‘Saudi pressure’ led US to pause Hormuz project: NBC – World
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s decision to pause a US operation to escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz reportedly followed pressure from Saudi Arabia, according to an NBC News report citing two US officials. The operation, dubbed Project Freedom, was unexpectedly announced by Trump on social media on Sunday and began on Monday. […]
World awaits Iran response to peace deal
WASHINGTON/TEHRAN: World capitals and markets were waiting on Thursday for Tehran to respond to Washington’s latest proposed deal to end the war in the Middle East and to reopen the key shipping lane out of the Gulf. Iran accused the United States of violating a ceasefire by targeting two ships at the Strait of Hormuz […]
Countries track passengers of hantavirus-hit cruise ship – World
Countries worldwide sought to prevent further spread of the hantavirus on Thursday, after an outbreak on a cruise ship, by tracking those who had already disembarked before the virus was detected and anyone in close contact with them since. Three people — a Dutch couple and a German national — died in the outbreak on […]
Motorbike gunmen kill BJP political aide in India’s West Bengal – World
Gunmen on motorbikes in India’s West Bengal ambushed and killed a political aide from the ruling Hindu-nationalist party days after it swept state elections, police said Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a resounding victory on Monday in the eastern state of more than 100 million people, taking 207 of the […]
Israeli court rejects flotilla activists’ plea challenging detention – World
• Israeli rights group calls decision ‘unlawful and unreasonable’• UN, Brazil, Spain demand swift release of the two activists BEERSHEVA: An Israeli court on Wednesday rejected an appeal contesting the detention of two foreign activists kidnapped by Israeli forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters, with the rights group representing them denouncing the ruling […]
Rubio to meet Pope Leo as Trump keeps up attacks on pontiff
Closed-door meeting is expected to last about a half-hour, after which Rubio will also meet Vatican’s top diplomat US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Pope Leo at the Vatican on Thursday, in a potentially fraught encounter as President Donald Trump has continued a series of disparaging attacks on the Catholic leader over the Iran war. Rubio, who also serves […]
Israel strikes Beirut for the first time since ceasefire – World
Israel struck Beirut on Wednesday for the first time since agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah last month, with Israel claiming it targeted a commander of the group’s elite Radwan force in the city’s southern suburbs. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz announced the action in a joint statement. Israeli media […]
China says will play ‘greater role’ in ending Middle East conflict – World
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing would play a “greater role” in ending hostilities in the Middle East during talks with his Iranian counterpart on Wednesday, a week before US President Donald Trump is due to meet Xi Jinping. China is a key customer for Iranian oil, defying sanctions imposed by the United States, […]
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s son, long in the shadows, seeks political role – World
RAMALLAH: The millionaire businessman son of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to run for a steering role in his 90-year-old father’s political party, sources say, as a succession fight looms for control of the embattled Palestinian Authority (PA). Yasser Abbas runs tobacco and contracting firms in the parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank where […]
A year into papacy, Leo finds his ‘clarion voice’
Washington Cardinal calls pope ‘clarion voice’ for world, Pope steps up schedule with visits to Spain, across Italy Pope Leo XIV meets with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, seminarians and pastoral workers at the Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, known as the St. Esprit Cathedral, during his first apostolic journey, in Istanbul, Turkey, November […]