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Beat Ford in 1976, lost by landslide to Reagan in 1980 Egypt-Israel peace was top diplomatic accomplishment Iran hostage crisis consumed last 444 days of presidency In 1979, he bemoaned America's 'crisis of confidence' Won 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for peacemaker work Jimmy Carter, the earnest Georgia peanut farmer who as US president struggled with a bad economy and the Iran hostage crisis but brokered peace between Israel and Egypt and later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work, died at his home in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday. He was 100.US President Joe Biden directed that Jan. 9 will be a national day of mourning throughout the United States for Carter, the White House said in a statement.'I call on the American people to assemble on that day in their respective places of worship, there to pay homage to the memory of President James Earl Carter,' Biden said.Carter, a Democrat, became president in January 1977 after defeating incumb...

Air travellers in the UK faced further disruption on Saturday, as fog that has blanketed much of the country in recent days grounded flights and hampered landings and take-offs. Disruption grew through the day at London’s Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, as well as at Manchester and Belfast, according to Flightradar24, which tracks plane movements in real-time.Hundreds of flights were delayed into and out of Heathrow - the country’s busiest hub - and Gatwick, while both each saw more than a dozen departures cancelled, the site reported. More than half of Heathrow’s departing flights were showing as delayed, according to Flightradar24.The same airports also saw disruption on Friday due to the foggy conditions. “As widespread fog continues to affect some UK airports today, temporary air traffic restrictions remain in place at locations with low visibility,” the air traffic control authority NATS said yesterday. It said the restrictions were to maintain safety and that its teams w...

South Korea’s suspended president Yoon Suk-yeol authorised the military to fire their weapons if needed to enter parliament during his failed bid to impose martial law, according to a prosecutors’ report seen by AFP yesterday.The 10-page summary from former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun’s prosecution indictment report, which was provided to the media, also says Yoon vowed on December 3 to declare martial law three times if necessary.Yoon, who was stripped of his duties by the National Assembly this month, is under investigation for his short-lived attempt to scrap civilian rule, which plunged the country into political turmoil and led to his impeachment. Yoon’s lawyer Yoon Kab-keun dismissed the prosecutors’ report, telling AFP it was “a one-sided account that neither corresponds to objective circumstances nor common sense”.As lawmakers rushed to parliament on December 3 to vote down Yoon’s martial law declaration, heavily armed troops stormed the building, scaling fences, smashing wi...

India yesterday announced seven days of state mourning after the death of former prime minister Manmohan Singh, one of the architects of the country’s economic liberalisation in the early 1990s.Singh, who held office from 2004-2014, died at the age of 92 late on Thursday evening at a hospital in New Delhi. He will also be accorded a state funeral.“As a mark of respect for the departed dignitary, it has been decided that seven days of state mourning will be observed throughout India,” the Indian government said in a statement yesterday, with mourning running until January 1.“It has also been decided that the state funeral will be accorded to late Dr Manmohan Singh,” it said, with the national flag fluttering at half-mast on official buildings across the country.India’s cricket team battling hosts Australia in the fourth Test took to the ground in Melbourne yesterday with black armbands to show respect for Singh.India’s main opposition Congress said that the former premier’s body would b...

Japan Airlines' network was hit by a cyberattack on Thursday, resulting in delays to some domestic and international flights.Japanese News Agency Kyodo reported that Japan Airlines 'system network used to check in luggage is under a cyberattack, with at least 24 domestic flights delayed for up to an hour and some international flights also affected.'The company confirmed that it was working to counteract the cyberattack and determine its source, adding that the attack may have a larger effect on its flights.It stated that affected devices have been shut down for investigation, as the company works to restore its systems. Meanwhile, authorities in Tokyo have launched an investigation into the incident source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/697425/international/japan/japan-airlines-hit-by-cyberattack-delaying-flights

