International

Rescue workers combed through the rubble of damaged buildings in the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, the day after Russian strikes killed at least seven people. Pokrovsk sits just 50 kilometres from the eastern frontline, where Moscow says it is gaining ground and repelling Ukrainian attacks. Two missiles — launched 40 minutes apart — damaged residential buildings, …

WASHINGTON: US scientists responsible for a historic nuclear fusion breakthrough say they have repeated the feat, this time achieving a greater yield of energy. “We can confirm the experiment produced a higher yield than the December 2022 experiment,” public information officer Paul Rhien said on Monday in an emailed statement, without disclosing specific figures. He added the California lab planned …

TOKYO: Japan on Sunday marked the 78th anniversary of the US atomic bombing on Hiroshima, where its mayor urged the abolition of nuclear weapons and called the Group of Seven leaders’ notion of nuclear deterrence a “folly”. The day to commemorate the victims of the world’s first nuclear attack comes as Russia has raised the spectre of using nuclear weapons …

BEIJING: State-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines has launched new direct flights connecting Riyadh and Jeddah with the Chinese capital Beijing, Saudi state news agency SPA said on Sunday. The inaugural flight from Jeddah to Beijing took off on Friday, with the Riyadh-Beijing flight scheduled to commence on Sunday, SPA said.   PIA resumes passenger flights to and from Chinese capital Also, Pakistan Inter­national Airlines (PIA) …

KABUL: Afghanistan’s supreme leader has warned Taliban members against carrying out attacks abroad, the defence minister said, days after Islamabad hinted at involvement of “Afghan citizens” in suicide attacks inside Pakistan. Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid said in a speech to members of Afghanistan’s security forces, broadcast by state television on Saturday, that fighting outside Afghan­istan is not religiously sanctioned jihad but rather war, …

NIAMEY: Niger’s capital was calm on Sunday, with citizens appearing undaunted by the threat of military intervention by West Africa’s regional bloc, as its ultimatum for the country’s coup leaders to reinstate the president expires. On Niamey’s streets there were sporadic displays of support for but no signs of opposition to the junta, which has said it will not cave …

KYIV: Russia carried out several waves of attacks on Ukraine overnight, while Kyiv hit bridges in occupied territories on Sunday. The Ukrainian air force said on Sunday that it shot down 30 out of the 40 cruise missiles and all Shahed drones launched by Russia. “In total, the enemy used 70 air attack weapons in several waves” in the night …

TUNIS: The bodies of 10 migrants have been found on a beach in Tunisia, near the city of Sfax which has seen a spike this year in Europe-bound sea crossings, authorities said on Sunday. Tunisia has become a major gateway for irregular migrants and asylum seekers primarily from other parts of Africa, attempting perilous voyages in often rickety boats in …

JERUSALEM: Israeli security forces shot dead three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, Israeli police said in a statement. The statement claimed special forces “thwarted a squad from the Jenin refugee camp that was on its way to carry out an attack”. Hazem Qassem, a Hamas Gaza spokesman, said the deaths would not go unpunished. “The enemy, which …

PINGYUAN: At least 23 people were injured and dozens of buildings collapsed, state media reported, after a shallow 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck eastern China in the early hours of Sunday. The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 2:33am, 26 kilometres south of the city of Dezhou in Shandong province, at a depth of 10 kilometres. It was the strongest …