West’s ‘plundering’ of Africa blamed for migrant crisis

UNITED NATIONS: The head of the Central African Republic on Thursday accused the West of triggering the migration crisis on his continent by pillaging its natural resources through slavery and colonisation. Taking the podium at the UNGA, Faustin Archange Touadera addressed the migrant crisis on the Italian island of Lampedusa, where thousands of African migrants […]
Sunak waters down Britain’s climate goals

LONDON: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak watered down his country’s commitments to tackle climate change on Wednesday, delaying targets for changing cars and domestic heating to maintain the consent of the British people in the switch to net zero. Sunak said his government remained committed to its legally-binding target of reaching net zero emissions by […]
Italy toughens laws to deter migrant arrivals

ROME: The Italian government, struggling with a surge in arriving migrants, on Monday passed measures to lengthen the time they can be detained and ensure more people who have no legal right to stay are repatriated, government officials said. The move came after almost 10,000 migrants reached the southern Italian island of Lampedusa last week, […]
Central Khartoum in flames as war rages across Sudan

Flames gripped the Sudanese capital on Sunday and paramilitary forces attacked the army headquarters for the second day in a row, witnesses reported, as fighting raged into its sixth month. “Clashes are now happening around the army headquarters with various types of weapons,” witnesses told AFP on Sunday from Khartoum, while others reported fighting in […]
Injured Pakistan quicks Haris, Naseem still in World Cup contention

Pakistan captain Babar Azam said on Friday that injured quicks Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah remained central to his team’s World Cup plans, after their absence saw the team crash out of the Asia Cup. Azam’s men went down to fellow co-hosts Sri Lanka by two wickets on Thursday in a last-ball thriller of a […]
Beijing sanctions two US defence companies over Taiwan arms sales

BEIJING: Beijing sanctioned on Friday two US defence companies, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, over their roles in supplying arms to Taiwan. The United States Congress, under the Taiwan Relations Act, requires the supply of weapons to the self-governing democracy for its defence. President Joe Biden’s administration has recently announced a slew of arms sales […]
9 island states take ocean pollution case to UN court

HAMBURG: Leaders of nine small island states turned to the UN maritime court on Monday to seek protection of the world’s oceans from catastrophic climate change that threatens the very existence of entire countries. The island states are asking the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to determine if carbon dioxide emissions […]
Super Typhoon Saola sweeps towards southern China megacities

Super Typhoon Saola threatened southern China on Friday with some of the strongest winds the region has endured, forcing the megacities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen to effectively shut down. Tens of millions of people sheltered indoors as hundreds of flights were cancelled, the stock market suspended trading and the start of Hong […]
Ukraine claims retaking town, eyes gains in south

KYIV: Ukraine said on Monday its troops had liberated the south-eastern settlement of Robotyne and were trying to push further south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces. The Ukrainian military said last week that its forces had raised the national flag in the strategic settlement, but were still carrying out mopping-up operations. Ukrainian forces believe […]
Russian strikes kill eight ‘fighters’ in Syria

BEIRUT: Eight fighters died on Monday in Russian air strikes targeting a rebel base in Syria’s northwest, the last major bastion of armed opposition to President Bashar al Assad’s rule, a war monitor said. Moscow’s intervention since 2015 has helped Damascus claw back much of the territory it had lost to rebel forces early in […]