GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, May 11 (AP) — A confrontation between Israel and Hamas sparked by weeks of tensions in contested Jerusalem escalated Tuesday. Israel unleashed new airstrikes on Gaza, killing a number of militants and civilians, while militants barraged southern Israel with hundreds of rockets, killing two Israelis. Since sundown Monday, 26 Palestinians — including nine children and a woman— were killed in Gaza, most by airstrikes, health officials there said

New Delhi, May 11 (IANS): China, on Monday warned Bangladesh of grave consequences if the latter joined any initiatives under the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or QUAD "Bilateral relations with Bangladesh would be substantially damaged if it joins hand with [Quad] initiatives," Radio Free Asia quoted Chinese Ambassador in Bangladesh Li Jiming as saying. Last month, Chinese Defence Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe who called on Bangladesh President Mohammad Abdul Hamid had

London, May 11 (PTI): Britain's Queen Elizabeth II delivered her customary speech to mark the State Opening of Parliament in London on Tuesday, as she laid out the government's legislative agenda for the year with around 30 bills included as part of a reform agenda focussed on jobs and skills. The 95-year-old monarch, who travelled to the Palace of Westminster for her first major event since husband Prince Philip's funeral last month, presented the speech at a COVID-secu

Gaza City (Gaza Strip), May 11 (AP): Israel unleashed new airstrikes on Gaza early Tuesday, hitting a pair of high-rise buildings believed to be housing militants, as Hamas and other armed groups bombarded southern Israel with hundreds of rockets. The conflict escalated relentlessly throughout the day, and Israel vowed that its strikes would only increase. The latest exchange of fire was sparked by weeks of tensions in contested Jerusalem. Since sundown Monday, 26 Palestinians

Washington, May 11 (PTI): Microblogging giant Twitter has donated USD 15 million to help address the COVID-19 crisis in India which is battling the unprecedented second wave of the deadly pandemic. Twitter CEO Jack Patrick Dorsey on Monday tweeted that the amount has been donated to three non-governmental organisations Care, Aid India and Sewa International USA. While CARE has been given USD 10 million, Aid India and Sewa International USA have received USD 2.5 million each. Sewa

KABUL, MAY 11 (IANS): A nine-member Taliban-linked terrorist network has been busted in Kabul, the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) confirmed. "The personnel of NDS conducted an operation recently in Kabul, arresting a nine-member terrorist network. The group had links with the Taliban terrorist group," Xinhua news agency quoted the NDS, Afghanistan's national intelligence agency, as saying in a social media post on Monday. The agency however, did not p

Gaza City (Gaza Strip), May 11 (AP): The Israeli army said in a statement that the chief of staff has called in troop reinforcements in the country's south as hostilities in Gaza press into a second day. Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz has ordered the mobilisation of 5,000 reserve troops to expand the current campaign and deepen home front defence". Israel unleashed new airstrikes on Gaza early Tuesday, hitting the high-rise home of a Hamas field commander and two b

Singapore, May 11 (PTI): Singapore will fail if it allows racism and xenophobia to become prevalent, a senior minister warned here on Tuesday in response to an apparent hate crime incident involving a 55-year-old Indian-origin woman who was kicked and subjected to racial slurs for not wearing a mask while taking a brisk walk to work. Hindocha Nita Vishnubhai, a private tutor, was brisk walking on Friday morning when a man approached her and asked her to pull the mask up from her chi

GENEVA, MAY 11 (IANS): Global cooperation, instead of competition and confrontation, is the only choice to end the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said while addressing the disparity in access to vaccines worldwide. "The shocking global disparity in access to vaccines remains one of the biggest risks to ending the pandemic," Tedros said at a press briefing here on Monday.   According to t

Kathmandu, May 11 (IANS): An expedition team consisting of Bahraini Prince Sheikh Mohammed Hamad Mohammed Al Khalifa successfully scaled the world's tallest peak, Mt. Everest on Tuesday, according to officials. "We have been notified that an expedition team consisting of a Bahrain royal family member has reached the top of Mt. Everest from 5.30 a.m. to 6.40 a.m. on Tuesday," Mira Acharya, director at Nepal's Department of Tourism, said in a statement. The Seven

