Author: AFP

British manufacturing for Aug hits seven-year low

LONDON: Britain’s manufacturing activity slumped last month, in part owing to heightened economic and political turmoil triggered by Brexit, data showed yesterday. The sector was plagued also by the US-China trade war impacting the global economy, according to the IHS Markit UK Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI). The index dived

HK protesters target airport as city mops up

HONG KONG: Thousands of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists blocked some routes to the city’s airport yesterday as the financial hub cleaned up after another night of violent protests marked by fires, tear gas and police beatings. Operators of the Airport Express train said it suspended services yesterday afternoon, while blackclad

Five dead in Texas mass shooting

WASHINGTON: A gunman hijacked a US postal truck and opened fire at random in the US state of Texas Saturday, shooting dead at least five people and wounding many others before dying in a shoot-out with officers. Police identified the suspect as a white man in his mid-30s, but could

Afghan forces secure Kunduz after attack

KABUL: Afghan security forces have cleared Kunduz of Taliban fighters, an official said yesterday, one day after insurgents assaulted the northern Afghanistan city. The multi-fronted attack Saturday saw Taliban fighters try to overwhelm Kunduz from several directions in a bid to capture the strategically important city near the Tajik border.

One dead in knife rampage

LYON: A man wielding a skewer and knife went on the rampage in the French city of Lyon on Saturday, leaving a 19-year-old man dead and eight others injured, including three critically. A police source said the alleged perpetrator was an Afghan asylum-seeker, unknown previously to both the police and

US, Taliban on ‘threshold’ of deal

DOHA: US and Taliban negotiators are “at the threshold of an agreement” to end 18 years of conflict between them, Washington’s top negotiator said yesterday as he concluded their latest talks. The foes have been meeting in Doha to finalise a deal under which the Taliban would give security guarantees

Pepper spray used in pro-Trump parade

BOSTON: US police fired pepper spray Saturday after counter-demonstrators accused them of protecting “Straight Pride” advocates who support President Donald Trump, and refused to let officers re-open a road. The unrest came after the counter-protesters and “Straight Pride” group — considered homophobic extremists by their opponents — staged duelling rallies

Far-right surge expected in German elections

BERLIN: Germany’s far-right AfD party is hoping for strong gains yesterday in elections in two ex-communist states, potentially shaking Chancellor Angela Merkel’s fragile coalition government. The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party has polled strongly in both Brandenburg and Saxony states, part of its eastern electoral heartland. Aside from railing against

US strikes jihadists in Syria

IDLIB (Syria): US forces attacked jihadist leaders in north-western Syria on Saturday, the Pentagon said, in what a battlefield monitor called a missile strike that left at least 40 dead. The US strike came as renewed Syrian regime bombardment of Idlib province killed one civilian in a first violation of

UN chief visits DR Congo’s restive Ebola-hit east

GOMA (DR Congo): UN chief Antonio Guterres arrived Saturday in the troubled east of DR Congo, expressing “solidarity” with a region ravaged by violence and an Ebola epidemic. The secretary general started his three-day tour of Africa’s largest country in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, which is trying