From an anonymous office in a New Delhi mall, matrimonial detective Bhavna Paliwal runs the rule over prospective husbands and wives - a booming industry in India, where younger generations are increasingly choosing love matches over arranged marriage.The tradition of partners being carefully selected by the two families remains hugely popular, but in a country where social customs are changing rapidly, more and more couples are making their own matches.So for some families, the first step when young lovers want to get married is not to call a priest or party planner but a sleuth like Paliwal with high-tech spy tools to investigate the prospective partner.Sheela, an office worker in New Delhi, said that when her daughter announced she wanted to marry her boyfriend, she immediately hired Paliwal.“I had a bad marriage,” said Sheela, whose name has been changed as her daughter remains unaware her fiance was spied on.“When my daughter said she’s in love, I wanted to support her - but not w...

An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet crashed on Wednesday in western Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, officials said. The Embraer 190 aircraft that was supposed to fly northwest from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia instead flew across the Caspian Sea and went down near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. The plane's course on Flight Radar showed it flying away from its normal route and then circling over the area where it eventually crashed near Aktau, which is an oil and gas hub on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea.Azerbaijan Airlines reported that 67 people were on board -- 62 passengers and five crew members.The Kazakh emergency situations ministry reported earlier in the day that '28 survivors including two children have been hospitalised.'The Kazakh transport ministry said the plane was carrying 37 nationals from Azerbaijan, six from Kazakhstan, three from Kyrgyzstan and 16 from Russia.'We cann...

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Tuesday that the number of Syrians returning to their country exceeded 25,000 people within two weeks.Yerlikaya pointed out, in statements, that 763,443 Syrians have returned to their country voluntarily, safely and in an organized manner since 2017, noting that the number of returnees to Syria in the last 15 days exceeded 25,000 people.He added that Syrians wishing to return can submit a request through the Presidency of Migration Management website and make an appointment on the same day, noting that those wishing to return to their country can transport all their belongings and vehicles with them.A total of 3,115,844 Syrian refugees are residing under temporary protection in Turkiye, according to data released in early May 2024. source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/697356/international/25000-syrians-returned-home-says-turkish-interior-minister

One of the world’s most active volcanoes sprang into life again on Monday, spewing columns of lava 80m (260’) above Hawaii, US vulcanologists said.Images showed enormous fissures in the caldera of Kilauea, on Hawaii’s Big Island, spraying jets of molten rock into the air.The US Geological Service (USGS) Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the eruption began just after 2am local time (1200 GMT) in the southwestern section of the caldera.“At 4.30am, lava fountains were observed with heights up to 80m,” the agency said. “Molten material, including lava bombs, is being ejected from the vents on the caldera floor up onto the west caldera rim.”The eruption was also sending matter much higher into the atmosphere.“The plume of volcanic gas and fine volcanic particles is reaching elevations of 6,000-8,000’ above sea level ... and winds are transporting it to the southwest.”“The eruption is occurring within a closed area” of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the observatory said, adding that lava fl...

Nasa’s pioneering Parker Solar Probe made history on Tuesday, flying closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft, with its heat shield exposed to scorching temperatures topping 1,700° Fahrenheit (930° Celsius).Launched in August 2018, the spaceship is on a seven-year mission to deepen scientific understanding of our star and help forecast space-weather events that can affect life on Earth.Tuesday’s historic flyby should have occurred at 6.53am, although mission scientists will have to wait until Friday for confirmation as they lose contact with the craft for several days due to its proximity to the Sun.“Right now, Parker Solar Probe is flying closer to a star than anything has ever been before,” at 3.8mn miles (6.1mn km) away, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) official Nicky Fox said in a video on social media on Tuesday. “It is just a total ‘yay, we did it,’ moment.”If the distance between Earth and the Sun is the equivalent to the length of an American football fie...

