizers. The event's fundraising goal is small compared to the hundreds of millions Harris has raked in since becoming the Democratic presidential candidate in July when President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. But it is the latest sign that at least some in the industry are rallying behind her rather than Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has courted big crypto donors ...

Pavel Popov, a former Russian deputy defense minister, has been arrested on charges of large-scale fraud and is being held in a pre-trial detention center, the TASS news agency reported on Thursday. The report said a Russian court has ordered Popov to remain in detention until Oct. 29. Investigators said that Popov and Vyacheslav Akhmedov, director of the Patriot military-patriotic park, and Vladimir Shesterov, a deputy head of the Main Directorate for Innovative Development of the Russian Defense Ministry, misappropriated funds between 2021 and 2024. Popov was accused of abusing his position to divert resources from the park for personal benefit, including the construction, renovation, and furnishing of his private estate in the Krasnogorsk district of the Moscow region. The former deputy defense minister was also accused of coercing companies contracted by the park into constructing his private property for free, and continuing to use park resources for its maintenance and upkeep. Po...

An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of Kamchatka in Russia's Far East region, with no reports so far of damage, casualties, or a tsunami threat, local authorities said on Friday. According to preliminary data released by the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the earthquake occurred at 16:24 local time (0424 GMT) in the Pacific Ocean. The tremors, with an intensity of up to five points, were felt in places including Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Yelizovo, Vilyuchinsk, and several settlements in the Yelizovo district. The epicenter of the quake was located approximately 126 km from the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, at a depth of around 27 km beneath the seabed from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/1xlmQp7

The Taliban government's morality police said it would not cooperate with the United Nation's mission in Afghanistan, calling it "an opposing side". It comes after the UN mission, known as UNAMA, warned that a new morality law cementing policies that restrict women's lives would damage prospects for engagement with the international community. "Due to its continued propaganda, effective from now, the PVPV (the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice) will not provide any support or cooperation with UNAMA, which will be considered as an opposing side," the ministry said in a statement on social media late Thursday. "We want international organisations, the countries, and those individuals who criticised the mentioned law to respect the religious values of the Muslims and refrain from such criticisms and statements that insult Islamic values and sanctities." The 35-article morality law -- which says women must cover up c...

Türkiye’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu met with Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar on Wednesday during his visit for the groundbreaking of the Lefkosa Ring Road.  The meeting, held at the TRNC Presidential Honor Hall, was attended by key Turkish officials, including Ambassador Yasin Ekrem Serim.  President Tatar highlighted the increasing international recognition of the two states in Cyprus despite ongoing challenges. He expressed appreciation for Türkiye’s support, particularly for the Lefkosa Ring Road Project, stating: "Our goal is to move forward confidently with the support of our motherland, our homeland, and the Blue Homeland." Minister Uraloglu reaffirmed Türkiye’s commitment to the TRNC, saying: "We are dedicated to making significant contributions to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This aligns with our broader vision of the Blue Homeland." He also discussed ongoing investments, including ...

A Brazilian Supreme Court judge warned Wednesday that social media platform X could be suspended if CEO Elon Musk does not appoint a new legal representative for Brazil operations within 24 hours. Earlier this month, Musk halted X's business activities in Brazil but kept the platform accessible to users, accusing the judge of threatening the previous legal representative. Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who has led efforts against disinformation in Brazil, issued the order on X. Failure to comply could result in the suspension of X’s operations in the country. Musk criticized Moraes, alleging that the judge is part of a broader attack on free speech.
 Moraes had previously ordered the suspension of several accounts spreading disinformation, including those linked to former President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been implicated in alleged disinformation schemes. from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/hXytZWJ

