World

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that Israel would not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, amid reports of renewed negotiations between Tehran and the US administration over a new nuclear agreement.

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations views the second round of negotiations between the US and Iran on Saturday as "a good sign," and hopes it will yield positive results, a UN spokesman said.

ISLAMABAD: A destructive hailstorm ripped through parts of Pakistan's capital Islamabad and provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), claiming lives of at least five people and damaging properties and standing crops worth millions.

UNITED NATIONS: Aid officials are extremely concerned about an escalating Sudan war following reports of atrocities in the take over of the Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur by armed groups, UN humanitarians said.

NEW YORK: President Donald Trump’s administration has become embroiled in a standoff with the judiciary over its program to send to El Salvador illegal migrants who are allegedly members of criminal gangs now declared as foreign terrorist organisations.

GAZA: At least 19 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on various areas of the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza's Civil Defence.

KYIV: Ukrainian representatives are taking part in an international meeting in Turkey focusing on Black Sea security, Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said.

LOS ANGELE: California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that the western US state which has the largest economy in the nation is suing the Trump administration over the President's sweeping "unlawful tariffs" on international trading partners.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Ambassador Sadiq Khan landed in Kabul on Wednesday on a day-long visit to participate in the second round of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting as Islamabad aims to settle border disputes with the neighbouring country.

ISLAMABAD: Four Pakistanis were among the 11 dead in a Libya boat capsize incident, Pakistan’s Foreign Office confirmed.

UNITED NATIONS: Amid talk of Islamic representation, India and other G4 members have rejected proposals to allocate seats on the basis of religion in a reformed Security Council.

KABUL: In the early hours of Wednesday, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, according to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS).

WASHINGTON: In first public remarks after leaving the White House, former US President Joe Biden on Tuesday accused the Donald Trump administration of “deliberate cruelty” in downsizing the federal agency that disburses post-retirement benefits to retirees.

TUNIS: Tunisian President Kais Saied reaffirmed his country's unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

TEHRAN: Iran has confirmed that Muscat, the capital of Oman, will remain the venue for the second round of "indirect" negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

ISLAMABAD: At least three policemen were killed and 16 others injured in a roadside bomb explosion in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Tuesday, officials said.

WASHINGTON: Neela Rajendra, the Indian-origin head of NASA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts, has been officially dismissed from her position in compliance with US President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order aimed at dismantling DEI initiatives across all federal agencies.

WASHINGTON: South Korea is continuing to "actively" engage in negotiations with the United States to resolve the issue of its placement on the US Department of Energy (DOE)'s Sensitive and Other Designated Countries List (SCL), the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON: Harvard University is facing a major financial setback after the Donald Trump administration imposed a freeze on $2.2 billion in federal funding, following the university’s refusal to comply with a list of sweeping demands related to governance, campus policies, and civil rights enforcement.

KINSHASA: Heavy rains and flooding have struck several provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with the capital Kinshasa among the hardest hit, the Ministry of Health announced.

ABUJA: Nigerian President Bola Tinubu confirmed that over 40 people were killed in an attack by a group of unknown gunmen who wreaked havoc in a local community in the country's north-central Plateau State.

JERUSALEM: More than 250 former officials of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency have signed a letter urging the government to immediately end the war in the Gaza Strip and bring about the release of the Israeli hostages still held there, Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported.

LAHORE: The age-old agrarian festival of Baisakhi, marking the start of the wheat harvest, was celebrated in Pakistan's Punjab on Sunday, though the observation was a bit low-key amid changing patterns of farming, reports said.

WASHINGTON: A day after the US exempted electronics imports, including semiconductors, from reciprocal tariffs, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday the country is set to launch "separate tariffs" for imports of smartphones, computers, semiconductors, and other components in the next one to two months.

KYIV: At least 21 people were killed on Sunday in a Russian ballistic missile attack on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement.

CANBERRA: Australia's opposition leader -- and alternative Prime Minister -- Peter Dutton has been identified as the target of an alleged terror plot.

YANGON: A 5.0 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar at about 10:59 a.m. local time on Friday, the country's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH) reported.

NEW JERSEY: In a devastating incident, six people -- including a family of five Spanish tourists, among them three children -- and a pilot were killed after their sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River near Jersey City, New Jersey, on Thursday (local time).

ISTANBUL: The Russian consulate in Istanbul said that progress has been made on ensuring banking and financial services for Russian and US diplomatic missions during the second round of bilateral talks in Istanbul.

SANAA: The death toll from US airstrikes on the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah has risen to 14, with 15 others wounded, Houthi-controlled health authorities reported.

YANGON: As of Thursday, Myanmar has experienced 112 aftershocks ranging from magnitudes of 2.8 to 7.5, according to the country's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.

CANBERRA: Independent candidates who could hold the balance of power following Australia's general election have united to call for a parliamentary inquiry into the AUKUS security pact.

BRATISLAVA: President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday attended a banquet hosted in her honour by Slovakia President Peter Pellegrini at the historic Bratislava Castle.

SEOUL: The government will "swiftly" devise support measures for the local chip industry to cushion the impact of the United States' planned tariffs on semiconductor imports, the industry minister said on Thursday.

DHAKA: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has raised concern over the lack of clear directives from the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government regarding the parliamentary election date. The party also claimed that the government was deliberately delaying the elections.