WORLD

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered nuclear weapons drills near Ukraine, Moscow said Monday, in response to “threats” from Western officials to deploy NATO troops to Ukraine. The announcement came as Russian forces said they captured two villages in the war-battered regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, where outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian troops have struggled to hold the...

Israel shut down Al Jazeera’s operations in the country and seized some of its communication equipment Sunday, prompting condemnation from the United Nations and rights groups over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s moves to restrict press freedoms. The closure comes as ceasefire and hostage negotiations in Cairo show little sign of breakthrough after almost seven months of war, and international concern mounts over Israel’s expected...

Britain’s ruling Conservatives lost a parliamentary seat to the main Labour opposition Friday, as the country awaited local election results likely to pile more pressure on embattled leader Rishi Sunak. Labour seized the constituency of Blackpool South, in the northwest of England, in the latest by-election defeat for the Tories as it appears on course to lose an upcoming general...

Donald Trump was held in contempt of court Tuesday and fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case. If he does it again, the judge warned, he could be jailed. Prosecutors had alleged 10 violations, but New York Judge Juan M....

It comes amid ongoing attempts to try to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and hostage releases. But at a meeting of hostages’ relatives, Mr Netanyahu said he would invade “with or without” a deal. His comments follow renewed warnings by the US against a Rafah invasion unless civilians were properly protected. In a phone call with Mr Netanyahu on...

Donald Trump continues to hold an advantage over President Joe Biden as the campaign – and the former president’s criminal trial – move forward, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. And in the coming rematch, opinions about the first term of each man vying for a second four years in the White House now appear to work in Trump’s favor,...

Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Sunday said that Dubai will be the “world’s airport, its port, its urban hub, and new global centre”, as he announced a new airport project worth nearly 35 billion US Dollars (Rs 2.9 lakh crore). The new airport will be called the Al Maktoum International Airport and will boast five parallel...

Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has ruled out an agreement with those who have “enslaved” the country, saying he is ready to serve for nine more years in prison but will never strike a deal with them. In a message released on Friday for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s 28th Foundation Day, Khan said that the “worst dictatorship”...

The Senate has passed USD 95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars. The Bill passed the Senate on an overwhelming 79-18 vote late on Tuesday after the House had approved the package...

Prosecutors launched the hush-money trial of Donald Trump by revealing new details Monday about how they seek to prove the former president corrupted the 2016 election to bury a sex scandal, while a defence lawyer countered the payment was meant only to protect his reputation. The trial in lower Manhattan, the first of a former president, involves 34 felony counts...