International

Thirty-seven people have died after consuming toxic liquor in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu’s Kallakurichi district, around 250km from state capital Chennai. At least 55 others, who reportedly consumed the toxic liquor over the past few days, have been hospitalised. Eighteen of them have been shifted to JIPMER in Puducherry and six to the Medical College and Hospital ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he “appreciates the support” of North Korea, Russian state media reported, during a rare visit to Pyongyang to meet leader Kim Jong Un. “We very much appreciate your systematic and permanent support of Russian policy, including on the Ukrainian issue,” Putin was quoted as saying at the start of a meeting with the North ...

Diplomats on Tuesday said at least 550 pilgrims died during the hajj, underscoring the gruelling nature of the pilgrimage which again unfolded in scorching temperatures this year. At least 323 of those who died were Egyptians, most of them succumbing to heat-related illnesses, two Arab diplomats coordinating their countries’ responses told AFP. “All of them (the Egyptians) died because of ...

Thirteen people have died in flooding and landslides in El Salvador and Guatemala as heavy rains pound Central America, authorities from the two countries said. In El Salvador, the hardest hit country so far, five people died Monday in a landslide in the western district of Tacuba, in the department of Ahuachapan, Civil defense chief Luis Amaya said, AFP reports. ...

Muslim pilgrims converged on a vast tent camp near Makkah called Mina on Friday, officially opening the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Ahead of their trip, they circled the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site, reports Arab News. More than 1.5 million pilgrims from around the world have already amassed in and around Makkah for the Hajj, and the number ...

The annual Hajj pilgrimage officially began on Friday as pilgrims in Saudi Arabia made their way on foot and by bus to Mina, where they will camp at one of the largest tent cities in the world. The Mina valley, about 5km east of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, is a 250-hectare open space covered by more than 100,000 air-conditioned ...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Qatar to push for agreement on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal which currently hangs in the balance after a Hamas response to the latest proposals. Mr Blinken was said to have been up late into the night assessing the text handed by Hamas to mediators Qatar and Egypt. The ...

US President Joe Biden has said he will respect a jury’s decision to find his son guilty of gun crimes, after a week-long trial that laid bare a tumultuous time for the family. The 12-person jury found Hunter Biden, 54, guilty of lying about his drug use on a form while purchasing a handgun in 2018. He faces possible jail ...

The annual hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, will start on Friday with well over one million Muslims from around the world expected to take part, reports AFP. Last year the hajj drew more than 1.8 million pilgrims, according to official figures, after authorities lifted pandemic-era restrictions and scrapped age limits. All Muslims are expected to complete ...

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, its ally the Islamic Jihad group and the rival Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas’s welcomed a UN Security Council resolution backing a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza. In its statement, Hamas said it was ready to cooperate with mediators over implementing the principles of the plan. Hamas earlier on Monday said it was ...