UN envoy says 80 countries ready to step up on climate
Under the landmark deal, countries agreed to announce by 2020 new efforts to strengthen their national plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a bid to limit global temperature rise. UN climate envoy Luis Alfonso de Alba told journalists that "80 is the number of countries (from) which we have already received a signal that they are willing" to ...
Erdogan meets Iraqi president as Turkey launches strikes on PKK
ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Iraqi counterpart Barham Saleh on Tuesday while the Turkish military launched an operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. The visit came as the Turkish military launched an air and ground offensive in mountainous northern Iraq against the hideouts of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terror group by ...
After mega-divorce, MacKenzie Bezos joins billionaire philanthropist club
The charitable organization, founded in 2010 by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, listed MacKenzie Bezos, an American, among 19 new signatories of the pledge from China, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and Britain. She instantly became one of the world?s wealthiest individuals in April, gaining a net worth estimated at $36 billion after finalizing the terms of her divorce ...
Chinese position on Palestine clear, consistent: Spokesperson
BEIJING: China Tuesday said its position on the question of Palestine was clear and consistent and asked the international community to keep up efforts to promote peace and ensure that voice and proposition of parties concerned, especially Palestine, were heeded. “The Chinese government’s position on the question of Palestine is clear and consistent,” Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson Lu Kang said during ...
Iran says does not 'presently' believe in mediation with US
Tehran: Iran?s foreign ministry on Tuesday insisted it did not currently see the need for mediation with the United States, as it played down the chances of a military clash with Washington.
Facebook use eroding in US as social media under pressure
The average amount of time US adults spent at Facebook dropped by three minutes per day last year and will likely decrease by another minute next year, to a total of 37 minutes daily, according to the research firm eMarketer. "Facebook?s continued loss of younger adult users, along with its focus on down-ranking clickbait posts and videos in favor ...
Two dead, including schoolgirl, after Japan mass stabbing
The attacker, a man in his 50s who has not yet been identified, crept silently up behind a group of children at the bus stop and slashed randomly at them before fatally stabbing himself in the neck. Police said an 11-year-old schoolgirl named Hanako Kuribayashi and a 39-year-old parent, identified as government official Satoshi Oyama, died in the attack, ...
Three killed in Ramadan violence in Thailand
Thailand?s three southernmost provinces, Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, have since 2004 been plagued with conflict between ethnic Malay-Muslim rebels and the Buddhist-majority Thai state, which annexed the region around a century ago. Around 7,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in violence that rarely makes international headlines despite taking place a few hours south of some of Thailand?s tourist ...
Shocking: Meghan Markle's royal nanny quits just after two weeks of Archie's birth!
Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle is going through a challenging phase in her life after the birth of her son Master Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, as revealed by certain royal family members, a royal source claimed. Divulging further details, the source said that it has become so difficult to deal with Meghan that she has not even let the three ...
Storytelling, games make Iraq comeback on Ramadan nights
While many spend the night in prayer at mosques between an evening feast and pre-dawn snacks, others take part in games that in Iraq are reserved for Ramadan-time. Up until one or two generations ago, Ramadan nights were the preserve of the hakawati, or Arab storytellers, regaling audiences with fables as well as local news and historical stories. In ...
Publisher, HRW founder Robert Bernstein dies at 96: report
Robert Bernstein, an ardent American defender of political dissent and freedom of expression who led publisher Random House and founded Human Rights Watch during the Cold War, died Monday, The New York Times reported. During his time at the helm of Random House -- now part of Penguin Random House -- Bernstein published US authors such as Toni ...
Two feared dead, 17 hurt after Japan mass stabbing
"One man and one female child are showing no vital signs, said fire department official Yuji Sekizawa, employing a phrase commonly used in Japan to mean the victims have died but the death has not yet been certified by an official medical professional. In 2018, a man was arrested in central Japan after stabbing one person to death and ...
Muslims seek voice in changing Uzbekistan
The 19-year-old's only fault was being a pious Muslim and wearing the hijab, a staple of female Islamic dress. Instead of giving up, the student took a stand that has placed her at the centre of Uzbekistan's religious freedom debate. Her family has sued the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan, taking its legal battle all the way to the ...
Monkey experiments offer clues on origin of language
PARIS: Green and vervet monkeys live on either side of Africa and their evolutionary paths diverged 3.5 million years ago, and yet the two species share a hard-wired vocabulary when faced with danger, clever experiments have shown. Vervet monkeys in the savannah of east Africa utter three distinct cries depending on whether they spot a leopard, a snake or ...
Pakistani origin Sajid Javid enters race to replace Theresa May as PM
London: UK interior minister Sajid Javid became the ninth candidate Monday to enter the race to replace Theresa May as premier, promising to "deliver Brexit" after repeated delays. Referring to the drubbing May?s Conservatives received in European Parliament elections, Javid said the new party leader had to restore voters? trust. "As last night?s results made all too clear, we ...
Russia invites Taliban, Afghan officials to Moscow meet
Kabul: Afghan politicians are set to attend a two-day meeting with the Taliban in Moscow this week, officials confirmed Monday, as fighting continues to rage in Afghanistan amid troubled peace talks between the US and the militants. From the Afghan political establishment, former president Hamid Karzai is set to make an appearance, with his spokesman Yousof Saha suggesting the ...
Pope sounds racism alarm as EU nationalists win big
"The signs of meanness we see around us heighten our fear of ?the other?, the unknown, the marginalised, the foreigner," he said in a message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. "To some extent, the fear is legitimate, also because the preparation for this encounter is lacking," he said, alluding to often piecemeal and inadequate approaches to ...
ICC World Cup 2019 organisers happy with security amid 'moderate' threat
Recent terror attacks in cricket playing nations have heightened safety concerns regarding the World Cup, which features 48 one-day international matches in 46 days starting with tournament hosts England against South Africa on Thursday. "When those incidents happened so close to the tournament, quite understandably that did cause some nervousness," Jill McCracken, the World Cup safety and security director, ...
China not yet decides to send envoy in Modi’s oath taking ceremony
BEIJING: China has not yet announced to send its envoy to attend Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi?s oath taking ceremony for the second term to be held in New Delhi on May 30.
German with 1,800 cows allowed to stay in India
Bruning came to India around 25 years ago and says she has since spent around 200,000 euros ($225,000) of her own money over the years on her cow shelter, which costs around $45,000 per month to run.
