Turkiye dismisses concerns over US sanctions warning
ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s finance minister on Friday dismissed as “meaningless” concerns among Turkish businesses over a US Treasury warning that they risked being penalised if they maintained commercial ties with Russians under sanctions. Nato-member Turkiye has sought to strike a balance between Moscow and Kyiv by criticising Russia’s invasion and sending arms to Ukraine, while opposing the Western […]
US hits ‘Iran-backed group’ for third straight day in Syria
AMMAN/WASHINGTON: The US military on Thursday hit several targets in the Syrian city of Mayadin in parts of Deir al Zor province under government control, in the third day of skirmishes with Iran-backed groups, local military sources said. They said at least three members of an Iran-aligned militia were killed when they were targeted by […]
Biden orders strikes against ‘Iran-backed militias’ in Syria
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered air strikes in eastern Syria targeting “facilities used by Iranian-backed militias”, a US military spokesman said. The strikes in oil-rich Deir Ezzor province “targeted infrastructure facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps”, Central Command (Centcom) spokesman Colonel Joe Buccino claimed in a statement. Buccino […]
Western leaders warn Russia against new annexations
KYIV: Western leaders on Tuesday warned Russia against annexing other parts of Ukrainian territory after Crimea amid rumours Russia is planning to do so in various occupied areas, while Washington warned that Russia could attack Ukrainian government facilities in the coming days as Moscow said it would show “no mercy” over an assassination it has […]
Russia blames Ukraine for killing of Putin ally’s daughter
Moscow: Russia’s Federal Security Service on Monday accused Ukraine’s secret services of killing Darya Dugina, the daughter of a Russian ultra-nationalist, in a car bomb attack near Moscow. Dugina, whose father Alexander Dugin is considered close to President Putin, was killed on Saturday evening when a bomb blew up the Toyota Land Cruiser that she […]
Shells rain down on city near Ukraine’s N- plant
KYIV: Artillery shells rained down on a city close to Europe’s biggest nuclear plant on Saturday night and Russian missiles hit targets near Odesa, a Ukrainian Black Sea port and a grain export hub, as the war headed for its six-month milestone on Aug 24. The day will also mark 31 years of Ukraine’s independence […]
Sri Lanka’s ousted president keen to return home
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s deposed former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is seeking to return home from his exile in Thailand and has asked his successor to guarantee his safety, his party said on Friday. Rajapaksa fled the island last month after a huge crowd stormed his house, capping months of white-hot public anger over the island nation’s […]
‘Tornado of fire’: Algeria forest blazes kill 38
EL KALA: Algerian firefighters on Thursday battled two dozen blazes fanned by hot winds that have killed at least 38 people and left destruction across the drought-hit North African country. Deadly forest fires have become an annual scourge in the North African country, where climate change is turning large areas into a tinderbox in the […]
China to send troops to Russia for joint military drills
Chinese troops will travel to Russia to take part in joint military drills, Beijing’s defence ministry said. Beijing and Moscow have close defence links and China has said it wants to push bilateral relations “to a higher level,” even as Moscow faces international sanctions and widespread condemnation over its war in Ukraine. China’s defence ministry […]
Australian PM says Scott Morrison secretly held five cabinet posts
SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that his predecessor secretly seized control of five ministerial posts, labelling it an “unprecedented trashing of our democracy”. Albanese said Scott Morrison had appointed himself to more ministries than initially thought, and promised further investigation. From March 2020 until he was swept from power in May […]
