WILMINGTON: Jury selection kicked off in a criminal case against Hunter Biden, a historic prosecution that could further influence the 2024 presidential election four days after Joe Biden’s rival Donald Trump became the first former US president to be convicted. Hunter Biden, 54, arrived at the courthouse for the first trial of the child of a sitting president, in which …

PARIS: French police arrested three people on Monday after five empty coffins wrapped in French flags with the words “French soldiers from Ukraine” written on them were found near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday. The public prosecutors have requested that the three individuals, who are from Bulgaria, Germany and Ukraine and who are all under 30 years old, be charged …

BEIJING: China on Monday accused Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) of recruiting a couple who worked for the central government to spy for the UK, adding to months of mutual espionage allegations between Beijing and Western powers. The Ministry of State Security said in a post on its official WeChat that MI6 operatives convinced a man surnamed Wang, who worked in a …

GENEVA: The return of the cooling La Nina weather phenomenon this year should help lower temperatures somewhat after months of global heat records, the United Nations’ weather agency said on Monday. The impact is likely to be felt in the next few months because the warming El Nino weather pattern — which has helped fuel a spike in global temperatures …

LONDON: The well-known Brexit figurehead politician Nigel Farage announced on Monday that he plans to stand for the general election in the United Kingdom. The general election is scheduled to take place next month and the major U-turn threatens to split the right-wing vote and further imperil the beleaguered Conservative Party. Farage, who is now 60-years-old, says he will run …

BEIRUT: Iran’s acting foreign minister Ali Bagheri said on Monday his government was engaged in negotiations with arch-foe the United States hosted by the Gulf sultanate of Oman. Asked about the issue at a news conference during a visit to Beirut, Bagheri said “we have always continued out negotiations… and they have never stopped.” Washington and Tehran have not had …

WASHINGTON: Amid growing doubts over Tel Aviv’s stance, senior Israeli and US officials admitted on Monday that the Gaza ceasefire plan put forward by US President Joe Biden last week was actually the modified version of a proposal that had already been put forward by mediators. While the White House described the plan as originating from Israel, the Israeli official told NBC News it …

LONDON: The UK’s Labour Party appears poised for its largest parliamentary majority in a century, it emerged on Monday. According to a YouGov poll, Labour led by Keir Starmer is set to secure a 194-seat majority, marking the biggest electoral victory since 1924 when Conservative politician Stanley Baldwin triumphed with 208 seats. This projection, the first from YouGov since the election …

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alliance was winning a majority of seats in early vote counting trends in the general election on Tuesday, but well short of the landslide predicted in exit polls, TV channels showed. BJP was in first place on 38.68 per cent with half of votes counted, national election commission data showed. The elections for the 18th Lok Sabha, …

ISLAMABAD: A police constable sustained injuries after being hit by a speeding car driven by a British diplomat on Monday. Police officers told Dawn that after the incident the police impounded the official car owned by the UK High Commission driven by the country’s third secretary. The incident took place at Radio Pakistan Chowk on Constitution Avenue where traffic was being manually …