International

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 …

KUALA LUMPUR: Two Malaysian military helicopters collided and crashed during a training session on Tuesday, killing all 10 crew onboard, the country’s rescue agency said. Footage shared online showed several helicopters flying low in formation over the Lumut naval base, located about 160km from Kuala Lumpur, while participating in a fly-past rehearsal ahead of Naval Day celebrations in May. One …

Protests against Israel filled streets in Brooklyn and escalated at universities across the United States, some of which included Jewish Passover Seders, as demonstrators demanded an end to civilian casualties in Gaza. The growing protests follow mass arrests of demonstrators at some East Coast universities in recent days, and show a deepening dissatisfaction in the United States, historically Israel’s most important ally, …

The United States Senate on Tuesday approved legislation requiring the popular social media app TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or be shut out of the US market. The measure was part of a $95 billion foreign aid package, including military assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, which has now cleared Congress and heads to President Joe Biden’s …

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due in China on Wednesday, as the United States ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat will meet China’s top brass on Friday in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates a …

India’s main opposition Congress party filed a complaint to the Election Commission on Monday accusing Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “blatantly targeting” minority Muslims in a campaign speech. The world’s most populous country is constitutionally secular and its election code bans canvassing based on “communal feelings”. Modi’s muscular Hindu-first politics is a key part of his electoral appeal …

NEW YORK: Donald Trump eng­aged in a multi-layered conspiracy of fraud, lies and cover-ups, prosecutors said on Monday during opening arguments in the first ever criminal trial of a former US president. Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo said Trump falsified business records to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels over a 2006 sexual encounter that could have impacted …

QINGYUAN: Floods swa­mped cities in southern China’s densely populated Pearl River Delta following record-breaking rains, sparking worries about the region’s defe­nces against bigger deluges induced by extreme weather events. The province once dubbed the “factory floor of the world” is prone to summer floods. Since Thursday, Guangdong has been battered by unusually heavy, sustained and widespread rainfall, with powerful storms …