MANILA , MAY 11 (IANS): Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has placed the country under a state of calamity for a year to address the impact from the outbreak of African swine fever, his spokesperson Harry Roque said on Tuesday. "The country will be under a state of calamity for a year unless lifted or extended as circumstances may warrant," Roque told a televised press conference. The proclamation signed by Duterte demanded all government agencies and local governmen

MOSCOW, MAY 11 (IANS): At least 11 people were killed and 32 others injured on Tuesday in a shooting incident at a school in the Russian city of Kazan, authorities said, adding that a suspect has been arrested. The incident took place at the school No. 175 in Kazan located in the country's Tatarstan Region. A source in the emergencies confirmed to the TASS News Agency that the victims comprised 10 children and a teacher. Two children fell to their death after jumping out o

United Nations, May 11 (AP): The head of a UN team investigating atrocities in Iraq has announced that it has found clear and compelling evidence that Islamic State extremists committed genocide against the Yazidi minority in 2014 and said the militant group successfully developed chemical weapons and used mustard gas. Karim Khan on Monday told the Security Council the team also concluded war crimes were committed by the Islamic State group against predominantly Shiite unarmed cadet

Seoul, May 11 (AP): North Korea has told the World Health Organization that it has tested 25,986 people for the coronavirus through April but still has yet to find a single infection. The WHO said in a weekly monitoring report that North Korea's testing figures include 751 people who were tested during April 23-29, of which 139 had influenza-like illnesses or severe respiratory infections. Experts have expressed skepticism about North Korea's claim of a perfect record in

Bangkok, May 11 (AP): After Myanmar's military seized power by ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, they couldn't even make the trains run on time: State railway workers were among the earliest organised opponents of the February takeover, and they went on strike. Health workers who founded the civil disobedience movement against military rule stopped staffing government medical facilities. Many civil servants were no-shows at work, along with employees of gov

Bangkok, May 11 (AP): Three senior journalists working for a news agency in Myanmar who fled after the military government ordered its operations to stop have been arrested by police in northern Thailand, their editor said Monday. The three work for DVB, also known as Democratic Voice of Burma, an online and broadcast news agency, its executive director and chief editor, Aye Chan Naing, said in an email. Burma is the former name for Myanmar and is still used by some opponents of mil

Beijing, May 11 (PTI): China's population grew by 0.53 per cent to reach 1.41178 billion, up from 1.4 billion in 2019, keeping its status as the world's most populous country, but the numbers are expected to decline from early next year, leading to labour shortages and a fall in consumption levels. According to the seventh national population census released by the Chinese government on Tuesday, China's population in all the 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipa

Hong Kong, May 11 (AP): Hong Kong officials dropped a plan to mandate foreign domestic workers be vaccinated against the coronavirus, after hearing international criticism the move would be discriminatory. Most of Hong Kong's approximately 370,000 domestic workers come from Indonesia and the Philippines, both severely impacted by the pandemic. Hong Kong officials initially proposed the mandate after a foreign domestic worker tested positive for a coronavirus variant in April,

Gaza City, May 11 (AP): Israel unleashed new airstrikes on Gaza early Tuesday, hitting the high-rise home of a Hamas field commander and two border tunnels dug by militants, as Hamas and other armed groups fired dozens of rockets toward Israel. It was an escalation sparked by weeks of tensions in contested Jerusalem. Since sundown Monday when the cross-border fighting erupted, 24 Palestinians - including nine children - were killed in Gaza, most by airstrikes, Gaza health officials

Jerusalem, May 10 (AP): Israeli police firing tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets clashed with stone-throwing Palestinians at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site on Monday, the latest in a series of confrontations that threatened to push the contested city toward wider conflict. More than a dozen tear gas canisters and stun grenades landed in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites, as police and protesters faced off inside the walled compound that surrounds it, sai