The women's and men's top seeds in tennis, Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner, both advanced at the 2024 US Open on Tuesday. Polish star Swiatek, 23, beat her Russian opponent Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) to qualify for the women's second round at the US Open in New York City. Swiatek will meet Japan's Ena Shibahara in the next match. Italy's Sinner, the world No. 1 in men's singles, booked his place in the second round with a four-set win against US player Mackenzie McDonald. Sinner, 23, won the match with sets of 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 to play against another US national, Alex Michelsen, in the next round. One of the four tennis majors, the US Open started on Monday and will run for nearly two weeks, with the men's singles final on Sept. 8. from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/reVO3sJ

The Israeli government's decision to fund tours for illegal settlers of Al-Aqsa Mosque represents a “dangerous escalation” that could provoke a “religious war,” the Palestinian resistance group Hamas warned Tuesday. The government’s decision to fund the “Zionist tours” is a dangerous escalation that risks igniting a religious war, “for which the occupation and its supporters bear responsibility,” Hamas said in a statement. “This extremist fascist government is playing with fire, as it does not care about the repercussions of its Zionist behavior in violating the sanctity, status and identity of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in our Arab and Islamic nation,” the statement added. On Monday, the Israeli public broadcaster KAN said the office of Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu -- an extremist minister known for being anti-Palestinian -- will allocate 2 million shekels ($543,256) for guided tours, which is expected to be implemented in the coming weeks. National Security Minister Itamar B...

The death toll from devastating floods caused by relentless monsoon rain and overflowing rivers in Bangladesh has risen to 23, with around 1.24 million families stranded across 11 districts, officials said on Monday. As floodwaters recede slowly, many of the 5.7 million affected people remain isolated and in urgent need of food, clean water, medicine and dry clothes, above all in remote areas where blocked roads have hindered rescue and relief efforts. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department said that flood conditions could persist if the monsoon rains continued, as water levels were receding very slowly. Around 470,000 people have taken refuge in 3,500 shelters in the flood-hit districts, where around 650 medical teams are on the ground to provide treatment, with the army, air force, navy, and the South Asian country's border guard assisting in rescue and relief operations, authorities said. Vast areas of land are submerged, posing a significant threat to crops if the floodwaters...

Italian prosecutors have placed under investigation the captain of the superyacht that sank off Sicily last week in a storm, killing British tech magnate Mike Lynch and six other people, a judicial source said on Monday. James Cutfield, a 51-year-old New Zealand national, is being investigated for manslaughter and shipwreck, the source said, confirming earlier reports by Italian media. Being placed under investigation in Italy does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will necessarily follow. Notices to people under investigation need to be sent out before authorities can carry out the autopsies on the bodies of the dead. The decision was made after Cutfield was interrogated for a second time. Reuters has been unable to contact Cutfield. It is still unclear whether other members of the crew or other people will also be put under investigation along with the captain. The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-foot) yacht, was carrying 22 people when it capsized and s...

North Korea has unveiled a new "suicide drone", state media said Monday, with leader Kim Jong Un overseeing a performance test of the weapons, which experts said could have come from Russia. Wearing a cream baker boy hat, Kim was shown beaming as he watched, aided by high-powered binoculars, as the drones blew up targets, images in state media showed. Kim said that "it is necessary to develop and produce more suicide drones", the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, in addition to "strategic reconnaissance and multi-purpose attack drones". Suicide drones are explosive-carrying unmanned drones designed to be deliberately crashed into enemy targets, effectively acting as guided missiles. The nuclear-armed North's growing drone fleet will "be used within different striking ranges to attack any enemy targets on the ground and in the sea", KCNA said. All the drones North Korea tested on August 24 "correctly identified and dest...

Australia gave millions of workers the legal right to "disconnect" on Monday, allowing them to ignore unreasonable out-of-hours calls, emails and texts from their bosses. People can now refuse to monitor, read, or respond to their employers' attempts to contact them outside work hours -- unless that refusal is deemed "unreasonable". Unions welcomed the legislation, saying it gave workers a way to reclaim some work-life balance. "Today is a historic day for working people," said Michele O'Neil, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. "Australian unions have reclaimed the right to knock off after work," she said. In the streets of Sydney, people appeared to welcome the change. "I have a very hard time disconnecting and even though I may not necessarily be logged on, my brain is constantly working overtime," not-for-profit worker Karolina Joseski told AFP. "So getting that after-hour call from my boss doesn't ...

