International

DUBAI: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Sunday told his Syrian counterpart it was time for diplomatically isolated Damascus to be reintegrated into the wider Arab region during a meeting in Abu Dhabi, state media reported. The trip by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — his second to the oil-rich United Arab Emirates in as many years — …

CUENCA: At least 14 people were killed, several were wounded and buildings were damaged in a powerful earthquake that shook Peru and Ecuador on Saturday, authorities said. Destroyed buildings, crushed vehicles and debris could be seen in cities such as Machala and Cuenca in Ecuador, as rescue officials rushed to lend aid and panicked residents ran into the streets. The …

ISLAMABAD: An estimated 387 natural hazards and disasters resulted in the death of 30,704 people and caused economic losses of around $223.8 billion all over the world in 2022. The disasters, recorded by the Emergency Event Database (EM-DAT), affected 185m individuals. The EM-DAT has been maintained by the Brussels-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters since 1988. According …

WASHINGTON: Hundreds of Pakistani Americans gathered outside the White House on Sunday, ignoring freezing cold and biting winds, to demand an end to the government’s actions against Imran Khan. “We are here to draw attention to the deteriorating human rights situation and the threat to democracy in Pakistan,” said Junaid Bashir, a senior PTI leader in Virginia. “We want the …

NEW DELHI: A manhunt for a radical Sikh preacher in India entered its second day on Sunday, after authorities arrested 112 of his supporters and shut mobile internet across the Punjab state. Amritpal Singh rose to prominence in recent months demanding the creation of Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland, and with his inter­pretation of Sik­hism at rallies in rural pockets …

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin applauded on Monday the solidity of their alliance as the Chinese leader headed to Moscow for a summit with the internationally isolated Russian president. Xi described his trip as a “journey of friendship, cooperation and peace”, though China has been criticised by Western nations for what they consider tacit backing and diplomatic cover for Russia’s …

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in India on Monday for talks expected to focus on deepening trade and technology ties as well as shared concerns about China. India and Japan along with the United States and Australia make up the Quad alliance, which positions itself as a bulwark against China’s growing assertiveness in Asia under President Xi Jinping. Ties …

Indian authorities extended a mobile internet blackout across a state of about 30 million people on Monday as police hunted a Sikh preacher. The blackout extension came as supporters of Amritpal Singh were filmed vandalising India’s consulate in San Francisco, not long after similar disturbances in London. Authorities in the northern state of Punjab launched a major search on Saturday …

SEOUL: More than 800,000 young North Koreans have volunteered to join the army to fight “US imperialists”, state media said on Saturday, days after Pyongyang test-fired its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile. After a record-breaking year of weapons tests and growing nuclear threats from Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington have ramped up security cooperation, and this week kicked off their largest joint military …

SYDNEY: Low levels of oxygen in Australia’s second longest river were to blame for a mass fish die-off recently in a remote part of New South Wales state, environmental authorities said. Thousands of dead fish have been found this week in the Darling River near the town of Menindee, around 1,000km west of the state capital Sydney. It follows fish …