International

Methamphetamine trafficking in and around Afghanistan has surged in recent years, even as the Taliban have curbed heroin trafficking since taking power, a United Nations report said on Sunday. “The surge in methamphetamine trafficking in Afghanistan and the region suggests a significant shift in the illicit drug market and demands our immediate attention,” said Ghada Waly, executive director of the …

ATLANTA: A Georgia grand jury recommended criminal charges against Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham and other allies of Donald Trump as part of its investigation into efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 presidential defeat, said a report released on Friday. None were ultimately charged when Georgia prosecutors filed a sweeping criminal case against Trump and 18 alleged co-conspirators. The special grand …

WASHINGTON: US tech billionaire Elon Musk says he prevented Ukraine from wiping out Russia’s Black Sea navy fleet last year by denying Starlink internet access — a revelation that prompted a furious response from Kyiv on Friday. The satellite-based communications system Starlink, operated by Musk-owned company SpaceX, has been deployed in Ukraine since shortly after the country was invaded by …

NEW DELHI: US President Joe Biden was welcomed warmly by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi, but journalists were blocked from covering the key meeting. Media access to such bilateral encounters on the sidelines of major summits like the G20 is always tightly controlled, but it is rarely blocked entirely. The incident comes …

BAMAKO: Forty-nine civilians and 15 soldiers were killed in Mali on Thursday when assailants opened fire on a boat on a waterway and raided a camp in Gao region, a hotbed of militancy over the past decade. Mali’s interim government said insurgents from a West African branch of Al Qaeda, called Jamaat Nusrat Al Islam Wal Muslimeen (JNIM), were responsible …

LARISSA: Helicopters winched people from rooftops and military personnel used rubber boats to rescue families from floodwaters up to three metres deep in central Greece on Friday after a devastating rainstorm killed 10 people. Storm Daniel, which meteorologists said was the worst to hit the country since records began in 1930, pummelled Greece for three days, leaving a trail of …

ISLAMABAD: The European Union announced on Friday launching of a new project that would contribute to migrant protection in Pakistan covering all phases of migration, including countering and preventing irregular migration, trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants. A new migrants resource centre is being opened in Peshawar, joining the existing centres in Islamabad and Lahore to provide counselling …

G20 leaders descended on New Delhi on Friday, with deep divisions between heavyweight members and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s no-show calling the bloc’s relevance into question. The G20 was conceived in the throes of the 2008 financial crisis as a way of managing the global economy. However, finding consensus among members has been increasingly difficult in recent years.     With several …

WASHINGTON: The United States, Saudi Arabia, India and other nations are discussing a possible infrastructure deal that could reconfigure trade between the Gulf and South Asia, linking Middle Eastern countries by railways and connecting to India by port, according to US officials aware of the conversations. The talks, which have also included the United Arab Emirates and Europe, may or …

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s placard at the opening of the G20 summit on Saturday referred to India as “Bharat”, raising speculation of a change of name for the South Asian nation. India is also called Bharat, Bharata, Hindustan — its pre-colonial names — in Indian languages and these are used interchangeably by the public and officially. While the country has …