WASHINGTON: WhatsApp said it was “concerned” that its services would be blocked in Iran after a state broadcaster urged the public to delete the messaging app, saying it was sharing data with arch-rival Israel. State television IRIB appealed to Iranians on Tuesday to delete WhatsApp from their phones, alleging that the app collected users’ personal…
VIENNA: Two buildings housing manufacturing sites for centrifuge components for Iran’s nuclear programme have been destroyed at Karaj, just outside the capital Tehran, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Wednesday. The UN agency’s announcement came hours after Israel’s military said it had carried out a series of air strikes in and around Tehran. “The IAEA…
NEW DELHI: Indian commandos shot dead three Maoist rebels Wednesday, police said, including a suspected top commander, less than a month after the insurgent group’s chief was killed. India is waging an all-out offensive against the last vestiges of the Naxalite rebellion, named after the village in the Himalayan foothills where the Maoist-inspired movement began…
MOSCOW: Russia’s army said Wednesday that its forces had captured another village in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, where Moscow has stepped up its offensive in recent weeks. The Russian troops captured Novomykolaivka in Sumy, a settlement around four kilometres (two miles) from the Ukraine-Russia border, the defence ministry said on Telegram. The advance of Moscow’s…
BRUSSELS: Chinese online giant AliExpress must do more to protect consumers from illegal product sales, the European Commission said Wednesday in an interim finding that could open the way to heavy fines. While noting some progress, “the Commission preliminarily found AliExpress in breach of its obligation to assess and mitigate risks related to the dissemination…
TOKYO: Sweltering temperatures prompted heatstroke alerts in multiple Japanese regions on Wednesday, with dozens of people seeking emergency medical care in the capital Tokyo. The hot weather was headline news in the country, which last year experienced its joint warmest summer ever as climate change fuelled extreme heatwaves around the globe. Record temperatures were logged…
While Moscow has talked up its partnership with Iran, the deal does not require Russia to come to Iran’s military aid When Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, officials in Russia described the current escalation in the Middle East as “alarming” and “dangerous.” Still, Russian media were quick to stress the potential positives for Moscow. Among…
Canada’s G7 summit, under first-time host Mark Carney, had a carefully planned agenda. That programme was upended by the unfolding war between Israel and Iran and US President Donald Trump’s early departure. Still, Carney said on Tuesday that this summit “can begin a new era of co-operation that promotes long-term resilience over short-term efficiency”. Here…
How the Air India crash investigation is unfolding The Air India Boeing 787, that crashed in Ahmedabad last week, seen here over Melbourne in December Less than 40 seconds. That’s how long Air India Flight 171 was airborne before it plunged into a densely populated neighbourhood in Ahmedabad in one of India’s most baffling aviation…
HANOI: A court in southern Vietnam has sentenced three drug traffickers to death for smuggling and selling more than 50 kilos of heroin and synthetic drugs, state media reported Wednesday. Communist Vietnam has some of the toughest drug laws in the world with courts routinely handing out death sentences for drug convictions. After the one-day…
