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BANGKOK: This month’s joint US-Thai military exercises in Thailand have drawn criticism from Thais on social media after authorities announced that dozens of visiting American troops would be undergoing their mandatory 14-day quarantine in Bangkok hotels. Some 106 American soldiers will join three separate exercises from Aug. 18 to 30 ...

MANILA: More than 27 million people in the Philippines – about a quarter of the population – will go back into lockdown Tuesday after overwhelmed health workers warned the country was losing the battle against the coronavirus. Since the beginning of June, when much of the country emerged from one ...

DUBAI: The oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Saturday announced the startup of its Barakah nuclear power plant, scoring another first for the Arab world. The announcement, coinciding with the Muslim holiday of Eidul Azha, comes hot on the heels of the UAE’s launch of the Arab world’s first probe to Mars. “UAE ...

DUBAI: Kuwait has banned commercial flights to several countries it said it regards as high risk due to the spread of the coronavirus, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Saturday. The countries include India, Pakistan, Egypt, the Philippines, Lebanon and Sri Lanka, which all have large numbers of ...

ABU DHABI: A United Arab Emirates official urged Turkey to stop interfering in Arab affairs, mockingly referring to the Ottoman empire which collapsed a century ago. The backlash came after Turkey condemned what it termed “malicious” actions by the UAE in Libya, where the two countries support opposing sides in ...

WASHINGTON: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted the “tide is turning” in dealings with China, citing international support for Washington s policies even as he expressed “dismay” at the number of countries supporting Beijing s new security law for Hong Kong. Reflecting rising tensions between the world s two largest economies, Pompeo ...

LONDON: Britain named career diplomat and intelligence officer Richard Moore as the new chief of the MI6 spy service as the West seeks to bolster its defences against hostile espionage from China and Russia. Moore, 57, joined the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in 1987, just four years before the collapse ...

LONDON: Britain on Thursday extended the period of coronavirus self-isolation from seven to 10 days, as fears grew over a surge in cases. The UK’s chief medical officers said scientific evidence now showed that people with the virus have a “real possibility of infectiousness between 7 and 9 days”. “It ...

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested an unprecedented delay to the 2020 election, in which he is currently behind in the polls, claiming that attempts to provide safe voting during the pandemic will lead to mass fraud. “Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” ...

France has opened an investigation after a former Rwandan spy chief, wanted for alleged crimes against humanity, was found in France by an investigative news organisation. Aloys Ntiwiragabo was tracked down by Mediapart to Orleans, a city about 100km south-west of Paris, after the international agencies failed to find him. Ntiwiragabo is ...