A senior United Nations official has warned that the Taliban's newly introduced vice and virtue laws represent a "distressing vision" for Afghanistan's future. The laws, which include a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public, have sparked international concern over further erosion of women’s rights in the country. Roza Otunbayeva, head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, expressed deep concern on Sunday, stating that these laws extend the already severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls. “Even the sound of a female voice outside the home now seems to be considered a moral violation,” Roza said. The Taliban's Vice and Virtue Ministry, empowered to enforce these laws, issued its first set of regulations last Wednesday. The laws require women to conceal their faces, bodies, and voices while in public. The ministry is authorised to regulate personal conduct and administer punishments, including warnings or arrests, for alleged violations. “After deca...

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has publicly condemned the recent arrest of Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov, who was detained on Saturday at Bourget airport outside Paris. Durov, arriving from Azerbaijan on his private jet, was arrested by local authorities amid an investigation into Telegram's alleged lack of moderation, which authorities believe has allowed criminal activity to go unchecked on the platform. Musk, known for his outspoken views on free speech, took to social media to express his disapproval of Durov’s arrest. He emphasized the importance of free speech protections, particularly under the First Amendment in the United States, and criticized the European approach. In a pointed remark, Musk quipped, “It’s 2030 in Europe, and people are getting executed for liking memes,” underscoring his concern about the broader implications for freedom of expression. Musk’s comments come as reports suggest Durov could face up to 20 years in prison. Meanwhile, the TON blockch...

Israeli forces have turned the designated "safe humanitarian zones" within the Gaza Strip into heaps of rubble and ashes, leaving only 9.5% of the territory as so-called “safe zones” for displaced civilians, the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said on Saturday. According to a statement released by the authority, at the onset of Israel's ground invasion of Gaza in early November 2023, Israeli forces pushed hundreds of thousands of civilians from northern Gaza to southern Gaza, claiming these areas were "safe humanitarian zones." Initially, these zones covered 230 square kilometers (89 square miles) or 63% of Gaza's total area, including agricultural land and commercial, economic, and service facilities spread across 120 square kilometers (46 square miles). As the Israeli military offensives continued, the size of these so-called safe zones shrank dramatically, the statement said. The authority explained that by early December 2023, following Israel's in...

The UN on Friday called for end to violence in Myanmar. In a statement, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: “25 August marks seven years since the forced mass displacement of Rohingya people and other communities from Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Around 1 million Rohingya are presently sheltering in Bangladesh and over 130,000 more across the region without immediate prospects for return.” Dujarric highlighted the ongoing "dire security and humanitarian situation" in Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine State, where escalating armed conflict continues to exacerbate the “pre-existing vulnerabilities” of the Rohingya and other communities. 
 "The (UN) Secretary-General calls on all parties to the conflict in Myanmar to end the violence and ensure the protection of civilians in accordance with applicable international human rights standards and international humanitarian law," he said. 
 The UN chief also renewed his appeal to "strengthen regional protection efforts...

The World Health Organization secretary general said on Friday that the new mpox virus can be halted and brought under control. “This new mpox outbreak can be controlled and stopped,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing of members of the WHO, a UN agency. “Doing so requires concerted action between international agencies and national and local partners, civil society, researchers and manufacturers, and you, our member states,” he added. Stating more than 100,000 confirmed mpox cases have been reported to the WHO since the global outbreak began in 2022, he also reported an unprecedented increase in cases in Africa. “Transmission is now centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with 90% of the reported cases in 2024. There have been more than 16,000 suspected cases – including 575 deaths – this year alone,” he said Telling how the virus was declared a public health emergency of international concern, Tedros said that last month, cases of the Clade 1b strain of the virus we...

