‘I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism’ STRASBOURG: Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblower media group WikiLeaks, told European lawmakers on Tuesday his guilty plea to U.S. espionage accusations was necessary because legal and political efforts to protect his freedom were not sufficient. “I eventually chose freedom over […]
BEIRUT: The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have launched a “limited, localised and targeted” ground operation inside southern Lebanon, intensifying the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah. The Israeli troops Monday night entered Lebanon to neutralise what the IDF described as “immediate threats” to Israeli communities along the northern border. Days after killing Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and […]
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, stressing the need to avoid regional escalation two days after the Hezbollah confirmed that its secretary general Hassan Nasrallah had been killed in an Israeli bombing in Beirut. “Spoke to Prime Minister @netanyahu about recent developments in West Asia. Terrorism […]
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military on Tuesday ordered the evacuation of nearly two dozen Lebanese border communities. The orders came hours after Israel sent ground forces into southern Lebanon in what it described as a limited incursion against the Hezbollah militant group. The evacuation order, posted by the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesman on the social media […]
Amid rising tensions, Hezbollah’s deputy leader declares preparedness for ground conflict with Israel, following assassination of key leaders, mounting airstrikes across Lebanon BEIRUT: Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem, in his first public address since Israel assassinated the group’s chief Hassan Nasrallah last week, said the movement is ready to confront any Israeli ground invasion of […]
KATHMANDU: The death toll from rain-triggered floods and landslides across Nepal climbed to 170, with 42 missing on Sunday, officials said. Large swathes of eastern and central Nepal have been inundated since Friday, with flash floods reported in parts of the country. According to police, 170 people have been killed due to floods and landslides […]
WASHINGTON: After months of uncertainty, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, travelling in the SpaceX Dragon capsule, successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday to bring back Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who had been stuck there since June 2024. As they stepped aboard, they were greeted by the […]
NEW DELHI: In an unexpected twist of cosmic proportions, scientists have discovered that the global COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020 had a measurable effect not just on Earth but also on our nearest cosmic neighbour, the Moon. It affected the lunar surface temperature. A groundbreaking study by Indian researchers, published in the Monthly Notices of the […]
MOSCOW: Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, is facing a critical situation as severe drought conditions threaten to significantly impact its 2025 grain harvest. Agricultural analysts and farming executives have raised alarms about the difficult winter crop sowing season, which could lead to a dramatic reduction in next year’s yield. The Sovecon consultancy reported that […]
NEW DELHI: India and the United States are likely to sign an initial pact for cooperation on critical minerals this week, two government sources said, as the two countries try to bolster trade ties despite diplomatic hiccups. They are expected to sign an agreement to partner and cooperate in the area of critical minerals during […]