BOGOTÁ: Colombia’s Senate has approved contested labor reforms, after leftist President Gustavo Petro decreed a referendum to get public approval for the bill. Senators voted 57-31 to approve the reform bill on Tuesday, which will end the working day at 6:00 pm instead of 9:00 pm, extend social security to some informal workers and create…
BEIJING: Almost 800 Chinese citizens have been evacuated from Iran since Israel launched military strikes against the country last week, Beijing said Wednesday. “Currently… 791 Chinese nationals have been relocated from Iran to safe areas,“ foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular news conference. “More than 1,000 other people are in the process…
MOSCOW: The families of Russian diplomats have left Israel, Russia’s ambassador to Tel Aviv Anatoly Viktorov said on Wednesday, as Israel and Iran traded fire for a sixth day. “Almost all the wives and children of embassy employees” left on Tuesday via Egypt “to return to their homeland,“ Viktorov said, interviewed by pro-Kremlin presenter Vladimir…
TEHRAN: Iran said Wednesday it had detained five suspected agents of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency on charges of tarnishing the country’s image online, Iranian news agencies reported. “These mercenaries sought to sow fear among the public and tarnish the image of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran through their calculated activities online,“…
WELLINGTON: New Zealand on Wednesday approved the medicinal use of psilocybin, a hallucinogenic compound notably found in so-called “magic mushrooms”. Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour said rules had been relaxed so psilocybin could be used to treat certain types of depression. Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in some species of mushroom and…
SEOUL: North Korea will send military builders and sappers to help restore Russia’s Kursk region after Ukraine’s incursion, Moscow’s security chief said, in a fresh sign of deepening ties between the two countries. Sergei Shoigu, head of Russia’s Security Council, was in Pyongyang for the second time this month for talks with leader Kim Jong…
LONDON: A member of the provocative Irish rap group Kneecap, charged with a terror offence for allegedly showing support for Hezbollah, was due to appear in a London court Wednesday. Liam O’Hanna, 27, known by his stage name Mo Chara, was charged in May after being accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag during a London…
TEHRAN: Iran claimed early Wednesday to have fired hypersonic missiles at Israel in the latest round of overnight strikes between the archfoes, hours after Donald Trump demanded the Islamic republic’s “unconditional surrender”. The US president insists Washington has played no part in ally Israel’s bombing campaign, but also warned Iran his patience is wearing thin…
KANANASKIS: India and Canada agreed Tuesday to return ambassadors to each other’s capitals, turning the page on a bitter spat over an assassination as Canada’s new leader welcomed counterpart Narendra Modi. Prime Minister Mark Carney, who took office in March, invited Modi to the Canadian Rockies as a guest at the summit of the Group…
JAKARTA: Dozens of flights to and from Indonesia’s resort island of Bali were cancelled on Wednesday, according to authorities and the island’s airport, after a volcano in the archipelago’s east erupted, shooting an ash tower 10 kilometres into the sky. Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,584-metre (5,197-foot) volcano on the tourist island of Flores, erupted on…
