Category: World

Massive wildfires that engulfed whole neighborhoods and displaced thousands in Los Angeles raged out of control Thursday, authorities said, as California;s National Guard soldiers readied to hit the streets to help quell disorder. Swaths of the United States’ second-largest city lay in ruins, with smoke blanketing the sky with an acrid smell pervading almost every building. A vast firefighting operation continued for a third day, bolstered by water-dropping helicopters thanks to a temporary lull in winds, but new fires continued to spring up. Amid the chaos, looting has broken out,…

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WASHINGTON: All five living US presidents came together on Thursday to pay tribute to Jimmy Carter at his state funeral in Washington’s National Cathedral, offering a brief moment of unity for a divided nation. In historic scenes just 11 days before Donald Trump returns to the White House for what promises to be a turbulent second term, Trump shook hands with former president Barack Obama on the country’s day of mourning. With Carter’s flag-draped coffin nearby, outgoing President Joe Biden and former leaders George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were…

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The Henley Passport Index for 2025 has revealed global passport rankings of every country differing from the data of the previous year. According to the number of destinations they can access visa-free, Henley ranks all the world’s 199 passports. It is based on exclusive Timatic data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In 2025, Singapore and Japan break away from the group of six countries that shared top spot last year to secure gold and silver, respectively, Several EU member states including France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, drop two…

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The Taliban’s foreign office described India as a “significant regional and economic partner” following high-level talks with Delhi, marking the most senior engagement since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met acting Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai on Wednesday. Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that they had discussed expanding relations with Afghanistan and to boost trade through Chabahar Port in Iran, which India has been developing for goods to bypass Pakistan’s ports of Karachi and Gwadar. “In line with Afghanistan’s…

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At least six people were killed and several others injured late on Wednesday in a stampede in southern India after thousands of devotees queued outside one of the most visited Hindu temples to collect tokens for a free visit to the deity. Authorities had set up counters at a school to issue tokens from Thursday for devotees to visit the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple, popularly known as the Tirupati, in Andhra Pradesh state during January 10 to January 19 — a period considered auspicious by the locals, the Indian Express reported.…

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Archaeologists have discovered intact sections of the foundation wall of Queen Hatshepsut’s valley temple in Luxor, along with the nearby tomb of Queen Teti Sheri, grandmother of Ahmose I, the founding pharaoh of Egypt’s golden New Kingdom era. The discovery of more than 1,000 decorated stone blocks on the outskirts of Hatshepsut’s funerary temple above was announced on Wednesday by team leader Zahi Hawass, an Egyptian archaeologist and former minister of antiquities who has been leading excavations at the site since 2022. The 18th dynasty Queen Hatshepsut, who died in…

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LOS ANGELES, United States: At least five people have been killed in wildfires rampaging around Los Angeles, officials said Wednesday, with firefighters overwhelmed by the speed and ferocity of multiple blazes — including in Hollywood. Up to 1,500 buildings have burned in fires that have broken out around America’s second biggest city, forcing over 100,000 people from their homes. Hurricane-force winds whipped up fireballs that leapt from house to house in the upmarket Pacific Palisades area, incinerating a swathe of California’s most desirable real estate favoured by Hollywood celebrities. On…

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SEOUL: South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol will accept the decision of the Constitutional Court that is trying parliament’s impeachment case against him, even if it decides to remove the suspended leader from office, his lawyer said on Thursday. “So if the decision is ‘removal’, it cannot but be accepted,” Yoon Kab-keun, the lawyer for Yoon, told a news conference, when asked if Yoon would accept whatever the outcome of trial was. Impeached Yoon has earlier defied the court’s requests to submit legal briefs before the court began its hearing…

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N’DJAMENA: Gunmen attempted to storm Chad’s presidential complex in federal capital N’Djamena on Wednesday, leading to a violent clash that left 18 attackers and one security officer dead, the government said in a statement. AFP reporters heard gunfire near the site and saw tanks on the street, while security sources reported that armed men had tried to overrun the complex. The government later said 19 people were killed in the fighting, of which 18 were members of the 24-strong commando unit that launched the assault. “There were 18 dead and…

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Thousands of residents, including Hollywood celebrities like Jamie Lee Curtis, Mandy Moore, and Maria Shriver, have been forced to flee their homes as devastating wildfires rage out of control near Los Angeles. The largest blaze consumed nearly 12,000 acres (4,856 hectares) in Pacific Palisades, a picturesque neighborhood between the beach towns of Santa Monica and Malibu that is home to many film, television and music stars. “Heartbreaking, devastating, beyond belief,” Shriver, a journalist and the former first lady of California when she was married to former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, wrote…

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