International

The BRICS group of nations on Tuesday called for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce in Gaza during an extraordinary summit where chair South Africa accused Israel of war crimes and “genocide” in the Palestinian territory. Pretoria hosted a virtual meeting of BRICS — a group of major emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — …

WASHINGTON: The US State Department, while outlining its vision of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, has emphasised the establishment of a Palestinian state that unites both the West Bank and Gaza. “We want to see the establishment of a Palestinian state that unites the West Bank and unites Gaza so the Palestinian people can determine their own future,” the department’s spokesperson …

LHOKSEUMAWE: Hundreds of Rohingya refugees were on Tuesday given shelter for three months in western Indonesia, the country’s immigration office said, after locals threatened to turn them back to sea for a third time. The group of 256 from the persecuted Myanmar minority were turned back twice last week by locals and, after they made land successfully at the third …

DUBAI: Egypt’s foreign ministry has said that bombing targeting displaced people in south Gaza has “a clear objective”, and that is to force the enclave’s residents to leave. “Egypt has clearly declared its utter rejection of any enforced displacement attempt of Palestinians,” the ministry’s spokesman posted on the social media messaging platform X. He also said Egypt has drafted a …

Israel’s government and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a four-day truce to allow the release of some hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, and the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave. Qatar, which has been mediating secret negotiations, said the starting time of the truce would be announced within the next 24 hours. …

SEOUL: North Korea has fired what it claims is a military spy satellite, the South’s armed forces said on Tuesday, hours after Japan confirmed that Pyongyang had warned it of an imminent launch. North Korea’s previous efforts to put a spy satellite into orbit in May and August both failed, and Seoul, Tokyo and Washington had repeatedly warned Pyongyang not …

BEIRUT: Israeli bombardment of south Lebanon on Tuesday killed four civilians, official media said, including two journalists from Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen television, the broadcaster reported, in ongoing violence at the Lebanon-Israel border.   Rabih Maamari   The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported “the deaths of three citizens — two journalists and another civilian — in enemy bombing” of the Tair Harfa area. Al-Mayadeen said its …

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday three hospitals in Israeli-besieged northern Gaza had requested help with evacuating patients and that planning for that was under way, expressing regret that doing so would rob people of a lifeline. Hospitals have come under Israeli relentless bombardment and all hospitals in the northern part of the enclave have effectively ceased functioning …

ISLAMABAD: The UN Refugee Agency, has rai­sed concerns over Pakis­t­an’s announcement for undocumented foreigners to leave, as the orders have adversely affected Afghan nationals including registered refugees and others with valid documents. UNHCR Represen­tat­ive in Pakistan Philippa Candler told a press briefing at UN European headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday that mass arrivals back to Afghanistan were adding to the …

ISLAMABAD: In its review of Pakistan’s preferential trade status, the European Union has highlighted the issues of enforced disappearance and shrinking media freedom. The biennial review of Pakistan’s GSP+ status indicated that progress on issues like space for civil society, freedom of speech, and media remained largely the same as in 2020. The ‘Fourth GSP Report’ highlighted the ongoing issue …