International

Israeli fighter jets struck Gaza overnight in response to incendiary balloons launched over the frontier into Israel, the military said early on Friday. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the strike, which the Israeli military said targeted a facility used by Hamas fighters to research and develop weapons. It was the third time Israel has carried out airstrikes in …

All US and Nato troops have left the biggest air base in Afghanistan, a US defence official told AFP on Friday, signalling the complete withdrawal of foreign forces from the country was imminent after two decades of war. Bagram Air Base served as the linchpin for US operations in the rugged country, where the long war against the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies …

VANCOUVER: Millions of people in western Canada and northwestern United States were under heat alerts on Wednesday as the region baked in record-breaking temperatures and police reported scores of deaths likely linked to the scorching conditions. The heatwave has stretched emergency services, with at least 134 people dying suddenly since Friday in the Vancouver area, according to Canadian police. In …

PHUKET: Thailand prepared on Wednesday to reopen the holiday hotspot of Phuket to tourists quarantine-free, even as the country registered its highest single-day death toll from Covid-19. High hopes have been pinned on the so-called “Phuket sandbox” — a model that will allow vaccinated travellers to visit without a quarantine period in an effort to revive Thailand’s battered tourism industry. …

WASHINGTON: The fast-paced withdrawal of foreign troops, stalled peace talks and rising violence in Afghanistan can undermine Pakistan’s efforts to facilitate the Taliban’s alleged return to Kabul through power-sharing arrangements, says an international report released on Wednesday. The report — “Pakistan: Shoring Up Afghanistan’s Peace Process” — was compiled by the International Crisis Group, a think tank with offices in Washington and …

THE HAGUE: Two former Serbian spy chiefs in Slobodan Milosevic’s regime were convicted on Wednesday after a retrial by a UN court of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 1990s Balkans conflict. Jovica Stanisic, 70, the former head of Serbia’s state security service, and his deputy Franko Simatovic, 71, were each sentenced to 12 years in jail for …

WASHINGTON: Former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, whose reputation as a skilled bureaucrat and visionary of a modern military, was unraveled by the long and costly Iraq invasion, died on Tuesday. He was 88. In a statement on Wednesday, Rumsfeld’s family said he was surrounded by family in his beloved Taos, New Mexico. Regarded by former colleagues as equally smart …

BERLIN: Most European troops have already pulled out of Afghanistan, quietly withdrawing months before the US-led mission was officially expected to end part of an anticlimactic close to the forever war that risks leaving the country on the brink of civil war. Germany and Italy declared their missions in Afghanistan over on Wednesday and Poland’s last troops returned home, bringing …

Bill Cosby was freed from prison and returned home on Wednesday, less than two hours after Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned his sexual assault conviction, saying he never should have faced charges after striking a non-prosecution deal with a previous district attorney more than 15 years ago. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its split decision after Cosby had served more than …

YANGON: Myanmar authorities released more than 2,000 anti-coup protesters from prisons across the country on Wednesday, including local journalists jailed after reporting critically on the junta’s bloody crackdown. Myanmar has been rocked by massive protests and a brutal military response since the February coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi and her government. More than 880 civilians have been killed …