Lok Sabha polls 2024: BJP seeks to take on Grand Alliance in Bihar with ‘rare’ social coalition
New Delhi: The BJP is eying a rare social coalition including ‘upper’ castes and a majority of backward classes in Bihar to power its bid to vanquish in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls the formidable RJD-JD(U) alliance, which had inflicted a crushing defeat on it in the 2015 assembly elections. While Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya […]
Melting Antarctic could impact oceans ‘for centuries’
SYDNEY: Rapidly melting Antarctic ice threatens to dramatically slow deep-water currents in the world’s oceans, scientists say, impacting the spread of fresh water, oxygen and life-sustaining nutrients for centuries. New modelling points to faster Antarctic ice melts driving a “substantial slowdown” of water circulation in the ocean depths if global carbon emissions remain high, researchers […]
UK unveils plans to house asylum seekers in military bases
LONDON: The UK plans to temporarily house asylum seekers in disused military bases and could use ferries and barges in the future in a bid to reduce hotel bills, immigration minister Robert Jenrick announced on Wednesday. He told MPs that the government planned to house “several thousand” asylum seekers at repurposed barracks buildings and portable […]
Thirty-nine killed in fire at Mexico migrants facility
CIUDAD JUAREZ: At least 39 migrants from Central and South America died after a fire broke out at a migrant holding centre in the Mexican northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, the government’s National Migration Institute (INM) said on Tuesday. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the blaze apparently broke out after migrants set […]
Former Taiwan president arrives in China pledging peace
TAOYUAN: Taiwan’s ex-President Ma Ying-jeou became on Monday the first sitting or former Taiwanese leader to visit mainland China since the Communist revolution in 1949, saying he hoped to bring about peace and improve relations. Ma’s office said he was met at Shanghai’s Pudong airport by officials including Chen Yuanfeng, deputy head of China’s Taiwan […]
Russia presses along Ukraine front after Bakhmut slowdown
KREMINNA: Russian forces attacked northern and southern stretches of the front in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region on Friday, even as Kyiv said Moscow’s assault was flagging near the city of Bakhmut. Ukrainian military reports described heavy fighting along a line running from Lyman to Kupiansk, as well as in the south at Avdiivka on the […]
School year starts in Afghanistan, but no classes held
KABUL: Afghanistan’s schools reopened for the new academic year on Tuesday, but no classes were held as students were unaware of the start and hundreds of thousands of teenage girls remain barred from attending class. Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are prohibited from going to secondary school. Taliban authorities have […]
Starc sticking to tried and tested formula ahead of World Cup
VISHAKAPATNAM: Mitchell Starc said he has not deviated from his game plan in over a decade and after taking five wickets against India on Sunday there seems little reason to change things as Australia ramp up their preparations for this year’s World Cup. Starc claimed 5-53 for his ninth five-wicket haul in One-day Internationals, his […]
North Korea holds drill ‘simulating N-counterattack’
SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un led two days of military drills “simulating a nuclear counterattack”, including the launch of a ballistic missile, state media reported on Monday. Kim expressed satisfaction over the weekend drills, which were held to “let relevant units get familiar with the procedures and processes for implementing their tactical nuclear […]
Iran, Iraq sign border protection deal
BAGHDAD: Iran’s top security official on Sunday signed a deal with Iraqi authorities for “protection” of their common border, the Iraqi prime minister’s office said, months after Tehran struck Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq’s north. Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region hosts camps and rear bases operated by several Iranian Kurdish factions, which Iran has accused of […]