48 Malians drown in single day trying to reach EuropeFlags flew at half-mast in Mali on Thursday as the government announced 48 of its citizens drowned in the Mediterranean on a single day over the weekend, all trying to reach Europe. The west African n...
Rescuers race against time to find missing in California mudslidesSANTA BARBARA: Rescue crews in Southern California resumed on Thursday the arduous task of combing through tons of debris for survivors from deadly mudslides that struck along the state’s picturesque...
UK denies Assange diplomatic status after Ecuador requestLONDON: Britain said Thursday it has denied a request by Ecuador to issue diplomatic status to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been living in the country’s London embassy since 2012. “The go...
EU backs Iran nuclear deal as Trump decision loomsBRUSSELS: European powers on Thursday insisted the 2015 deal to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions was working, as US President Donald Trump mulls reimposing sanctions on Tehran. The European Union and the...
Anguish in Mexico over murdered ‘girl in red socks’Kneeling at four-year-old Lupita’s grave, Mexican activist Veronica Villalvazo spoke to the murdered girl as if she had known her all her short life. “Hey girl,” she said, laying flowers on the earth....
Tourism in Bali recovering after volcano eruptionBALI: After going through difficult times with its backbone sector of tourism severely battered by a series of volcano eruptions late last year, Indonesia's Bali resort island started to recover with...
Trump’s ‘madman’ rhetoric may have scared N Korea to talks: analystsUS President Donald Trump’s notoriously threatening rhetoric towards nuclear-armed North Korea — which has drawn comparisons with Richard Nixon’s “madman theory” of diplomacy — may deserve some credit...
New insights into mysterious, cosmic ‘fast radio bursts’Astronomers have edged closer to solving the mystery of distant cosmic radio bursts according to a study Wednesday that offers insights into the blasts which emit more energy in a single millisecond t...
Japanese crime boss held in Thailand after ‘yakuza’ tatts go viralA retired Japanese crime boss has been arrested in Thailand ending more than 14 years on the run after photos of his ‘Yakuza’ tattoos and a missing little finger went viral. The fugitive, Shigeharu Sh...
Pirate attacks at two-decade low: maritime watchdogPirate attacks worldwide fell to their lowest level in over two decades last year, the International Maritime Bureau said, but more than doubled in the Philippines while African trouble spots remained...
Myanmar army changes tack with Rohingya killings admissionAfter months denying any wrongdoing, Myanmar has admitted its forces helped kill 10 Rohingya in custody in an apparent bid to blame a few rogue soldiers for what the global community alleges is part o...
Inside the growing backlash against ChinaChina’s rise over the last generation has been impressive, with the country moving from the periphery to the center of the global system, and climbing from impoverished backwater to a position of subs...
China, Cambodia vow to promote partnership in new eraPHNOM PENH: China and Cambodia have vowed to promote their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era, according to a joint communique released after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang con...
Japan tracks Chinese frigate near disputed islesJapan said Thursday it was tracking a Chinese frigate in waters surrounding islands in the East China Sea, the first such incursion in more than a year near the flashpoint isles claimed by both countr...
Israel approves more than 1,100 new West Bank settlement homesIsraeli authorities have approved more than 1,100 new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank, the Peace Now NGO said Thursday, the latest in a raft of such moves in recent months. The approvals we...
Migrants risk death crossing Alps to reach FranceBARDONECCHIA: It took Abdullhai almost three years to get from his home in Guinea to a rocky, snow-covered Alpine mountain pass in the dead of winter, for what he hopes will be the final stage of his...
US cold snap was a freak of nature, quick analysis findsWASHINGTON: Consider this cold comfort: A quick study of the brutal American cold snap found that the Arctic blast really wasn't global warming but a freak of nature. Frigid weather like the two-week...
Parliament speaker latest separatist to step downCatalonia's parliamentary speaker said Thursday she would step down as she is investigated for sedition and rebellion over her role in the independence drive, the latest separatist leader to leave the...
Philippines exhumes bodies of two children in vaccine probeMANILA: A Philippine government agency on Thursday exhumed the bodies of two children whose parents suspect they died of dengue after receiving a new vaccine against the disease, although its maker sa...
Vietnam seeks lengthy jail terms for former officials of state oil firmHANOI: Prosecutors in Vietnam were seeking long jail terms on Thursday for a former member of the country's ruling politburo and a high-profile former official over losses of hundreds of millions of d...