International

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has recently lost about 20 kilograms, but remains healthy and is trying to boost public loyalty to him in the face of worsening economic problems, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday. The National Intelligence Service gave the assessment during a closed-door parliamentary briefing, saying it used artificial intelligence techniques, an analysis …

JERICHO: Palestinian authorities on Thursday unveiled one of the largest floor mosaics in the world, in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho, after years of restoration. Resembling a fine carpet, the vast mosaic covers 836 square metres (8,998 square feet) at the Hisham Palace, an Ummayad Islamic desert castle dating from the eighth century. The images, seen on dozens …

WASHINGTON: A senior Pentagon official has informed Congress that Pakistan continues to give the United States access to its airspace and the two sides are also talking about keeping that access open. US Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Colin Kahl shared this information with the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday during an open/closed hearing on “Security in Afghanistan and …

CAIRO: Sudan’s strongman fired at least six ambassadors, including the envoys to the US, the European Union and France, after they condemned the military’s takeover of the country, a military official said on Thursday. The diplomats had pledged their support for the now-deposed government of Prime Minister Abddalla Hamdok. Their dismissal came hours before the United Nations Security council issued …

LONDON: Lawyers for Julian Assange on Thursday dismissed US assurances about the treatment awaiting the WikiLeaks founder if he is extradited from Britain, as two days of hearings wrapped up in London. Britain’s High Court said it would issue a ruling at a later date, after Washington appealed against a lower court’s decision to block Assange’s extradition to face a …

Facebook Inc is now called Meta, the company said on Thursday, in a rebrand that focuses on building the “metaverse”, a shared virtual environment that it bets will be the successor to the mobile internet. The name change comes as the world’s largest social media company battles criticisms from lawmakers and regulators over its market power, algorithmic decisions and the policing of …

CAMBRIDGE: To cheers and a trumpet fanfare, a Cambridge University college on Wednesday handed a bronze statue looted in the 19th century back to Nigerian officials, in the first such move by a UK institution. Sonita Alleyne, the head of Jesus College, gave the elaborately carved cockerel known as “Okukor” to a Nigerian delegation. Okukor was among thousands of African …

BEIJING: China insisted on Wednesday that Taiwan had no right to join the United Nations, after the United States ratcheted up tensions with a call for the democratic island to have greater involvement in the world body. In a statement marking 50 years since the UN General Assembly voted to seat Beijing and boot out Taipei, US Secretary of State …

TEHRAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has called for devising a long-term roadmap for Afghanistan in order to advance the agenda of political engagement, economic integration, and regional connectivity. Speaking at the second Ministerial Meeting of Neighbouring Countries of Afghanistan in Tehran on Wednesday, he stressed the need for exploring possibilities of collaboration with key international actors that can support …

LONDON: The United States urged two senior British judges on Wednesday to clear the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and reject a lower court’s ruling that he is a suicide risk. Washington also assured the High Court in London that it would not hold the Australian in isolation in a US “supermax” prison, as it sought to sideline several …