International

At least 25 people were killed after a bus carrying wedding guests veered off the road and fell into a deep gorge in northern India, police said on Wednesday. The vehicle was travelling along a treacherous mountain highway in Uttarakhand state when it careened over an edge and plunged at least 500 metres with around 45 people onboard. “Twenty people …

Ten people are confirmed dead after an avalanche struck climbers in the Indian Himalayas, police said on Wednesday, with 18 other members of the expedition still missing. Several dozen climbing trainees were caught in Tuesday morning’s snowslide near the summit of Mount Draupadi ka Danda-II in the northern state of Uttarakhand. The Indian air force and local disaster agency were …

Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived on Wednesday in the city of Malang, where a stadium stampede killed at least 131 people in one of the deadliest disasters in football history. He greeted relatives of the victims after arriving at the Saiful Anwar hospital in the East Javan city. He will then travel to the Kanjuruhan stadium, the scene of the disaster on …

Muslims in multiple areas of India are facing arrests, demolitions, and even floggings for allegedly disrupting Navratri celebrations, according to Indian media reports. A report by New Delhi-based Maktoob Media on Tuesday said that the houses of three Muslims accused of disrupting Navratri celebrations in Madhya Pradesh’s Surjani village were demolished. “The Mandsaur district administration and police demolished the houses of three persons accused …

MOGADISHU: Nine people, including senior regional officials, were killed in twin car bombings claimed by Al Shabaab in central Somalia on Monday, police said, as the government escalates an offensive against the Islamists. Two cars packed with explosives were detonated minutes apart outside local government offices in Beledweyne, a city at the heart of recent offensives against the Al Qaeda-linked …

France has entered an eighth wave of the Covid-19 virus, as the winter season approaches, said a leading French health official. “Yes, we are in this eighth wave,” said Brigitte Autran, who is a member of the government’s vaccination strategic board. “All the indicators are on the up,” added Autran. France’s Covid-19 figures published on Monday showed that the seven-day …

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis, who has often said people should limit their use of cellphones and give preference to personal communication, granted a private audience on Monday to Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook. Cook, head of the $2.4 trillion company whose iPhone has revolutionised personal communication, was on the pope’s daily audience list. As is customary, the Vatican did not …

BIRMINGHAM: Britain’s under-fire finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng on Monday vowed to press on with his controversial economic reform plans, despite announcing a dramatic U-turn on a controversial tax cut for high earners. The proposed cut was part of a debt-driven economic package that has bombed with the markets, the electorate and much of the ruling Conservative party. The abrupt reversal …

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin will host an enhanced honour cordon on Tuesday for Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa when he arrives at the Pentagon for an official meeting. The pooled press will be given access to the event, although there will be no briefing. An enhanced honour cordon is reserved for the …

RIO DE JANEIRO: After an inconclusive first round of presidential elections, Braz­ilians woke up on Monday to another month of uncertainty in a deeply polarized political environment and with renewed fears of unrest. Seeking to make a spectacular comeback, ex-president and frontrunner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 76, failed to garner the 50 percent of votes plus one needed to …