WASHINGTON: The United Arab Emirates and its powerful ruler were sued in a Washington court on Wednesday, accused of bankrolling a “dark public relations” operation that falsely linked an American oil trader to terrorist financing. The lawsuit filed by the trader Hazim Nada in the District of Columbia alleges that starting in 2017 the UAE paid a Swiss private intelligence …

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has warned the international community that the lack of a two-state solution in Palestine would lead to perpetual conflict in the Middle East. This warning was voiced at a UN Security Council meeting, which was called on Tuesday to highlight the situation in Israeli-occupied territories and where even nations with frequent disagreements such as Pakistan and India, …

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill to regulate online content, the speaker of the parliament announced, a law which opposition politicians and activists allege will muzzle free speech. The Online Safety Bill proposes jail terms for content that a five-member commission considers illegal and making social media platforms such as Alphabet’s Google, Meta’s Facebook and X, formerly …

BEIJING: At least 39 people died and nine were receiving treatment for injuries on Wednesday after a fire broke out at a store in the central Chinese province of Jiangxi, state media reported. “At 3:24pm on Jan 24, a fire broke out on the below-ground level at a store […] in Xinyu, Jiangxi,” the country’s state broadcaster CCTV reported. “Up until now, …

“OUR smile is a kind of resilience,” said Motaz Azaiza in one his Instagram stories where he is smiling bright with pain evident in his eyes. After covering the Israeli aggression with utmost bravery for 104 days, he had to bid farewell to his homeland with ‘a heavy heart’ and ‘eyes filled with tears.’ Mr Azaiza, an independent Palestinian photojournalist …

GAZA STRIP: Tank shelling on a UN shelter on Wednesday killed at least nine people in Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Yunis, said the Gaza head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. “Two tank rounds hit building that shelters 800 people — reports now nine dead and 75 injured,” Thomas White, UNRWA’s Gaza director, said on X, formerly …

LONDON: Sixteen international humanitarian and rights organisations on Wednesday called for a halt to weapons transfers to Israel and Palestinian armed groups in a bid to end the Gaza conflict. In a joint statement they urged United Nations member states to stop sending weapons, parts and ammunition to “stop the crisis in Gaza and avert further humanitarian catastrophe and loss …

NEW DELHI: A mosque and a church were assaulted as Hindutva mobs staged victory marches in BJP-ruled states a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a controversial temple in Ayodhya. A group of Hindu activists unfurled saffron flags in a mosque in Agra in Uttar Pradesh amid reports of a similar attack on a church in Madhya Pradesh. In …

India’s government has not told its defence personnel to pull out from Maldives following a request from Male, Indian Navy Chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar told broadcaster CNN-News 18 on Thursday. India’s ties with Maldives have come under strain after Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu’s election win last year pledging to end his country’s “India First” policy and later calling for withdrawal of Indian troops by March 15. Muizzu’s …

President Emmanuel Macron was given a red carpet welcome and an elephant honour guard on Thursday as he started a two-day visit to India, with France eyeing lucrative deals with the world’s fifth-largest economy. Landing in Jaipur, state capital of Rajasthan, Macron will be hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a banquet in a 19th-century maharaja’s palace. On Friday, …