BEIJING: China launched the first module of its “Heavenly Palace” space station on Thurs­day, a milestone in Beijing’s amb­i­tious plan to establish a permanent human presence in space. Billions of dollars have been poured into space exploration as China seeks to reflect its rising global stature and growing technological might, following in the footsteps of the United States, Russia and …

MOSCOW: Alexei Nava­lny’s political network said on Thursday it is disbanding, as the jailed Kremlin critic appeared in court, gaunt and shaven headed, for the first time since ending his hunger strike. During the hearing, which is part of an appeal by Navalny against a defamation sentence imposed in February for insulting a World War II veteran, President Vladimir Putin’s …

BRUSSELS: Nato has started the withdrawal of its mission from Afghanistan following a decision by President Joe Biden to bring US forces home, an alliance official said on Thursday. “Nato Allies decided in mid-April to start the withdrawal of Resolute Support Mission forces by May 1 and this withdrawal has begun. This will be an orderly, coordinated, and deliberate process,” …

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden triumphantly declared that the United States is “on the move again” in a rousing speech to Congress on Wednesday, calling for trillions of dollars to rebuild the post-pandemic US middle class and give new life to “forgotten” workers. Lauding the success of mass vaccination against Covid-19, Biden told Congress and the nation on primetime television that …

WARSAW: Polish scientists said on Thursday they have discovered the world’s first pregnant Egyptian mummy while carrying out scans on the 2,000-year-old remains kept at the National Museum in Warsaw. “My husband Stanislaw, an Egyptian archaeologist, and I looked at the X-ray images and noticed a familiar sight for parents of three children in the belly of the dead woman …

WASHINGTON: A bipartisan bill will soon be introduced in the US Senate to set up duty-free export zones along the Pak-Afghan border, says a senior US lawmaker. The proposed legislation will allow these trade pockets, known as the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones or ROZs, to export certain duty-free goods to the United States, said Senator Van Hollen, a key Democrat on …

NEW DELHI: Exit polls from five Indian states that held elections between March 27 and April 29 have projected a narrow victory for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the furiously contested state while giving the Left Front a comfortable win in Kerala. Tamil Nadu is projected as the third state where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party and allies …

DUBAI: Iran on Thursday welcomed a “change of tone” from Saudi Arabia and said it hoped the two countries could work together to secure peace, amid moves to ease tensions between the regional rivals. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman made the statement days after Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said his country wanted better relations with Tehran. “With …

Several Indian states have run out of Covid-19 vaccines a day before a planned widening of a nationwide inoculation drive, authorities said on Friday, as new infections in the crisis-hit country surged to another daily record. India reported 386,452 news cases in the past 24 hours, while deaths from Covid-19 jumped by 3,498 over the last 24 hours, according to …

At least 44 people were crushed to death overnight on Friday at an overcrowded ultra-Orthodox religious festival in Israel with attendees describing scenes of chaos in which others died in front of their eyes. More than 100 people were injured in the chaos where tens of thousands thronged to the Galilee tomb of second century sage Rabbi Shim Bar Yochai …