International

LONDON: A number of military horses, including one covered in blood, ran amok on the streets of central London and injured at least four people on Wednesday. The horses belong to the Household Cavalry, which acts as the British monarch’s official bodyguard and takes part in ceremonial duties. They are garrisoned at Hyde Park barracks, less than a mile away …

KABUL: The Taliban government has entered the first stage of discussions with the United Nations, donors and non-governmental organisations, over the impact of climate change in Afghanistan, organisers said on Wednesday. After four decades of war, Afghanistan is ranked as one of the countries least prepared to tackle the effects of climate change that are spurring extreme weather conditions and …

GAZA STRIP: Israeli warplanes pounded the northern Gaza strip for a second day on Wednesday in a fierce assault that has shattered weeks of comparative calm, and Israel said it was moving forward with plans for an all-out assault on Rafah in the south. The renewed attacks came after the US Congress approved $13 billion in military aid for Tel …

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Thursday on the United States and China to manage their differences “responsibly” as he went on a charm offensive ahead of expected tough talks. A day before meeting Beijing’s top brass to tackle thorny issues including Russia, Taiwan and trade, Blinken’s visit to Shanghai has seen him sample local food, watch a basketball game and stroll …

NEW YORK: Prosecutors on Tuesday accused Donald Trump of brazenly and repeatedly violating a gag order imposed by the judge presiding over his “hush money” trial to prevent him from intimidating witnesses. Trump, 77, is charged with falsifying business records to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels over a 2006 sexual encounter that could have impacted his 2016 …

ASWAN: Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi wants to “export a different cinematic image of Gaza”, now ravaged by Israeli aggression, as he presides over the jury at the eighth Aswan International Women Film Festival themed on “resistance cinema”. Against the backdrop of the aggression in the Gaza Strip, the festival in southern Egypt decided to screen six Palestinian short films in …

MOSCOW: A Russian court on Tuesday rejected the latest in a series of appeals by Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich against his pre-trial detention on charges of espionage. Gershkovich, 32, bec­ame the first US journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War when he was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on March 29, 2023. He, his newspaper and …

SYDNEY: Elon Musk on Tuesday vowed to challenge Australian demands that his social media platform X take down videos of a recent Sydney church stabbing. Australia’s Federal Court on Monday gave the platform 24 hours to remove videos of an Assyrian bishop being slashed in the head during a recent attack. Australia’s eSafety Commission had sought the court injunction saying X …

GAZA STRIP: The Israeli aggression entered its 200th day on Tuesday as aid groups warned that Israeli plans to invade the southern city of Rafah where most Gazans have taken refuge would create an “apocalyptic situation”. Fears have been rising that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will soon follow through on repeated threats to send troops into Rafah, where 1.5 …

NAIROBI/WIMEREUX: Twenty-one migrants died on Tuesday in boat disasters off the coast of the Horn of Africa and trying to cross the English Channel from France to Britain. Bodies of 22 people were found off the coast of the Tunisian port city of Sfax in recent days. According to the UN’s migration agency, at least 16 people are dead and …