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KABUL: The US President’s Special Representative for Prisoner Affairs, Adam Boehler, accompanied by former Afghan envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, has delivered a stern message to the Afghan regime in Kabul, saying “Release all American hostages in Afghanistan soon or face serious consequences”. The US delegation, led by Boehler and assisted by Khalilzad along with other members … Read more
A municipal vote in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia will be a gauge of the national mood since Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office.
[ BENGALURU: Elon Musk’s xAI has laid off at least 500 workers from its data annotation team, which helps develop the company’s Grok chatbot, Business Insider reported on Friday. The company notified employees by email on Friday night that it was planning to downsize its team of generalist AI tutors, the report said, citing multiple … Read more
KYIV: Romania became the latest NATO member state to report a drone incursion into its airspace Saturday, as Poland scrambled aircraft in response to fresh Russian drone strikes just over the border in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was deliberately expanding its drone operations and that the West needed to respond with … Read more
[ KARACHI: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Atif Ikram Sheikh has welcomed a two-month extension in the waiver for dangerous petroleum licences for the clearance of import consignments of chemical and petrochemical industrial raw materials that fall under the petroleum classifications of A, B and C. The waiver, as per … Read more
LAGOS: With more than five tonnes of rice, tomato concentrate, cooking oil and onions, Nigerian chef Hilda Baci attempted on Friday to conjure up the biggest rice jollof ever made. The popular west African dish features rice simmered in a tomato sauce, accompanied by meat or fish. Thousands of people gathered to watch the latest … Read more
LONDON: Clashes erupted in London Saturday and police made 25 arrests after up to 150,000 people massed for one of the largest-ever far-right protests in Britain, organised by activist Tommy Robinson. Police said 26 officers were injured, four seriously, after facing “unacceptable violence” while trying to control the crowds, many draped in English and British … Read more
PARIS: France’s new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu held out an olive branch to the left on Saturday, ruling out his predecessor’s plan to cut two public holidays to help slash the deficit. His gesture came a day after the Fitch ratings agency downgraded France’s credit rating — measuring its ability to pay back debts — from “AA-” … Read more
TRIPOLI: Libya’s UN-recognised government based in Tripoli has reached a preliminary accord with a powerful armed group to end months of tensions that have flared into occasional violence, a government adviser and local media said Saturday. Negotiations between the government and the Radaa Force were facilitated by Turkey, according to the same sources. Ziyad Deghem, … Read more
KARACHI: Pakistani singer Atif Aslam is preparing to embark on Borderless 2025, his most extensive North American tour to date. The tour will run from late August through early October, covering a wide circuit of cities in the United States and Canada. Organizers have described it as a 13-city schedule, though details released so far … Read more
