International

Afghanistan’s embassy in India suspended operations on Sunday, more than two years after the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul following the collapse of the Western-backed government. Most foreign nations — including India — do not officially recognise Afghanistan’s Taliban government, but acknowledge them as the de facto ruling authority. This has left many Afghan embassies and consulates in limbo, …

The US government hurtled towards a shutdown Friday, with hardline Republicans creating disarray in their own party and President Joe Biden’s administration issuing increasingly dire warnings of everything from impending border chaos to travel disruptions. The closure, set to start after midnight Saturday (0400 GMT Sunday) if lawmakers fail to reach a deal, would be the first since 2019 — …

MALE, Maldives: The Maldives began voting Saturday to decide their next president in a referendum on whether to hitch their fortunes to China or India, both vying for influence in the tropical paradise. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, 61, faces an uphill battle to secure a second mandate after a term that saw renewed ties with New Delhi, the archipelago nation’s traditional …

Heavy rains overnight in the northeastern United States left parts of New York under water on Friday, partially paralyzing subways and airports in America’s financial capital. LaGuardia airport closed down one of its terminals, with social media images showing passengers walking through water well above the tops of their shoes. Mayor Eric Adams urged people not to venture out because …

PRISTINA: Nearly a week after deadly clashes in Kosovo triggered one of the gravest escalations in the former breakaway province in years, the opportunity for reconciliation between ethnic Albanians and Serbs seemed as distant as ever. The killing of a Kosovo police officer and an ensuing gun battle at a monastery brought years of distrust and bitterness to the surface …

One of the co-founders of collapsed cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital has been apprehended in Singapore and jailed for four months, according to the company’s liquidator. The Singapore-based company filed for bankruptcy last year when its fortunes suffered a sharp decline after a massive sell-off of assets it had bet on as prices nosedived in crypto markets. Su Zhu …

KUALA LUMPUR: Hundreds of forest fires in Indonesia have caused haze to reach areas of Malaysia where it has worsened air quality, Kuala Lumpur’s top environment official has said. Outbreaks of smog-belching forest fires in 2019 caused Malaysia to say it would pressure Indonesia to combat the annual problem, which is often caused by blazes lit to clear agricultural land. …

The US Dollar (USD) was on track to post its biggest quarterly gain in a year on Friday and gains for the 11th consecutive week as investors priced in the likelihood of a still solid economy and higher rates for longer. The greenback retraced most earlier losses against a basket of currencies to be only slightly lower on the day, …

YEREVAN: Armenia said Saturday that over 100,000 people have fled Nagorno-Karabakh, meaning nearly all the official population of the ethnic Armenian enclave has left since Azerbaijan seized back control. Nazeli Baghdasaryan, a spokeswoman for Armenia’s prime minister, said the number of refugees entering the country over the past week had reached 100,417. The exodus comes after the Armenian enclave — …

A regional security meeting on Afg­han­istan, hosted by Russia with participation from other regional countries including China and India, has called upon the interim Afghan government to take effective measures to “dismantle” all sorts of terrorist groups based in the country and to ensure that their territory no longer serves as “terrorism hotspot”. The call for enhanced security measures arose …