WHAKATANE: New Zealand’s military will embark on a risky dawn mission to retrieve eight bodies from the still-active White Island volcano, officials said on Thursday, as pressure from distraught victims’ families mounted. Teams will move in “shortly after first light” on Friday, deputy police commissioner Mike Clement said, despite volcanologists warning that the chances of another significant eruption in the …

  MADRID: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged countries and companies Thursday to tackle climate change, saying failure to do so would mean economic disaster. Speaking at the annual UN climate meeting in Madrid, Guterres said fears that measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions would decimate existing industries ignored the opportunities arising from the ‘green economy.’ “For too long, vested …

ALGIERS: Algeria held a tense presidential election on Thursday meant to bring stability after a year of turmoil, but voting was marred as protesters stormed polling stations and thousands rallied in the capital. The unpopular vote comes almost 10 months after a people power movement ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 82, after two decades in office, and as demonstrators keep pushing …

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump reprised his ridicule of 16-year-old Greta Thunberg on Thursday after the Swedish climate activist was named Time’s Person of the Year for 2019. Thunberg won the magazine’s annual honorific on Wednesday for her work inspiring millions of young people to take action against climate change. “So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, …

GUWAHATI: Two people were killed and several wounded on Thursday when police in northeast India opened fire on a large crowd demonstrating against the country’s new citizenship bill. Federal authorities deployed thousands of paramilitaries and blocked mobile internet access in the region, while local police who joined them in opposing protesters defying a curfew in Guwahati, in Assam state, opened …

WASHINGTON: The United States understood Pakistan’s need to use F-16 fighter jets to defend itself during an Indian intrusion in February this year, shows a document published on Thursday. The document, obtained by the US News and World Report magazine, however, also shows that Washington was not happy with Islam­abad’s decision to deploy these US-supplied aircraft and missiles to forward positions. The …

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a resounding election victory on Friday that will allow him to take Britain out of the European Union in matter of weeks. For Johnson, whose 20-week tenure in power has been marked by chaotic scenes in parliament and stark division on the streets over Britain’s tortuous departure from the European Union, victory in Thursday’s …

European Union Council President Charles Michel said on Friday the bloc is ready to embark on trade talks with Britain and will do the utmost to protect European priorities after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resounding election victory. “My point is very clear: we are ready. We have decided what are our priorities,” said Michel as he arrived at an EU summit …

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to scrap a visit to northeast India as the security situation there deteriorates following the passage of a controversial citizenship bill, media reported on Friday. Abe had announced plans to visit India from Sunday to Tuesday for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to reports in the Indian press, Modi and Abe were …

ISLAMABAD: Lawmakers on Thursday recommended demolishing all illegal constructions in Margalla Hills National Park. Members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Climate Change believed that their recommendation was in line with the Islamabad Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Ordinance 1979. The ordinance provided for the protection, reservation, conservation and management of wildlife after the Margalla Hills National Park …