Plane held for days in France on trafficking concerns lands in India

A plane that had been grounded in France for days over concerns its roughly 300 mostly Indian passengers were part of a human trafficking scheme landed in Mumbai early Tuesday, flight tracking data showed
26 December 2023

Israel 'intensifying' Gaza fighting as Hamas says strikes kill dozens

Israel on Monday said it was "intensifying the fighting" against Hamas in Gaza, where relentless strikes across the Palestinian territory exacerbated the dire conditions for civilians in the war's 12th week.
26 December 2023

Attacks kill at least 113 people in central Nigeria

More than a hundred people have been killed in central Nigeria in a series of attacks on villages, local government officials said Monday
25 December 2023

Iran Guards say Israeli strike kills senior general in Syria

A senior general with Iran's Revolutionary Guards was killed Monday by an Israeli strike in Syria, the military force said, with Tehran vowing to make Israel “pay for this crime”
25 December 2023

Desperation rising amid acute hunger WHO warns

The World Health Organization said it led missions to barely functioning hospitals in northern Gaza at the weekend, describing growing desperation and starving people stripping an aid truck of supplies.
25 December 2023

Sudanese in ‘total panic’ as paramilitaries move south

On a countryside road in battle-ravaged Sudan, the hum of a passing vehicle turns villagers’ blood cold, fearing the arrival of paramilitaries plundering their way south in their war against the army.
25 December 2023

Pope Francis decries Gaza’s ‘appalling harvest’ of deaths

Pope Francis said in his Christmas message yesterday that children dying in wars, including in Gaza, are the “little Jesuses of today” and that Israeli strikes there were reaping an “appalling harvest” of innocent civilians.
25 December 2023

Israeli strikes kill more than 100 in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday vowed to press on with the offensive in the Gaza Strip while Israeli strikes killed more than 100 people in the besieged enclave overnight.
25 December 2023

Palestinians recount ‘torture’ in army custody

Palestinians held by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip had suffered torture, two freed detainees and a medic said Sunday, a charged denied by the military.
25 December 2023

Jammu and Kashmir: Army orders probe into alleged civilian deaths in custody

The Indian army has launched an investigation into the deaths of three civilians allegedly in military custody in Jammy and Kashmir, and moved senior officers from the disputed area, a military official said yesterday.
25 December 2023

Sri Lanka frees 1,000 prisoners

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe granted an amnesty to more than 1,000 convicts and released them from jails across the country to mark Christmas, a prisons official said yesterday.
25 December 2023

Israel kills Iranian general in Syria

A senior general with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards was killed yesterday by an Israeli strike in Syria, the military force said, with Tehran vowing to make Israel “pay for this crime”.
25 December 2023

Indian passenger plane held in France takes off

A plane with close to 300 Indian passengers detained near Paris over suspicions of human trafficking took off yesterday after being cleared for departure by French police, an AFP reporter said.
25 December 2023

Six killed in Turkish strikes on Syria

Turkish air strikes killed six civilians in Syria’s Kurdish-held northeast yesterday, a war monitor and local media said, as Ankara launched operations in Iraq and Syria following deadly attacks on its soldiers.
25 December 2023

Russia moves Navalny to a prison in the Arctic

Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been moved to a penal colony in an Arctic region of northern Russia, his spokeswoman said yesterday after supporters lost touch with him for more than two weeks.
25 December 2023

Philippine actions ‘extremely dangerous’: China

Chinese state media yesterday accused the Philippines of repeatedly infringing on China’s territory in the South China Sea, spreading false information and colluding with extraterritorial forces to cause trouble.
25 December 2023

Afghans marry in mass ceremony in bid to cut costs

Fifty couples married yesterday in a joint ceremony in the Afghan capital -- a growing practice to reduce the astronomical cost of traditional weddings in the impoverished country.
25 December 2023

Thousands affected as floods hit Thai South

Floods caused by intense rainfall have affected tens of thousands of people in Thailand’s deep south, officials said yesterday, with some roads and railway lines forced to close.
25 December 2023

Ukraine downs 28 out of 31 Russian drones

Russia launched 31 drones and 2 missiles at Ukraine overnight, mostly targeting the south of the country, with air defences destroying 28 drones and both missiles, the Ukrainian military said yesterday.
25 December 2023

Japan moon lander enters lunar orbit

Japan’s SLIM space probe entered the Moon’s orbit yesterday in a major step towards the country’s first successful lunar landing, expected next month.
25 December 2023