International

RIYADH: The Saudi-led coalition on Sunday accused Iran and Hezbollah of helping Yemen’s Houthi rebels to launch missiles and drones at the kingdom, where two people were killed. Since the coalition intervened almost seven years ago to support Yemen’s government, Saudi Arabia has regularly accused Iran of supplying the Houthis with sophisticated weapons and Hezbollah of training the insurgents. Tehran …

BEIJING: China reported its highest daily rise in local Covid-19 cases in 21 months as infections more than doubled in the northwestern city of Xian, China’s latest Covid hot spot. The city of 13 million, which entered its fourth day of lockdown, detected 155 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms for Saturday, up from 75 a day earlier, official data …

NEW YORK: Travel headaches abound for millions worldwide on the holiday weekend with 2,200 flights cancelled on Sunday alone, tracking websites reported, as celebrants wrap up Christmas battered by Covid’s Omicron variant. Some 7,500 flights have been grounded and tens of thousands more delayed from Friday through Sunday — one of the busiest travel periods of the year — with …

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday he would ponder a slew of options if the West fails to meet his push for security guarantees precluding Nato’s expansion to Ukraine. Earlier this month, Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that Nato deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back its military deployments in Central and …

Hardline Hindu vigilante groups disrupted Christmas mass in parts of India, including in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s core territory ahead of local elections in the coming months, media reported on Monday. The disruption of Christmas celebrations at the weekend and last week included the vandalising of a life-size statue of Jesus Christ at Ambala in Haryana, a northern state governed …

British police said on Monday they were assessing a video purportedly made by a man who tried to break into a castle where Queen Elizabeth II was spending Christmas in which he said he wanted to kill her. In the video, obtained by The Sun tabloid, a masked figure in a dark hoodie holding a crossbow claims he will “attempt to assassinate …

ANKARA: Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) imposed an 8 million lira ($751,314) fine on the local unit of cryptocurrency exchange Binance over violations found during liability inspections, the Anadolu news agency said on Saturday. The fine imposed on BN Teknoloji was the first of its kind after the authority took on responsibilities to oversee crypto asset service providers in …

WASHINGTON: Three general licences issued by the US Treasury this week allow US government officials and international agencies to conduct “official business” with the Taliban and Haqqani Network. An official statement issued by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) explains how this “official business” can be conducted. “General Licence 17 authorises all transactions and activities involving the Taliban …

BANGKOK: The charred remains of more than 30 people, including women and children, were found in burnt-out vehicles in Myanmar on Saturday, a rebel group and a monitor said, accusing the junta of the attack. Myanmar has been in chaos since a coup in February, with more than 1,300 people killed in a crackdown by security forces, according to a …

HONG KONG: A haul of ketamine worth over $100 million has been seized by Hong Kong officials, police said on Saturday. The record-breaking 1.3 tonnes of the drug, valued at around HK$840 million ($108 million), is the largest bust of its kind in the city’s history. Travel restrictions related to Covid-19 have forced smugglers to make risker bulk shipments instead …