A total of 74 people were arrested during pro-Palestinian protests in Chicago, Illinois, police said on Friday. Four-day Democratic National Convention started on Monday at the United Center, where Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic Party's presidential nomination late Thursday. Chicago saw protests since earlier this week, including one demonstration in front of the Israeli Consulate, where thousands of people expressed support for Palestine to demand an end to US support for Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. "As a result of everything that occurred out there, there were a total of 74 arrests that were around protest situations," Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters, along with Mayor Brandon Johnson. He added four people went to a hospital for "medication problems." "We had a few officers who were injured, and those officers refused medical attention because they did not want to leave their fellow o...

On the third night of the Democratic National Convention, the group Muslim Women for Harris announced its disbandment and withdrawal of support for Kamala Harris’s campaign. The decision came after the Harris-Walz campaign refused to allow a Palestinian speaker on the main stage, despite protests from the Uncommitted National Movement, which had organized a sit-in outside the convention. Ilhan Omar joined the sit-in, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez participated via FaceTime. The Uncommitted delegates had called for a Palestinian speaker, arguing that while the family of Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin was given a platform, similar representation for Palestinians was denied. Muslim Women for Harris criticised the campaign's refusal, stating, “We cannot in good conscience continue Muslim Women for Harris-Walz” given the exclusion of Palestinian voices. They highlighted the contrast between the empathy shown to Israeli hostages' families and the lack of support for Palestinian p...

Pro-Palestinian protesters are gathering Thursday, the final day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, to demand an end to US support for Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. As delegates were gathering for the convention, where Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the Democratic nomination for the presidency, tens of thousands of people have expressed support for Palestine since the beginning of the convention on Monday. “The central issue for our protest, the central issue for this week of the DNC, the central issue in the world today is Palestine and how we need to stop US aid to Israel,” Hatem Abudayyeh, the spokesperson for the Coalition and US Palestinian Community Network, one of the organizers of the mass marches, said at a news conference. Stressing that tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets this week, Abudayyeh said he hoped that several thousands more will be at the protest on Thursday. Their main demands from US Pr...

Imagine waking up one day to find that the Earth had suddenly stopped spinning. It's a scenario straight out of science fiction, but what would actually happen if our planet ceased its rotation? The consequences would be catastrophic and far-reaching, impacting every aspect of life on Earth. Here’s a closer look at what could unfold. Immediate effects on the planet The Earth’s rotation is responsible for the cycle of day and night. If the Earth stopped spinning, the first noticeable change would be that one side of the planet would be locked in perpetual daylight while the other would be shrouded in endless night. This drastic change would wreak havoc on our ecosystems. The side facing the Sun would become scorching hot, with temperatures soaring to unbearable levels, while the dark side would plunge into freezing cold, creating an environment similar to the extremes found on other planets like Mercury. The atmosphere and oceans The sudden halt of Earth’s rotation would also cause ...

Kamala Harris' main campaign fundraising group raised four times as much money in July as that raised by Donald Trump's campaign, according to federal disclosures filed late on Tuesday, a sign of enthusiasm ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election. Democratic Vice President Harris' campaign told the Federal Election Commission it raised $204 million last month, compared to $48 million reported to the body by Republican former President Trump's main fundraising group.   Harris' figures include money raised during the month before she launched her candidacy on July 21, when President Joe Biden folded his flagging re-election effort. Biden endorsed Harris, who took over control of Biden's fundraising group. The records show the group raised more than $60 million in the first three days of Harris' candidacy. Harris also outspent Trump during the month, $81 million to $24 million, according to their FEC reports. The Harris campaign had previously announced...

