SAINT PETERSBURG: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said he was not seeking to be a mediator between Iran and Israel, and was only suggesting ideas for how the countries could resolve the escalating crisis. The Kremlin has spent much of the week positioning Moscow as a potential peacemaker after Israel launched strikes on Iran,…

GENEVA: European powers on Friday urged Iran to continue diplomacy with the United States to find a solution in the standoff over its nuclear programme as Israel keeps up its bombardment of the Islamic republic. “The good result today is that we leave the room with the impression that the Iranian side is ready to…

PARIS: A US-based NGO said Friday that Israel’s strikes against Iran have killed at least 657 people including civilians and members of the security forces, a toll based on sources and reports in Iran. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said that at least 263 civilians had been killed nationwide since Israel began its…

ISTANBUL: Arab League foreign ministers gathered in Istanbul late Friday to discuss the escalating war between Iran and Israel, Turkish state news agency Anadolu said, quoting diplomatic sources. The ministers were in Turkey’s largest city on the eve of weekend gathering of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which was also slated to discuss the…

NEW YORK: A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Friday to release Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student who became a leader of pro-Palestinian campus protests. Khalil, a legal permanent US resident who is married to a US citizen and has a US-born son, has been in custody since March facing potential deportation. District…

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday ordered mass layoffs at Voice of America and other government-funded media, moving ahead with gutting the outlets despite legal disputes and criticism that US adversaries will benefit. Kari Lake, a fervent Trump supporter named to a senior role at the US Agency for Global Media, said the notices…

NEW YORK: A federal judge on Friday indefinitely paused Donald Trump’s bid to block Harvard from enrolling foreign students as the US president said a “deal” with the Ivy League school was in the works. The order by District Judge Allison Burroughs will allow international students to continue to attend the elite universtity while a…

BERLIN: Israel estimates its strikes on Iran have delayed Tehran’s potential to develop a nuclear weapon by “at least two or three years”, Israel’s foreign minister said in an interview published Saturday. Israel’s offensive, which has hit hundreds of nuclear and military sites, killing top commanders and nuclear scientists, has produced “very significant” results, Foreign…

JERUSALEM: US President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran had a “maximum” of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes, as Israel claimed it has already set back Iran’s presumed nuclear programme by at least two years. Trump’s latest comments indicated he could take a decision before the fortnight deadline he set a day…