Mozambique’s largely deserted capital was hit yesterday by skirmishes between protesters and police, AFP reporters said, the day after the ruling party was controversially confirmed winners in recent elections. Police in armoured vehicles patrolled the centre of the city, where hundreds of protesters in small, scattered groups threw objects and started fires.Makeshift roadblocks on major thoroughfares were set alight on Monday evening, covering the city with thick smoke, soon after the country’s highest court confirmed the victory of the ruling Frelimo party presidential candidate Daniel Chapo. Chapo’s main challenger, exiled opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, has claimed the election was rigged, sparking fears of violence between rival party supporters.Shops, banks, supermarkets, petrol stations and public buildings meanwhile were ransacked, with their windows smashed and contents looted.Some were set on fire and reduced to smouldering rubble. “Maputo Central Hospital is operating i...

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said that the Gaza Strip is currently the most dangerous place to deliver humanitarian support.Despite the massive humanitarian needs, it has become almost impossible to deliver even a fraction of the aid that is so urgently required, Fletcher said in a statement.'The Israeli authorities continue to deny us meaningful access over 100 requests to access North Gaza denied,' he added.'In January 2024, the International Court of Justice issued the first set of provisional orders, in the case on the application of the Genocide Convention in the Gaza Strip,' he said, adding 'Less than a year later, the sustained intensity of violence means that there is nowhere that civilians in Gaza are safe. Schools, hospitals and civilian infrastructure have been reduced to rubble.'He also said that North Gaza has been under a near-total siege for more than two months, raising the ...

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday said that tolerating Israel's exploitation of the current situation to seize Syria's territories is absolutely unacceptable, calling on the international community to react against these unlawful actions.During a press conference with head of the Syrian military operations administration in Damascus Ahmed Al Sharaa, Fidan added, 'This is not a time to wait and see. We must take action.' stressing that Syrias territorial integrity is non-negotiable.The Turkish Foreign Minister expressed his support for the Syrian administration in achieving stability, combating terrorism, boosting the economy, and ensuring the return of Syrian refugees to their homes.Fidan pointed out that Turkiye will continue to stand by the Syrian people, expressing his country's readiness to offer full support to the Syrian administration in all areas.For his part, Ahmed Al Shara said that the state will have the monopoly on the use of...

Thousands of selfie-taking Ho Chi Minh City residents crammed into train carriages yesterday as the traffic-clogged business hub celebrated the opening of its first-ever metro line after years of delays.Huge queues spilled out of every station along the $1.7bn line that runs almost 20km from the city centre - with women in traditional “ao dai” dress, soldiers in uniform and couples clutching young children waiting excitedly to board.“I know it (the project) is late, but I still feel so very honoured and proud to be among the first on this metro,” said office worker Nguyen Nhu Huyen after snatching a selfie in her jam-packed train car.“Our city is now on par with the other big cities of the world,” she said.It took 17 years for Vietnam’s commercial capital to reach this point. The project, funded largely by Japanese government loans, was first approved in 2007 and slated to cost just $668mn.When construction began in 2012, authorities promised the line would be up and running in just fi...

Cyclone Chido killed at least 94 people in Mozambique in its deadly rampage through the Indian Ocean last week, the country’s disaster management agency said yesterday, raising a previous death toll of 76.The cyclone, which devastated the French island territory of Mayotte before hitting the African mainland, also destroyed 110,000 homes in Mozambique, officials said.It comes as the southern African nation reels from a deadly post-election crisis pitting the party in power since Mozambique’s independence from Portugal against an opposition crying foul over alleged electoral fraud.After making landfall the storm ravaged the northern province of Cabo Delgado with gusts of around 260 kilometres (160 miles) per hour, pelting it with 250 millimetres (10 inches) of rain in a day.That part of northern Mozambique is both regularly ravaged by tropical storms and wrestling with unrest from a long-running religious insurgency.More than 500,000 of the 620,000 Mozambicans affected by the storm — wh...