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his US counterpart Antony Blinken on Wednesday discussed the latest status of the cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. In a phone call requested from the US side, Fidan and Blinken also discussed developments in the region, a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. The US, Egypt and Qatar announced last week following cease-fire talks in Doha that they had presented Israel and Hamas with what they called a "bridging proposal" to further narrow "remaining gaps in the manner that allows for a swift implementation of the deal." Hamas criticized the proposal, claiming it aligns with Netanyahu's conditions, including his refusal of a permanent cease-fire, complete withdrawal from Gaza and his insistence on continuing the occupation of the Netzarim Junction (which separates the north and south of the Gaza Strip), the Rafah border crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor. Biden said in May that Israel presented a...

A classified nuclear strategic plan approved by President Joe Biden this year is not a response to a single country or threat, the White House said on Tuesday, after the New York Times reported it reoriented the US deterrence strategy to focus on China's expansion of its nuclear arsenal for the first time. The US-based Arms Control Association said it understood US nuclear weapons strategy and posture remained the same as described in the administration's 2022 Nuclear Posture Review, and there had been no reorientation away from Russia and toward China. The New York Times said the White House had never announced that Biden had approved the revised strategy, titled the "Nuclear Employment Guidance," but an unclassified notification to Congress of the revision is expected to be sent before Biden leaves office. The newspaper said that in recent speeches, two senior administration officials were allowed to allude to the strategy revision. It said the strategy is updated e...

At least 10 Palestinians were killed and several others injured in a series of Israeli overnight raids across the Gaza Strip as its deadly onslaught enters day 319. According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, six Palestinians were killed and many others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a home of the Abu Zeid family in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Another airstrike on a car in northern Rafah city left four Palestinians killed. The Israeli artillery also struck areas in the central and western areas of Rafah city. In Khan Younis, five Palestinians were injured as the Israeli tanks shelled the outskirts of al-Mawasi area crowded with displaced Palestinians. The Israeli artillery also struck the northwestern areas of the Nuseirat refugee camp and eastern Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip. Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack b...

At least 50 people have died and 15 others have been missing in central China since late July after the region was hit by typhoon-induced heavy rain and flood. According to local officials, Typhoon Gaemi severely hit the Zixing City in central China's Hunan province. Flood and rain displaced 128,000 people, while 11,869 houses and buildings were damaged or collapsed, Xinhua News reported late Monday. Heavy rain also damaged roads and power systems in hundreds of villages in the region as landslides were also reported in some areas. However, the authorities restored the roads and electricity systems in the areas. from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/SvKEcex

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken was due to travel to Egypt on Tuesday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire after saying Israel had accepted a US "bridging proposal" for a deal and urging Hamas to do the same. Blinken, on his ninth visit to the Middle East since October 7 attack, was scheduled to fly from Tel Aviv to El Alamein, the Mediterranean city famous for a World War II battle in 1942, to speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at his summer palace. Afterwards, he will head to a meeting with Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, in Doha, the scene of ceasefire talks last week. Both Egypt and Qatar are working alongside the United States to broker a truce in the 10-month Gaza conflict. Washington put forward the latest proposal last week after the talks in Doha. Blinken said Monday he had "a very constructive meeting" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who "confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal". Ahead of...

Democratic White House hopeful Kamala Harris hugged Joe Biden on stage at the party's national convention late Monday after the US president said he would be "the best volunteer" for her campaign against Republican rival Donald Trump. Wrapping up a forceful, roughly one-hour televised speech to party delegates in Chicago in which he passed the nomination torch to his vice president, the 81-year-old Biden said "I promise I'll be the best volunteer Harris and Walz's camp have ever seen," referring to Harris's running mate Tim Walz. President Joe Biden cemented the Democratic Party's embrace of Kamala Harris as its leader in the fight for the White House against Republican Donald Trump with a convention speech on August 19 that hailed his vice president as the party's future.   from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/7RhsSZA

The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility on Monday for a bomb blast near a synagogue in Tel Aviv that Israeli police and the Shin Bet intelligence agency described as a terrorist attack. A man who was carrying the bomb was killed and a passerby was injured in the incident late on Sunday, according to police at the scene. In their statement the Brigades added that their "martyrdom operations" inside Israel would return to the forefront as long as the "occupation's massacres and assassination policy continue" - an allusion to Israel's offensive in Gaza and the July 31 killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for Haniyeh's death in the Iranian capital. The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7 last year when Hamas gunmen stormed across the border into Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies. Israel's militar...

