International

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the death of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching cars and homes, and left at …

ISTANBUL: Rescue workers finished evacuating dozens of passengers trapped for 23 hours mid-air on Saturday after a cable car accident in southern Turkiye that killed one person. Ten people were injured in the accident, which happened late on Friday afternoon in the resort city of Antalya when a supporting pylon collapsed. One cable car in the Sarisu-Tunektepe system plummeted into …

MIAMI: A former US ambassador who pleaded guilty to spying for Cuba for over four decades was sentenced in federal court on Friday to 15 years in prison. Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, was arrested in December for what US officials called “one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent.” Rocha pleaded not …

JOHANNESBURG: With less than two months to South Africa’s crunch election, scandal-tainted former president Jacob Zuma has stolen the spotlight in an unlikely comeback, further wounding the ruling ANC, analysts say. Arguably the most polarising politician in the country’s history of democracy, Zuma’s politicking can be enthralling or perplexing. The ex-leader who has made headlines almost daily in the southern …

FRANKFURT: German airline Lufthansa said its planes would no longer use Iranian airspace as it extended a suspension on flights to and from Tehran amid soaring Middle East tensions. “Due to the current situation, Lufthansa is suspending its flights to and from Tehran up to and including Thursday, 18 April,” a company spokesperson said on Friday. “The airline is also …

ORENBURG: Thousands of people were evacuated from the Orenburg region in the south of the Urals as floodwater continued to rise, Russian emergency services said on Saturday. In the city of Orenburg, one of the worst-hit areas in Russia, the Ural River breached its banks, submerging streets and residential areas and water levels continued to rise. By Saturday afternoon, the …

NIAMEY: Thousands took to the streets of Niger’s capital on Saturday to demand the departure of US troops, after the ruling junta further shifted its strategy by ending a military accord with the United States and welcoming Russian military instructors. Niger also signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese state-owned oil giant China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) worth $400 million …

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and China’s top legislator hailed a “new chapter” of Beijing-Pyongyang relations on Saturday, in one of the most high-level meetings between the allies in years. Beijing’s third highest-ranking official Zhao Leji — a member of the powerful Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo — made a goodwill visit to the nuclear-armed …

TEHRAN: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized a container ship “related to the Zionist regime (Israel)” in the Gulf on Saturday, state media reported, with tensions soaring in the region. The ship’s operator, the Italian-Swiss group MSC, later confirmed Iranian authorities had boarded it. A container ship “was seized by the Sepah (Guards) Navy Special Forces by carrying out a heliborne operation,” …

Iran’s unprecedented overnight attack on Israel has been “foiled”, the Israeli military said on Sunday, with hundreds of missiles and drones intercepted with the help of the United States and allies. Iran had launched more than 300 drones and missiles on Israel in an unprecedented attack late on Saturday “in response” to a deadly airstrike on its Damascus consular annexe earlier this …