International

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping clashed in a telephone call on Tuesday about US trade restrictions on technology and on Taiwan, but they looked to manage their tensions, with two top US officials to head shortly to Beijing. The telephone conversation was the two leaders’ first direct interaction since a summit in November in California that saw a marked thaw …

BEIRUT: A deadly strike blamed on Israel against Iran’s diplomatic mission in Damascus could trigger a spillover of the Gaza crisis across the region, an escalation Tehran had sought to avoid, analysts said. Monday’s strike levelled the consular annex of the Iranian embassy and killed 13 people, including seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iranian state media …

A traditional Ghana priest has sparked a national outcry after marrying a 13-year-old girl, prompting calls for his arrest. The 63-year-old priest Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII, also known as Gborbu Wulomo, married the girl in a traditional ceremony on Saturday near the capital Accra. The girl and her mother were placed under police protection soon after the marriage as …

An Israeli strike which killed seven people working for the aid charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza on Monday night targeted the convoy travelling on a “pre-approved route” three times, according to a report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The strike on the WCK convoy killed citizens of Australia, Britain and Poland as well as Palestinians and a dual citizen of …

At least nine people were killed and more than 1,000 injured on Wednesday by a powerful earthquake in Taiwan that damaged dozens of buildings and prompted tsunami warnings that extended to Japan and the Philippines before being lifted. Officials said the quake was the strongest to shake the island in decades, and warned of more tremors in the days ahead. …

The White House held a scaled-down Iftar dinner on Tuesday to celebrate Ramazan, after some invitees turned the president down over frustrations in the Muslim community over his policy toward Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. US President Joe Biden met with Muslim leaders before having a small dinner with senior Muslim officials in his administration, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala …

WASHINGTON: A digital tool considered vital in tracking viral falsehoods, CrowdTangle will be decommissioned by Facebook owner Meta in a major election year, a move researchers fear will disrupt efforts to detect an expected firehose of political misinformation. The tech giant says CrowdTangle will be unavailable after August 14, less than three months bef­ore the US election. The Palo Alto …

WASHINGTON: Senior US and Israeli officials held a virtual meeting on Monday to discuss the Biden administration’s alternative proposals to an Israeli military invasion of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, opposed by Washington. President Joe Biden has urged Israel not to conduct a large-scale offensive in Rafah to avoid more civilian casualties among the Palestinian population in Gaza. White …

YANGON: More than 800 people suspected of being cross-border scammers were arrested in a joint police operation by Myanmar and China, Beijing’s embassy in Yangon said on Monday. Scam compounds have flourished in Myanmar, staffed by citizens from China and other countries who are often forced to work swindling their compatriots in an industry analysts say is worth billions. Beijing …

UNITED NATIONS: The Palestinian Authority wants the United Nations Security Council to vote this month to make it a full member of the world body, the Palestinian UN envoy said on Monday, a move that can be blocked by Israel’s ally the United States. Riyad Mansour, who has permanent observer status in the UN, made the Palestinian plans public as …