A top Pakistani diplomat handling Afghan diplomacy has sounded the alarm, cautioning that another 9/11-style attack could originate from Afghanistan, a war-torn country he says the world has all but forgotten. "Afghanistan has almost been forgotten. There is no doubt about it and this was in fact highlighted during the Doha 3 session in June. Humanitarian assistance is not up to the mark. Even last year only one-third of the commitments were fulfilled," remarked Pakistan's special representative on Afghanistan Ambassador Asif Durrani during a talk at the Ambassadors' Lounge. He said after the Ukraine war and Palestinian genocide, the priorities of the international players changed. "In fact, Afghanistan is no more in the news. Forget about front or back pages, even in the inner pages Afghanistan is absent." "I think it can push back Afghanistan to pre-9/11 conditions and which in fact then give birth to 9/11," Durrani warned. He said 97 per cent of...

A Bengaluru-based techie, who went missing on August 4, was located in Noida on Thursday, after fleeing his home to escape what he described as his wife's "torture." The man, a resident of North Bengaluru, was found by police near a mall in Noida, where he had been seen exiting after watching a movie. He was returned to Bengaluru by authorities on Friday morning. The techie's disappearance had prompted his wife to take to social media, accusing the police of not doing enough to find her husband, whom she initially feared had been kidnapped. The techie had left home, reportedly to withdraw cash from an ATM, before vanishing. During the investigation, police struggled to trace him as he had turned off his mobile phone, rendering their search through CCTV footage from bus stations, railway stations, and the airport futile. The breakthrough came when the techie, now in Noida, purchased a new SIM card and inserted it into his old phone, allowing the police to locate him. U...

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday commended a decision by Sudanese authorities to reopen the Adre border crossing between Chad and Darfur. Guterres underscored the importance of "concrete and sustained" measures to facilitate humanitarian access and protect civilians amid Sudan's civil war, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. "Humanitarian organizations must have full, safe and unhindered access to reach all civilians in need across Darfur, and across the country as a whole," he added. The UN remains fully committed to working with all relevant stakeholders to help end the conflict and alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people, he stressed. Sudan's sovereign council announced on Thursday that it will reopen the Adre border crossing for three months to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to those affected by the ongoing 15-month civil war. The decision comes after nearly six months during which no humanitarian aid...

Thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Saturday, demanding a prisoner-hostage swap deal with Palestinian factions in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Kaplan Square, central Tel Aviv, to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to finalize a prisoner-hostage exchange deal, according to state-run public broadcaster KAN. The protesters threatened to intensify demonstrations if a deal is not reached within the next week, it reported, adding that protesters chanted against Netanyahu and accused him of disregarding the lives of the hostages in Gaza. Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported that "thousands of Israelis protested in Haifa (north) and at dozens of locations across the country, calling for a hostage swap deal, a cease-fire, and early elections to oust Netanyahu's government." Earlier, the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza said Netanyahu was torpedoing a deal by setting new conditions. The Israeli negotiating team in...

India's javelin star Neeraj Chopra said Saturday that missing out on Olympic gold hurt, but the injury-hit athlete eyes bigger returns in upcoming competitions. The 26-year-old won silver in Paris after Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won gold with an Olympic record of 92.97 metres in the javelin final. Chopra, who made history in 2020 Tokyo Olympics with India's first ever Olympic track and field gold, threw further in Paris with 89.45 metres -- not too far off his personal best of 89.94m. "There is no comparison with a gold medal," Chopra told reporters by phone from Switzerland, where he is training for upcoming tournaments. "Winning back-to-back medals for your nation is good and taking a lap of the ground with your country's flag is always a wonderful feeling," he added. "But the national anthem playing when your flag goes up with you on top of the podium was missing." However, he said he was pleased with his silver. "We have to accept w...

