International

PARIS: Struggle to wrap your head around daylight savings? Spare a thought for the world’s timekeepers, who are trying to work out how climate change is affecting Earth’s rotation — and in turn, how we keep track of time. In a strange twist, global warming could even help out timekeepers by delaying the need for history’s first “negative leap second” …

WASHINGTON: Astronomers on Wednesday announced that they have detected a strong and organised magnetic field twisted in a spiral pattern around the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, revealing previously unknown qualities of the immensely powerful object lurking at the center of our galaxy. The structure of the magnetic field emanating from the edge of the black hole called Sagittarius A*, …

BALTIMORE: Rescuers have lost hope of finding more survivors of the Baltimore bridge collapse, the US coast guard said as efforts switched on Wednesday to looking for bodies of the missing and more answers to why a container ship smashed into the bridge. US federal safety investigators have also recovered the black box from the freight ship that crashed into the bridge, …

LONDON: A UK government minister is on a collision course with the law over his refusal to reveal the sources of allegations that British special forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Johnny Mercer, Britain’s minister for veterans, has said “multiple officers” told him about alleged murders and a subsequent cover-up during the Afghan conflict. He has refused to divulge their identities to …

GAZA STRIP: Israel bombed at least four homes in Rafah on Wednesday, raising fresh fears among the more than a million Palestinians sheltering in the last refuge on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip that a long-threatened ground assault could be coming. One of the airstrikes killed 11 people from a single family, health officials said. The health ministry …

MUMBAI: India on Wednesday summoned a top US diplomat over Washington’s remarks on the arrest of key opposition leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal just weeks before the parliamentary elections. The US State Depart­ment had urged India to ensure a “fair, transparent, and timely legal process” for Kejriwal, who was arrested last week. India strongly objected to the remarks two days …

The Philippines will implement countermeasures proportionate and reasonable against “illegal, coercive, aggressive, and dangerous attacks” by China’s coastguard and maritime militia in the South China Sea, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Thursday. “We seek no conflict with any nation, more so nations that purport and claim to be our friends, but we will not be cowed into silence, submission, …

LONDON: Wall Street and European stock markets mostly rose on Wednesday ahead of key US inflation data later this week while the yen recovered slightly from a 34-year low against the dollar. The yen dropped to 151.97 to the dollar in Asian trading hours after a top Bank of Japan official indicated that it would press ahead with a loose …

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has joined other nations in urging for the prompt implementation of a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution that calls for a Ramazan ceasefire, paving the way for a lasting and sustainable peace in Gaza. Alongside the ceasefire, the resolution underscores the necessity for the immediate, unconditional release of all prisoners. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said …

MOSCOW: The director of Russia’s most powerful security agency said on Tuesday that he believed Ukraine, along with the United States and Britain, were involved in the attack on a concert hall just outside Moscow that killed at least 139 people. Ukraine, which has repeatedly denied any link with Friday’s attack, dismissed the Russian accusations as lies. Britain said they …