ISLAMABAD: The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) has developed and released 20 high-yielding heat-tolerant maize hybrids in Pakistan and four other South Asian countries. CIMMYT has announced that the high-yielding maize seeds were developed after a decade of rigorous efforts, along with public-sector maize research institutes and private-sector seed companies in the region. The other countries of the …

DOHA: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Doha on Sunday for talks on securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war with the Qatari emir, whose country has been at the heart of mediation efforts and hosts political leaders of Hamas. Palestinian news agency WAFA said Abbas would meet emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday, but did not say if …

MANILA: The Philippine Coast Guard on Sunday accused Chinese vessels of “dangerous” manoeuvres during a nine-day patrol near a reef off the coast of the Southeast Asian country. The Philippine vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua was sent in early February to patrol the waters around Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground in the South China Sea, and deliver provisions to Filipino …

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s presidential election will be held on Feb 14, with three candidates battling to lead Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and the third-largest democracy in the world. The relocation of the archipelago’s capital from Jakarta to Nusantara on Borneo island and the fight against corruption are two key issues to succeed President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo after a decade in power. Here are …

DUBAI: Four Emirati soldiers and a Bahraini officer were killed following an attack in Somalia, where they were training the Somali national army, the United Arab Emirates announced. The soldiers were “exposed to a terrorist act” while “performing their work duties in training and qualifying the Somali Armed Forces”, the UAE’s defence ministry said in a statement on Saturday, adding …

TEHRAN: Iran marked 45 years since its Islamic revolution with a ceremony on Sunday in which President Ebrahim Raisi condemned arch foe Israel over the Gaza attack and demanded it be expelled from the United Nations. Since Iran’s 1979 revolution that overthrew the US-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the region’s main power has had deeply hostile relations with Israel, the …

MANILA: The death toll from a massive Philippine landslide near a gold mine abruptly rose to 54, with the recovery of 19 more bodies from beneath the rubble in the southern mountain village of Masara on Sunday, local officials said. Sixty-three other miners and residents still missing, said the municipality of Maco, and provincial disaster official Randy Loy. The landslide buried a …

GAZA STRIP: The threat of an Israeli incursion into Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah persisted on Sunday, but Hamas warned Tel Aviv that such an offensive into the city, crowded with displaced Palest­inians, would threaten talks about the release of prisoners. Though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “safe passage” to civilians displaced in Rafah, a leader in the Palestinian …

Tributes flowed on Monday for Kenyan running sensation Kelvin Kiptum after the marathon world record-holder was killed in a car crash at the age of 24 in his home country. The favourite for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics was driving from Kaptagat to Eldoret in western Kenya around 11 pm on Sunday when his car rolled. Kiptum and his Rwandan …

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has been admitted to the critical care unit as he undergoes treatment for a bladder issue, the Pentagon said late on Sunday, in a statement citing his doctors. “Tonight, after a series of tests and evaluations, the secretary was admitted into the critical care unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre for supportive care …