At least two civilians were killed and 11 injured in a missile strike by Ukraine on a shopping mall in the eastern city of Donetsk, local media reported. The number of casualties is expected to rise, as many people were inside the Galaktika mall at the time of the attack, Russia's state news agency TASS reported, citing law enforcement sources. "Preliminarily, there is information about at least two fatalities at the Galaktika mall, with the emphasis on preliminary," the news agency said Ukraine carried out a strike with multiple missiles, and one hit a hospital, while others hit nearby residential buildings, it added. A fire erupted in the shopping mall following the airstrike, with emergency services having difficulty reaching people inside the mall as shelling continues, according to the news agency. Russia condemns attack The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned Ukraine's strike, slamming it as "cowardly attack" and a "carefully plotted act of terrori...

Authorities in Moscow on Friday added several people affiliated with the late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny to a list of “terrorists and extremists.”  The names of Navalny's press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, an employee of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, Maria Pevchikh, and lawyers Olga Mikhailovna and Alexander Fedulov appeared on the blacklist of the Russian Financial Monitoring Service, or Rosfinmonitoring. All of the blacklisted people are currently living abroad, but they are accused of being involved in activities that are detrimental to the Russian Federation. Alexey Navalny died in prison in 2023 after being convicted on multiple charges that the West widely regards as politically motivated. from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/Hfb2jrl

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to implement a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. Modi urged deescalating the situation in the Middle East during a telephone conversation with Netanyahu. “We discussed the current situation in West Asia. Emphasized the need to de-escalate. Reiterated our call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and continued humanitarian assistance,” said the Indian prime minister. India refers to the Middle East as West Asia. Cease-fire negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, facilitated by Qatar, the US and Egypt, are ongoing in the Qatari capital. Officials will meet again in Cairo before the end of next week, hoping to reach an agreement to end the war in Gaza, according to a joint statement by Egypt, Qatar and the US on Friday. Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnatio...

The killing of civilians in Gaza, devastated by weeks of Israeli attacks, amounts to “terrorism,” Pope Francis said on Sunday. “Some would say, ‘It is war. It is terrorism.’ Yes, it is war. It is terrorism,” Francis said at his weekly blessing at St. Peter's Square, speaking after reports emerged of Israeli snipers killing two Christian women in Gaza’s sole Catholic church. Deploring "grave and painful news" from Gaza, including airstrikes on "unarmed civilians," he told Sunday mass worshipers: "Let us not forget our brothers suffering from wars in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel and other conflict regions. May Christmas' approach strengthen ways leading to peace." Israeli snipers “murdered” a mother and her daughter on Saturday and shot seven other people at the Parish of the Holy Family, the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.   from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News htt...

The EU foreign police chief on Thursday held a phone conversation with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and reiterated the EU's “steadfast commitment” to upholding the status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem.  "Spoke with DPM @AymanHSafadi to confirm the EU steadfast commitment to upholding the Status Quo of the Holy Sites, including historic Jordanian custodianship," Josep Borrell wrote on X, expressing his strong rejection of provocations, hate speech and incitement to war crimes by some Israeli ministers. On Tuesday, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex along with more than 2,000 radical Israelis. In a video, Ben-Gvir said: “Our policy is to enable Jewish prayer.” Borrell said: "We expect PM (Benjamin) Netanyahu, beyond his refutation of Minister (Itamar) Ben Gvir provocation, to prevent further violations."
 Borrell and Safadi also discussed the “ongoing mediation for a cease-fire, a priority t...

