International

JIUJIANG: Teams of drillers are working long hours to build wells to fight a devastating drought sweeping parts of China, farmers in Jiujiang city in the country’s central Jiangxi province said on Saturday. “These villages, all of them, are particularly dry,” said Gao Pucha, 42, who led one drilling team in Dashan village in Jiujiang. “When we got the notice …

KYIV: Ukraine and Russia traded fresh accusations of shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Saturday, as its operator warned of a radioactive leak risk at the atomic facility. The Zaporizhzhia plant in southern Ukraine has been occupied by Russian troops since early March. Kyiv and Moscow have repeatedly accused each other of rocket attacks in the vicinity of …

NEW YORK: Russia on Friday prevented the adoption of a joint declaration following a four-week UN conference on a nuclear disarmament treaty, with Moscow denouncing what it said were “political” aspects of the text. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which 191 signatories review every five years, aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, promote complete disarmament and promote cooperation …

KYIV: The world narrowly escaped a radiation disaster when electricity to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was cut off for hours, Ukraine’s president said on Thursday, urging international bodies to act faster to force Russian troops to vacate the site. President Volodymyr Zelen­sky said Russian shelling had sparked fires in the ash pits of a nearby coal power station that …

Uday Umesh Lalit was sworn in on Saturday as India’s Chief Justice for the Supreme Court, though he is only set to hold the post for 74 days before his retirement falls due in November. Under India’s constitution, Supreme Court justices are required to retire aged 65 years. The chief justice is appointed by the president according to seniority. Earlier …

ISLAMABAD: Upon the conclusion of his two-day official visit to Qatar, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday the two countries had a clear vision of future with new opportunities and greater awareness to improve bilateral ties and economic cooperation. After his return to the country, the prime minister, in a tweet, expressed his gratitude to Emir of Qatar Sheikh …

OFER PRISON: Israel on Thursday indicted a senior leader of the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad movement whose arrest led to a brief conflict in Gaza earlier this month and whose detention is likely to fuel tensions. The charges against Bassam Al-Saadi, who was arrested on Aug 1 during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, include serving in …

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s veteran two-time leader Mahathir Mohamad said on Thursday that disgraced former premier Najib Razak, who he helped bring down, was likely to win a royal pardon and be freed from a 12-year jail sentence for graft that he began this week. Mahathir, whose historic election victory in 2018 triggered Najib’s downfall, said delays in various trials related …

SRINAGAR: Three suspected militants were killed in India-held Kashmir on Thursday, in the fourth such incident along the Line of Control in five days. The ‘militants’ were killed near an Indian army post after they allegedly crossed the Line of Control in Uri sector, police said on Twitter. The latest incident came four days after Indian soldiers fired on and …