Author: AFP

TOKYO: Japan was battling its largest wildfire in more than three decades yesterday, one of several blazes that have killed one person and forced the evacuation of more than a thousand. Flames are estimated to have spread over about 3,000 acres in the forest of Ofunato in the northern region

BERLIN: Friedrich Merz, Germany’s conservative election winner, began coalition talks yesterday, warning that “the world isn’t waiting for us.” His CDU/CSU bloc secured over 28 per cent of the vote, defeating Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD (16 per cent) and the Greens, while the far-right AfD celebrated a record 20 per

TOKYO: Japan braces for more heavy snow after a two-week whiteout, with the weather agency warning of avalanches and icy roads. Regions along the Sea of Japan, known for heavy snowfall and ski resorts, have seen record snow this month, disrupting traffic and causing fatalities.  The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)

MUNICH: Germany’s conservative frontrunner Friedrich Merz vowed on Saturday to be a “strong voice in the EU” if elected, as Europe grapples with renewed US-EU tensions under Donald Trump. Speaking at his final rally before Sunday’s election, Merz stressed that Europe must “sit at the main table and safeguard our

SYDNEY: China warned Australia yesterday of potential “live fire” naval drills in international waters off the eastern coast, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, as commercial flights were told to steer clear of the area. Beijing described the manoeuvres as training exercises that were “safe, standard and professional” and in line

TEL AVIV (Israel): Thousands of mourning Israelis observed a moment of silence Thursday in honour of four dead hostages returned by Hamas, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denouncing the group as “monsters” for staging a public handover of their bodies in Gaza. Hamas said the remains included those of Shiri

NEW YORK: Artificial intelligence powerhouse OpenAI has seen its weekly active users jump 33 per cent to 400 million since December, the company said on Thursday. The San Francisco-based creator of ChatGPT also reported that its enterprise customer base has doubled to two million paying users since September, highlighting rapid

JAKARTA: Thousands of Indonesians rallied nationwide yesterday to protest budget cuts by President Prabowo Subianto’s government aimed at funding a free-meal programme and other big-ticket campaign pledges. Austerity measures announced by Prabowo in late January sparked thousands of student protesters to rally across Indonesian cities earlier this week, underpinned by