UK launches first postal deliveries by drone

Mail on the Scottish isles of Orkney was delivered by drones yesterday, the first regular postal service by the aerial devices in the UK.
1 August 2023

Drones target Moscow, Black Sea patrols

Russia said yesterday it had downed another wave of Ukrainian drones aimed at vessels in the Black Sea and Moscow, as an office block in the capital’s main business district was struck for the second time in a few days.
1 August 2023

NASA loses Voyager 2 signal after sending wrong command

NASA is trying to reestablish contact with Voyager 2 after it sent a wrong command to the spacecraft and lost communication with it.
1 August 2023

Musk removes giant, flashing X sign after furore

The company formerly known as Twitter removed a towering, blinking X from atop its San Francisco headquarters Monday after the rebranded tech firm tangled with city officials over the controversial sign
1 August 2023

US concerned over reports of intimidation, political violence in Bangladesh

The United States is concerned about reports of intimidation and political violence during protests in Bangladesh over the weekend against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday
31 July 2023

Tension runs high after religious procession in India’s Haryana pelted with stones

Tension ran high in Nuh in the northern Indian state of Haryana as some criminals threw stones and set cars on fire during a religious procession yesterday, Indian media reported citing the police
31 July 2023

S Africa opposition squabbles over ‘hate’ song

South Africa’s leading opposition party yesterday accused its closest rival of inciting ethnic violence during a mass rally -- shutting the door on a broad coalition ahead of next year’s elections.
31 July 2023

Sudan fighters evict Khartoum residents

Sudan’s paramilitaries have ordered civilians to vacate homes in the capital’s south, several residents said late on Sunday, as fighting between the forces of rival generals raged in the western Darfur region.
31 July 2023

Russian air strikes hit central Ukraine

A 10-year-old girl and her mother were among four civilians killed in a Russian air strike on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s home town yesterday, officials said, while his forces reported new incremental gains along the front line.
31 July 2023

UN weighs Great Barrier Reef reprieve for Australia

The UN’s cultural agency Unesco said yesterday its experts recommended giving Australia more time to boost protection of the Great Barrier Reef which the organisation’s World Heritage Committee has threatened to declare “in danger”.
31 July 2023

Fighting in Lebanon Palestinian camp kills eight: new toll

Clashes in south Lebanon’s Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp killed at least two people yesterday, medics told AFP, bringing the death toll to eight since fighting erupted over the weekend.
31 July 2023

Nigerian state imposes curfew to curtail looting

Authorities in Nigeria’s northeastern Adamawa state on Sunday imposed a statewide round-the-clock curfew to stop widespread looting of food stores in the state capital Yola.
31 July 2023

India railway guard shoots 4 dead on train

A Railway Protection Force personnel yesterday morning shot dead four people, including an Assistant Sub-Inspector, on-board a running train near the Palghar railway station in Maharashtra, India, an official said. He was later arrested after attempting to run away.
31 July 2023

Trump employee to appear in court

The property manager of Donald Trump’s Florida estate was set to appear in court yesterday to face charges of conspiring to help conceal the alleged mishandling of top secret government documents by the former president.
31 July 2023

No Palestinian concessions to secure deal on Saudi ties

A key party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government will not agree to any concessions to the Palestinians as part of a deal on normalising relations with Saudi Arabia, one of its cabinet ministers said yesterday.
31 July 2023

France plotting to intervene militarily

The Niger military junta that seized power last week and ousted democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum said yesterday the toppled government had authorised France to carry out strikes at the presidency to try to free Bazoum.
31 July 2023

Only four nations doing enough to stub out smoking

Only four countries -- Brazil, Mauritius, the Netherlands and Turkey -- have adopted all the anti-tobacco measures recommended in the fight against the “deadly scourge” of smoking, the World Health Organization said yesterday.
31 July 2023

Allies key to counter China in Pacific

The United States will rely on allies rather than a major expansion of its own forces to counter any Chinese military risk in the Pacific, a US general has told AFP.
31 July 2023

Death toll rises to 54

The Islamic State group yesterday claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb blast in Pakistan that killed at least 54 people, including 23 children, at a political party gathering ahead of elections due later this year.
31 July 2023

Sexual assault in Manipur: 'Why police took 14 days to register an FIR?'

Terming the video of two women in Manipur being paraded naked and subjecting them to sexual assault “horrendous”, India’s Supreme Court today said it would not want the state police to probe the incident as they virtually handed over the women to the rioting mob
31 July 2023