International

A senior Hamas official said Friday the group will respond “very soon” to a proposal that includes extended pauses in Gaza fighting and phased exchanges of Hamas-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Hamas and other militants in Gaza are holding dozens of hostages, after having abducted about 250 during their deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed ...

At least 19 people were killed early Tuesday after a double-decker passenger bus collided with a trailer on the Mazatlan-Culiacan Highway in northern Mexico, Sinaloa state Attorney General Sara Bruna Quinonez Estrada confirmed. In a message posted on social media platform X, the head of the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office said, “So far, according to the expert work that ...

Former premier Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi on Wednesday were sentenced to 14 years in jail in the Toshakhana reference. Last month, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a fresh reference against the two in an accountability court for retaining a jewellery set received from Saudi crown prince against an undervalued assessment. The verdict comes eight days ...

A special court of Pakistan established under the Official Secrets Act on Tuesday handed both former premier Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi 10 years in jail in the cipher case. The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by Imran. The PTI has long held that ...

Israeli strikes in Syria on Monday killed seven people, including pro-Iran fighters, a war monitor said, in the latest such attack in the country against groups loyal to Tehran. “Israeli strikes targeted a base belonging to Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, killing seven people” including pro-Iran fighters, said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, AFP ...

Saudi authorities have allowed conducting marriage contracts at Islam’s two holiest sites in Mecca and Medina as part of initiatives launched to enrich the experiences of pilgrims and visitors, according to a Saudi newspaper. The initiative was unveiled by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah allowing the well-organised conducting of nuptial contracts with comfort and ease at the Grand Mosque ...

Judge Donoghue says the court has decided that Israel must “take all measures within its its power” to prevent all acts within the scope of the genocide convention. She says it must ensure “with immediate effect” that its forces do not commit any of the acts covered by the convention, reports The Guardian. It must also take immediate measures to ...

Heavy Israeli bombardment of Gaza overnight killed at least 125 people, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said Wednesday, against the backdrop of talks in Cairo aimed at reaching a truce. As the fighting raged, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said Israeli forces had issued fresh evacuation orders for a section of Khan Yunis housing an estimated half a ...

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Sunday at least 25,105 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the war with Israel broke out on October 7. A ministry statement said some 62,681 people were also wounded in the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, reports AFP.

Donald Trump swept to victory Monday in Iowa’s caucuses — the first vote in the US presidential race — cementing his status as the presumptive Republican standard-bearer to challenge President Joe Biden in November’s election. The former president has led polling for more than a year, but the Iowa contest was seen as the clearest insight yet into whether he ...