International

Members of hardline Hindu groups filed petitions in a court in northern India to stop Muslims from entering a historic mosque, until the court decides on an earlier plea seeking approval to look for any Hindu relics which may be on the site, lawyers said on Wednesday. Judges of a local court in Mathura, a Hindu religious town in Uttar …

India’s top court on Wednesday ordered the release of a man jailed over the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, more than 30 years after he was first arrested. A bench headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao invoked extraordinary powers to grant relief to A.G. Perarivalan, 50, who was already granted parole in March. Perarivalan was convicted for supplying …

Belarus has introduced the death penalty for attempts to carry out acts of terrorism, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday, charges that several opposition activists face in the ex-Soviet country. Belarus — a close ally of Russia — is the only country in Europe that continues to carry out executions despite calls for a moratorium. “Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed …

The government began talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday over the release of crucial funds, a process slowed by concerns about the pace of economic reforms in the country. Pakistan has repeatedly sought international support for its economy, which has been hit by crippling national debt, galloping inflation and a plummeting rupee. The talks are being held …

The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Wednesday announced an extension in a ceasefire with the government of Pakistan as talks with the militant group continued in Afghanistan. In a statement shared with the media via WhatsApp, TTP spokesman Mohammad Khurasani said that the ceasefire would remain in place until May 30. “Talks are under way between the committees of the …

RIYADH: Doctors in Saudi Arabia have successfully separated conjoined twins from war-torn Yemen after a “complicated” 15-hour operation, Saudi state media reported on Monday. The baby boys, Yussef and Yassin, were “conjoined in several organs”, and some 24 doctors were involved in the operation to separate them, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. Yemen has been wracked by a brutal seven-year …

SANAA: The first commercial flight in nearly six years took off from Yemen’s rebel-held capital on Monday, a major step forward in a peace process that has provided rare relief from conflict. The Yemenia plane carrying 126 passengers, including hospital patients needing treatment abroad and their relatives, took off from Sanaa for the Jordanian capital Amman just after 9am (0600 …

LAGUNA WOODS: One person was dead and four others in critical condition after a shooting at a church near Los Angeles, law enforcement said on Sunday, just one day after a gunman killed 10 people at a grocery store in New York state. Shortly before 1.30pm, parishioners were attending a banquet following a morning service at Geneva Presbyterian Church when …

PARIS: President Emm­anuel Macron on Monday named Labour Minister Elis­abeth Borne as his new prime minister, the first woman to head the French government in over 30 years, the Elysee said in a statement. Outgoing French Prime Minister Jean Castex earlier handed his resignation to the president, part of a widely expected reshuffle to make way for a new government …

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new prime minister said on Monday the crisis-hit nation was down to its last day of petrol, as the country’s power minister told citizens not to join the lengthy fuel queues that have galvanised weeks of anti-government protests. Ranil Wickremesinghe, appointed prime minister on Thursday, said in an address to the nation the country urgently needed $75 …