International

As Israel’s military called for all civilians of Gaza City, more than one million people, to relocate south within 24 hours on Friday, the UN urged Tel Aviv to call off the order, warning of the “devastating humanitarian consequences”. The order came as Israel amassed tanks near the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion. “Now is a time …

PARIS: The road to Germany resumes this week as Euro 2024 qualifying kicks back into action with a number of teams in position to clinch qualification during two rounds of matches spread over six days from Wednesday. With five wins from as many matches in Group ‘A’, Scotland can become the first country to qualify for next year’s finals if …

SYDNEY: Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who had been detained in China on national security charges for more than three years, returned home on Wednesday after being released, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. Cheng, 48, was a business television anchor for Chinese state television when she was detained in August 2020 for allegedly sharing state secrets with another country. Cheng, …

JERUSALEM: Israel on Wednesday kept up its bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, as Benjamin Netanyahu and a political rival announced an emergency government for the duration of the current conflict, which has already claimed thousands of lives. The Israeli PM and centrist Benny Gantz, a former defence minister, agreed to form a government and war cabinet as …

BISHKEK: Kyrgy­zstan’s parliament on Wednesday ratified an agreement for a common air defence system with Russia, a day before a planned visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Central Asian country. The agreement provides that a land plot of 12 acres at the Kant Russian military base in Kyrgyzstan will be used for the joint programme. “Lawmakers examined and …

WASHINGTON: More debris and suspected human remains have been recovered from a privately owned submersible which failed catastrophically in June while on a mission to the Titanic, the US Coast Guard said. All five people on board the recreational sub, named Titan and operated by US-based company OceanGate, were killed when the vessel imploded, which is believed to have occurred …

HOUSTON: A sample collected from the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu contains abundant water and carbon, Nasa revealed on Wednesday, offering more evidence for the theory that life on Earth was seeded from outer space. The discovery follows a seven-year-round-trip to the distant rock as part of the OSIRIS-REx mission, which dropped off its precious payload in the Utah desert last month …

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had fired missiles on Israel, after three of its fighters were killed earlier this week amid soaring border tensions. The latest exchange of fire came as Israel massed troops and heavy armour around Gaza in its campaign against Hamas. Hezbollah “targeted a Zionist (Israeli) position… facing Dhayra village, with guided missiles”, in a “firm …

WASHINGTON: A US suggestion to create a safe passage for civilians trapped in Gaza has prompted criticism from several quarters, who see the suggestion as furthering Israel’s agenda of emptying the Gaza Strip in a bid to lay claim to that territory as well. There is a distinction between the two demands: the call for a humanitarian corridor, which has been supported …

BEIJING: China announced on Wednesday it will host a gathering of foreign leaders next week to celebrate a decade of its Belt and Road Initiative project, with Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to attend. The Belt and Road Initiative is a landmark project in President Xi Jinping’s bid to expand China’s clout overseas, with Beijing saying this week it had …