RIYADH : Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday only the United States could stop Israel attacking the border city of Rafah in Gaza, adding that the assault, which he expects to come within days, could force much of the Palestinian population to flee the enclave. “We call on the United States of America to ask Israel to not carry …

JERUSALEM: Two Isra­eli ministers publicly opposed a Gaza truce deal on Sunday, saying Benja­min Netanyahu’s government had no right to exist if it failed to invade Rafah. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz called for Hamas to be destroyed, as planned by the government when it launched an invasion of Gaza. “If you decide to …

DUBLIN: Ireland is looking to amend the law to allow the return of asylum seekers to the United Kingdom, broadcaster RTE said on Sunday after an influx over the border with Northern Ireland. Dublin’s Minister of Justice Helen McEntee, who visits London on Monday, told a parliamentary committee this week that she estimates 80 percent of those applying for asylum …

NICOSIA: World Central Kitchen (WCK) said it would resume operations in the Gaza Strip on Monday, a month after seven workers of the US-based charity were killed in an Israeli air strike. Prior to halting operations, WCK had distributed more than 43 million meals in Gaza since October, by its own accounts. The charity said it had 276 trucks with …

MANILA: South and Southeast Asia braced for more extreme heat on Sunday, as authorities across the region issued health warnings and residents fled to parks and air-conditioned malls for relief. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted the region over the past week, sending the mercury as high as 45 degrees Celsius and forcing thousands of schools to tell …

At 7am on Thursday, minutes after a fifth-year PhD student at Princeton University’s economics department stepped on campus, he was arrested and detained in a holding cell. His crime? Being at the site of a protest camp, set up by students demanding the university divest from organisations and companies facilitating or profiting from Israel’s ongoing atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza. …

China will send a robotic spacecraft in the coming days on a round trip to the moon’s far side in the first of three technically demanding missions that will pave the way for an inaugural Chinese crewed landing and a base on the lunar south pole. Since the first Chang’e mission in 2007, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, …

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi denied on Monday that his country was sliding towards autocracy, following accusations that his government orchestrated criminal probes to weaken rivals ahead of an ongoing general election. Modi, 73, remains resoundingly popular after a decade in office, and he is widely expected to win a third term when the six-week-long national polls conclude in June. …

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf resigned on Monday, further opening the door to the UK opposition Labour Party to regain ground in its former Scottish heartlands in a national election expected later this year. The 39-year-old politician said he would also stand down as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) but would stay on until his successor was found. …

ISLAMABAD: A vaccination campaign to immunise more than 24 million children under the age of five against poliovirus will begin today (Monday) across the country. The campaign will be carried out in Islamabad, 10 districts of Punjab, 24 districts of Sindh, 26 districts of Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa and 30 districts of Balochistan. Teams of health workers will go house-to-house during the …