Dallas-Fort Worth has mostly been spared from the chance of snow and sleet on Wednesday. But the area will face a cold rain and frigid weather, with temperatures in the 30s and wind chills in the 20, according to KXAS-TV (NBC5) meteorologist Grant Johnston. It “looks like this event is going to have minimal impact on the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, …

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new government declined to sing the national anthem in Tamil, the country’s second national language, during the island’s Independence Day celebrations on Tuesday, a departure from the previous government which sang the anthem in the country’s two primary languages to promote ethnic harmony in the aftermath of a decades-long civil war. President Gotabaya Rajapakse was elected last …

BEIJING: A disabled boy has died after being left to fend for himself when his father was quarantined over the deadly new coronavirus in China. Yan Cheng, who was confined to a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy, was abandoned at home when his father was isolated because of a fever. The 17-year-old, who could not speak, walk or eat by …

JOHANNESBURG: A South African court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for embattled former president Jacob Zuma after he failed to appear for a pre-trial hearing over corruption charges related to a 1990s arms deal. But the court said that execution of the warrant will be deferred until May 6 when the case is due to resume. Zuma’s lawyers said …

WASHINGTON: A US biotech firm Gilead has reached an agreement with China to try its antiviral drug Rem­desivir on patients with coronavirus. Gilead is known for its HIV and hepatitis C treatments but its efforts to find a cure for the deadly respiratory disease drew attention when a US medical journal carried a case report earlier this week. The New …

KABUL: The Taliban lashed out at Washington on social media on Tuesday, accusing the US of holding up negotiations over a potential withdrawal deal that would see the Americans end their 18-year war in Afghanistan. Washington and the Taliban are still wrangling over a possible deal that would see US troops begin to leave Afghanistan in return for security guarantees. …

ANKARA: Turkey’s president said on Tuesday his country won’t allow Syrian forces to gain additional territory in a northern Syrian province, Turkish media reported, a day after clashes between Turkish and Syrian forces killed soldiers on both sides. Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments came as Syrian forces reached the western gate of the rebel stronghold of Saraqeb in Idlib province in …

Standing before a Congress and nation sharply divided by impeachment, US President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address on Tuesday to extol a “Great American Comeback” on his watch, just three years after he took office decrying a land of “American carnage” under his predecessor. The partisan discord was on vivid display as the first president to …

Russia will begin delivering S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to India by the end of 2021, agency RIA Novosti on Wednesday quoted a Russian official as saying. India signed a $5 billion deal for S-400 missiles in 2018, drawing warnings from the United States that such an acquisition would trigger sanctions as part of a wider programme against Russia. “The contract is being …

Millions more people have been ordered to stay indoors as China battles to curb the spread of a new coronavirus that authorities said on Wednesday has already killed nearly 500 people. With more than 24,000 cases in China, a growing number of cities have been imposing a range of restrictions in recent days far from central Hubei province, the epicentre of the …