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is on the brink of a leadership change as its president, Nazmul Hassan, prepares to step down from his position, according to recent indications from board officials. Hassan, who is currently serving his fourth term, is reportedly seeking government collaboration to implement key reforms within the board. The development comes amid growing political instability in Bangladesh, which has seen Hassan and his wife relocate to London. Since August 5, several board directors, reportedly backed by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, have gone into hiding. In contrast, on August 14, a few directors in Dhaka convened to discuss their next course of action. Amid the turbulence, former BCB officials and cricket organizers have gathered at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, urging Hassan and his team to resign. “One of our directors is in touch with him, and according to him, Papon bhai is ready to cooperate with the government and is also prepared to s...

The biggest party in Thailand's caretaker government will meet on Thursday to choose a successor for dismissed former premier Srettha Thavisin, as it races to shore up its alliance a day ahead of a pivotal parliamentary vote on a new prime minister. Thailand is again gripped by political drama less than a year after real estate mogul Srettha rose to power following weeks of parliamentary deadlock, with his Pheu Thai Party scrambling to retain control and deliver on its stalled populist agenda amid a stuttering economy. The Constitutional Court's dismissal of Srettha on Wednesday was the latest hammer blow for Pheu Thai, the electoral juggernaut of the billionaire Shinawatra family that has locked horns for two decades with Thailand's influential establishment and royalist military. Pheu Thai must choose one of two eligible candidates - Chaikasem Nitisiri, a former attorney-general and justice minister, and its inexperienced leader Paetongtarn Shin...

Hamas said on Wednesday it would not take part in a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks slated for Thursday in Qatar, but an official briefed on the talks said mediators expected to consult with the Palestinian group afterwards. The US has said it expects indirect talks to go ahead as planned in Qatar's capital Doha on Thursday, and that a ceasefire agreement was still possible, while warning that progress was needed urgently to avert a wider war. Axios reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed a trip to the Middle East that had been expected to begin on Tuesday. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk will represent Washington at the talks on Thursday in Qatar. Three senior Iranian officials have said that only a ceasefire deal in Gaza would hold Iran back from direct retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas lea...

Hunter Biden sought assistance from the US State Department for a foreign company while his father was vice president, which was revealed late Tuesday, according to newly released records from the Biden administration. The disclosure of information to The New York Times comes just three weeks after President Joe Biden dropped his 2024 reelection bid. The records, which have been withheld for years, indicate that Hunter Biden wrote at least one letter to the US ambassador to Italy in 2016 seeking help for a lucrative energy project in that country with the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, where the younger Biden was a board member. The embassy's response appeared to be cautious at best, with officials giving no commitment to Biden in their response. "I want to be careful about promising too much," wrote a Commerce Department official at the time. "This is a Ukrainian company and, purely to protect ourselves, (the United States government) should not be actively advocati...

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Monday that its experts visited the damaged cooling tower at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and found no remains of a drone. "Based on the observations, the team assessed that it was unlikely that the primary source of the fire began at the base of the cooling tower," IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement. His remarks came a day after Ukraine and Russia traded accusations following reports of a fire breaking out at one of the cooling systems of the Russia-controlled power plant. Russia accused Ukrainian forces of striking the cooling tower with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian troops of setting fire to the plant. While visiting the impacted cooling tower, Grossi said the team observed burnt areas in the internal equipment higher up, near the water nozzle distribution level. Samples of the debris, including burnt and molten plas...

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes efforts to restore calm and organize parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, his deputy spokesman said Monday. "He urges the interim government in the coming weeks to continue to make every effort to be inclusive, including by taking into account the voices of women, youth and people across the country, as well as that of minority and indigenous communities, as the country moves towards parliamentary elections," Farhan Haq said in a statement. Guterres stands in full solidarity with the people of Bangladesh and calls for the full respect of their human rights, Haq said, adding he continues to underscore the need for a "full, independent, impartial and transparent" investigation into all acts of violence. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took the oath of office last week to lead a 17-member transitional administration in Bangladesh. It came after weeks of protests which led to the fall of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's A...