BANGKOK: An ethnic rebel group in northern Myanmar said it shot down a government military helicopter on Monday during heavy fighting over a strategic position. The claim by the Kachin Independence Army came as protests against Myanmar’s military government continued in Kachin State and elsewhere in the country. It would be the first aircraft shot down during recent hostilities between …

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would let his estranged former protege Naftali Bennett serve as premier ahead of him in a coalition to prevent a “left-wing government”. But Bennett, a right-wing nationalist who emerged as a kingmaker following Israel’s inconclusive March 23 vote, swiftly dampened the notion that a deal with Netanyahu was in the …

BERLIN: Germany is cancelling its iconic Oktoberfest beer festival for the second year running due to the coronavirus pandemic, Bavaria’s state premier Markus Soeder said on Monday. The Oktoberfest, which draws around six million visitors annually from around the world in late September to October, was cancelled in 2020 for the first time since World War II. “In the classic …

LONDON: The Group of Seven Western democracies aims to court new allies to counter challenges from China and Russia without holding Beijing down and while pursuing more stable ties with the Kremlin, two of its top diplomats said on Monday. Ahead of the first in-person G7 foreign ministers meeting since 2019, US President Joe Biden’s secretary of state, Antony Blinken, …

MANILA: The Philippine foreign minister on Monday said in an expletive-laced message on Twitter that China’s vessels get out of disputed waters, marking the latest exchange in a war of words with Beijing over its activities in the South China Sea. The comments by Teodoro Locsin, known for making blunt remarks at times, follow Manila’s protests for what it calls …

KARACHI: Wisden released their World Test Championship XI as the final of this newly-introduced challenge is just around the corner.  The list includes three players from India, three from Australia, two from New Zealand, two from England, and one from Sri Lanka. No players from Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies and Bangladesh were included in the list. The list includes Rohit …

The chief executive of “Fortnite” creator Epic Games testified on Monday that he knew he was breaking Apple’s App Store rules by putting Epic’s own in-app payment system into the game last year but wanted to highlight Apple’s sway over the world’s iPhone users, which now total 1 billion. “I wanted the world to see that Apple exercises total control …

BERLIN: German police said on Monday they had shut down “one of the biggest darknet child pornography platforms in the world” and arrested four of its members in a series of raids in mid-April. The platform, named as “Boystown”, had existed since 2019, counted over 400,000 members and was “set up for the worldwide exchange of child pornography, in particular …

Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife and fellow philanthropist Melinda announced on Monday they are divorcing after a 27-year marriage. One of the world’s wealthiest couples — with a joint fortune estimated at $130 billion — the Gates have channeled billions into charitable work around the globe via their hugely influential foundation. In announcing their split on Twitter, the …

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi called for a nationwide lockdown as the country’s tally of coronavirus infections surged past 20 million on Tuesday, becoming the second nation after the United States to pass the grim milestone. India’s deadly second wave of infections, the world’s biggest surge in coronavirus infections, has seen it take just over four months to add 10 …