International

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s parliament approved the extension of a state of emergency for a month in a bid to get a grip on a political and economic crisis that has forced a change of leadership, a lawmaker said, as Singapore permits Gotabaya Rajapaksa to stay in the island republic for an additional 14 days, two sources familiar with the matter …

WASHINGTON: A District of Columbia man who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers outside the US Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to 63 months behind bars, tying the record for the longest prison term to date for anyone convicted in the Jan 6, 2021 riot. Mark Ponder, 56, also was ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution and faces three years …

COTONOU: French President Emmanuel Macron, on a visit to Benin on Wednesday, branded Russia “one of the last imperial colonial powers” for its invasion of Ukraine. “Russia launched an offensive against Ukraine. It’s a territorial war, the likes of which we thought had disappeared from European soil. “It’s a war from the early 20th, even the 19th century,” Macron said …

WASHINGTON: Surging inflation and severe slowdowns in the United States and China prompted the IMF on Tuesday to downgrade its outlook for the global economy this year and next, while warning that the situation could get much worse. “The outlook has darkened significantly since April,” said IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas. “The world may soon be teetering on the edge …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday categorically rejected as baseless and misguided the remarks made by the official spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), calling it an effort to politicise the project. In a statement, the Foreign Office spokesperson said CPEC was a transformational project and a harbinger of stability, mutual cooperation and shared …

PARIS: Chemicals leaking from plastic waste make bacteria grow faster in European lakes, according to research published on Tuesday that authors said could provide a natural way to remove plastic pollution from freshwater ecosystems. Microplastics have been found in virtually every corner of the globe — from the highest glaciers to the bottom of the deepest sea trench — but …

CHICAGO: Top US cattle feeding companies sent 1,000-pound carcasses to a Kansas landfill, where they were flattened by loader machines and mixed with trash, after a June heatwave killed thousands of cows, documents show. Other cattle were buried in unlined graves, a feeding company said. Neither is a typical method for disposing of bodies. But so many cows died in …

MOSCOW: Russia has decided to quit the International Space Station “after 2024”, the newly appointed chief of Moscow’s space agency told President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. The announcement comes as tensions rage between the Kremlin and the West over Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine and several rounds of unprecedented sanctions against Russia. Russia and the United States have worked side …

WASHINGTON: The family of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on Tuesday pressed the United States for an independent probe and accountability from Israel on a visit to Washington at the invitation of Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The family, which is also meeting lawmakers, said it was calling for the United States to launch its own “thorough, credible independent …

DHAKA: Bangladesh has asked the International Monetary Fund for support in riding out a financial shock triggered by volatile energy prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, officials said on Tuesday. The South Asian nation has experienced lengthy blackouts in recent weeks, sometimes for up to 13 hours a day, as utilities struggle to source enough diesel and gas to …