Georgia’s breakaway region to vote in July

The leader of Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia on Friday set July 17 as a date for a referendum on joining Russia.
14 May 2022

Iran nuke talks have ‘reopened’

Stalled negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme have been unblocked after fresh talks in Tehran, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said
13 May 2022

Milky way’s centre: Astronomers reveal first image of black hole

An international team of astronomers yesterday unveiled the first image of a supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy -- a cosmic body known as Sagittarius A*.
12 May 2022

Finland for NATO membership 'without delay'

Finland’s leaders said Thursday they’re in favor of rapidly applying for NATO membership, paving the way for a historic expansion of the alliance that could deal a serious blow to Russia as its military struggles with its war in Ukraine.
12 May 2022

Every heatwave enhanced by climate change: experts

All heatwaves today bear the unmistakable and measurable fingerprint of global warming, top experts on quantifying the impact of climate change on extreme weather said Wednesday.
11 May 2022

Phone hacking: Spain’s spy chief sacked

Spain’s government yesterday sacked the country’s spy chief as part of a widening scandal over the hacking of the mobile phones of the prime minister and Catalan separatist leaders.
10 May 2022

Rare miss for Queen

Head of state Queen Elizabeth II missed yesterday’s ceremonial opening of the UK parliament for the first time in nearly 60 years, handing the duty to her heir Prince Charles in a clear sign of the looming transition of power.
10 May 2022

World could see 1.5C of warming in 5 yrs

The world faces a 50 percent chance of warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, if only briefly, by 2026, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday.
10 May 2022

Overwhelming support for Nato bid among Finns: poll

More than three quarters of people in Finland now support joining Nato, a new poll showed yesterday, after opinion on the military alliance flipped following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
9 May 2022

Putin ‘mirroring fascism’

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace yesterday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “mirroring fascism”, as the country held an annual Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square.
9 May 2022

Macron sworn in for second time as French president

Emmanuel Macron was sworn in for his second term as France’s president yesterday at a ceremony at the Elysee Palace, followed by the firing of canons at the Invalides gardens.
7 May 2022

Vegetable oil prices drop 5.7pc in April

World food prices fell slightly last month after hitting a record in March, thanks to a 5.7 percent drop in vegetable oil prices, UN food agency said yesterday.
6 May 2022

Tories suffer loses in local elections

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party lost control of traditional strongholds in London and suffered setbacks elsewhere in local elections, with voters punishing his government over a series of scandals.
6 May 2022

Europe becoming a cocaine hub, worth over €10bn a year

Europe is increasingly becoming a hub for production and trans-shipment of cocaine to other regions of the world, in addition to being a major consumption market, EU agencies said on Friday, warning also about the expanding methamphetamine industry.
6 May 2022

Why EU may find it tough to squeeze out Russian oil

The European Union has proposed a phased embargo of Russian oil but may find it tricky to implement, given Europe’s complex distribution
5 May 2022

Tough lessons for China

From countering a Western “information war” during a Taiwan conflict to using “shock and awe” to swiftly subdue the island’s forces, Chinese strategists are soaking up lessons from Russia’s Ukrainian quagmire, diplomats, scholars and analysts say.
30 April 2022

Germany takes Italy to court over Nazi compensation claims

Germany on Friday brought a case against Italy before the International Court of Justice on the grounds that Rome is continuing to claim World War II compensation, thereby “failing to respect its jurisdictional immunity”, the court said.
30 April 2022

Over 3,000 lost at sea in 2021: UN

More than 3,000 refugees, migrants and asylum seekers died or went missing last year while trying to reach Europe via Mediterranean and
29 April 2022

‘Ukraine mortgaging itself to US’

Russia’s most senior lawmaker yesterday said that Ukraine was effectively mortgaging itself to the United States by seeking to tap billions of dollars of weapons loans proposed by US President Joe Biden.
29 April 2022

Should they decide to join, Finland, Sweden will get swift membership: Nato chief

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that Finland and Sweden would be embraced with open arms should they decide to join the 30-nation military organization and could become members quite quickly.
28 April 2022