International

WASHINGTON: The United States and its nuclear allies rebuked Russia on Monday for “irresponsible and dangerous” talk about possibly deploying nuclear weapons, as a review of the keystone nuclear treaty opened at the United Nations. “Following Russia’s unprovoked and unlawful war of aggression against Ukraine, we call on Russia to cease its irresponsible and dangerous nuclear rhetoric and behavior, to …

YREKA: Hundreds of firefighters were battling a fast-moving forest fire in northern California on Monday which has killed two people and forced thousands to evacuate their homes. The McKinney Fire, the largest in the state so far this year, has ravaged 55,493 acres (22,500 hectares) in the Klamath National Forest near the border with Oregon, CalFire said. The fire was …

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s borders fully reopened on Monday, but the return of international visitors and students is only expected to start with a trickle following the lifting of Covid-based travel restrictions. New Zealand reported 52,538 cases of the coronavirus over the last seven days yet is ready to re-start welcoming back visitors. The final phase of its borders reopening began …

China’s population will begin to shrink by 2025, officials have said, as family sizes grow smaller and citizens age. The world’s most-populous country has been grappling with a looming demographic crisis as it faces a rapidly ageing workforce, slowing economy and its weakest population growth in decades. And although officials relaxed the nation’s strict “one-child policy” in 2016 and last …

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a US strike in Afghanistan over the weekend, American President Joe Biden said on Monday. Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon who had a $25 million bounty on his head, helped coordinate the Sept 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the United States …

BAGHDAD: Hundreds of followers of powerful Iraqi Shia preacher Moqtada Sadr camped at the country’s parliament on Sunday for a second day, protesting against corruption and political mismanagement. Despite tear gas, water cannon and baking temperatures that touched 47 degrees Celsius (116 degrees Fahrenheit), they stormed the complex on Saturday after pulling down heavy concrete barricades on roads leading to Baghdad’s fortified …

LONDON: Prince Char­les, the heir to the British throne, accepted a $1.19 million donation to his charitable trust from the family of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, The Sunday Times reported. Although there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the Saudi family members, the revelation increases scrutiny on the 73-year-old prince’s charity organisations, which have been rocked by allegations of criminal …

BENI: Two people have been killed and several others injured after UN peacekeepers opened fire during an incident in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on the Uganda border on Sunday, the UN said. Video of the incident, shared on social media showed men, at least one in police uniform and another in army uniform, advancing towards the immobilised UN …

PARIS: A wildfire in southern France on Sunday burned 250 hectares (620 acres) of pine forest and four firefighters were injured fighting the blaze, authorities said. William Borelly, spokesperson for the fire service, told France Info that the blaze in Aubais in the Gard region was “very violent” due to strong winds and dry weather. Some 300 firefighters were tackling the …

MANILA: Former Philippine president Fidel Ramos, who oversaw a rare period of steady growth and peace that won him the reputation as one of the country’s most effective leaders ever, has died aged 94, his family said on Sunday. Known as “Steady Eddie” for his unflappable demeanour during the country’s regular moments of upheaval, he was frequently pictured chewing unlit …