BERLIN: Germany and Austria announced emergency measures on Sunday to ensure their energy needs after a drop in Russian gas supplies, including reverting to coal in what Berlin called a “bitter but indispensable” step. “To reduce gas consumption, less gas must be used to generate electricity. Coal-fired power plants will have to be used more […]
The war in Ukraine could last for years, the head of Nato said on Sunday, as Russia stepped up its assaults after the European Union recommended that Kyiv become a candidate to join the bloc. Jens Stoltenberg said supplying state-of-the-art weaponry to Ukrainian troops would boost the chance of freeing its eastern region of Donbas […]
KABUL: A bomb blast at a mosque in northern Afghanistan killed at least one worshipper and wounded seven others during Friday prayers, police said. The explosion occurred in the northern province of Kunduz in a district where dozens of worshippers had been killed in April in a similar bomb attack. Provincial police spokesman Qari Obaidullah […]
Three Palestinians were killed and 10 others were wounded on Friday during an Israeli army raid in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. The three men were killed when the Israeli forces opened fire on a vehicle in which they were travelling, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. “Fierce clashes” then ensued in the area, […]
KYIV: Ukraine may not be able to regain its role in helping maintain global food security unless damage done to the country’s agriculture sector during Russia’s invasion is repaired, Ukrainian experts said on Wednesday. An analysis by the Kyiv School of Economics Institute’s Centre for Food Research and Land Use in cooperation with the agriculture […]
LYSYCHANSK: Russia said on Tuesday it would establish a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from a chemical plant in Severodonetsk, as the two sides battled for control of the key city in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Russian forces have stepped up efforts to cut off the Ukrainian troops still in the industrial hub, destroying all […]
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has required would-be Haj pilgrims from many Western countries to apply for visas via a government portal online, a move intended to crack down on “fake” travel agencies, officials said on Monday. The new system was put in place as the kingdom prepares to welcome 850,000 Muslims from abroad for the annual […]
KABUL: Unidentified gunmen fired at a bus ferrying airport employees in northern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least two people and wounding six others, a senior police official said. The bus was ambushed by two gunmen on its way to the Mazar-i-Sharif airport, Balkh provincial police spokesman Mohammad Asif Waziri said. “The vehicle came under […]
WASHINGTON: The US announced on Friday that Covid-19 tests would no longer be required for international travellers arriving by air, a major step in the country’s gradual lifting of pandemic restrictions. White House Assistant Press Secretary Kevin Munoz confirmed the news on Twitter, with US media saying the measure would end this weekend after strong […]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree imposing personal sanctions on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, and a number of other high-ranking officials in Moscow. The decree signed on Thursday came in approval of a decision taken by the National Security and Defence Council of […]