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Vanuatu early today, the US Geological Survey said, just days after a deadly 7.3-magnitude quake hit near the same island in the Pacific archipelago. The nation’s main island, Efate, is still reeling from the Tuesday quake, which killed 12 people as it toppled concrete buildings in the capital and set off landslides. The latest quake on Sunday occurred at a depth of 40km and was located some 30km west of the capital Port Vila.Unlike the earlier quake, no tsunami alerts were immediately triggered by the latest temblor, which struck at 2:30am. Mobile networks remained knocked out from earlier in the week, making outside contact with Vanuatu difficult early Sunday.In addition to disrupted communications, the first quake has damaged water supplies and resulted in halted operations at the capital’s main shipping port. The South Pacific nation declared a seven-day state of emergency and a night-time curfew following the first quake, and had ...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed the appointment of veteran Labour politician Peter Mandelson, a former minister and EU trade commissioner, as the next ambassador to the United States. Mandelson, 71, will take up the post “early next year”, Downing Street said, just as US president-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House for a second term.“The United States is one of our most important allies and as we move into a new chapter in our friendship, Peter will bring unrivalled experience to the role and take our partnership from strength to strength,” Starmer said in a statement.Mandelson’s appointment comes amid reported unease within the UK government about the prospects for London’s so-called “special relationship” with Washington during Trump’s second presidency. The US president-elect’s threat to impose blanket tariffs on all imports is a particular concern for Starmer’s new Labour government, which has vowed to boost Britain’s sluggish economic growth rates of recen...

Angry residents of a Mayotte neighbourhood damaged by Cyclone Chido heckled French President Emmanuel Macron when he toured it yesterday, complaining that potable water had not reached them nearly a week after the storm hit the Indian Ocean archipelago.Officials in France’s poorest overseas territory have only been able to confirm 31 fatalities from Chido but some have said they fear thousands could have been killed. Some of the islands’ worst-affected neighbourhoods, hillside shantytowns comprised of flimsy huts that are home to undocumented migrants, have not yet been reached by rescue workers.Macron visited the Tsingoni neighbourhood, where residents sweating in the heat decried a lack of provisions. “Seven days and you’re not able to give water to the population!” one man shouted at Macron. Macron, who had extended his visit to Mayotte to spend more time surveying the damage from the worst storm to hit the territory in 90 years, responded that authorities were scaling up distributi...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged European countries to provide guarantees to protect Ukraine after the war with Russia ends but said these would not be enough without support from the United States under Donald Trump.While the fighting triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion goes on with no end in sight, Western and Ukrainian officials have begun discussing post-war scenarios, prompted in part by President-elect Trump’s pledge to bring the conflict to a swift conclusion.Addressing a summit of European Union leaders, Zelensky welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to deploy troops to Ukraine following an eventual ceasefire.He told the leaders it was “crucial for Europe to make a significant contribution to security guarantees”.“We support France’s initiative for a military contingent in Ukraine as part of these guarantees and call on other partners to join this effort, it will help bring the war to an end,” he told the closed-door meeting, according to a text p...

Tunisian authorities announced Wednesday the recovery of 20 bodies of migrants from sub-Saharan African countries, after their boat sank 13 nautical miles off the coast of Sfax.The authorities said in a statement that the naval units of the Central Coast Guard were also able to rescue 5 migrants who were on the same boat, while combing and searching operations are still ongoing by the naval units to locate the rest of the missing and deal with the incident.Tunisia is considered a transit point for thousands of migrants and asylum seekers to Europe, who mainly come from African countries, south of the Sahara, to set off from its shores towards the European coasts source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/696974/international/tunisian-authorities-recover-20-bodies-rescue-5-migrants-off-sfaxcoast

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed, on Wednesday, the importance of compelling the Israeli entity to impose a strict ceasefire and provide reparations for the damage inflicted upon Lebanon.During a joint press conference with Lebanese Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, in Ankara, Erdogan added that security in Lebanon can't be separated from the region's stability, stressing that peace can't be achieved without a ceasefire and enduring peace in the Gaza Strip.He emphasized that Turkiye will continue its contribution to the unity and territorial integrity of Lebanon to stand up to any attempt targeting its stability.Regarding Syria, Erdogan highlighted that Turkiye will consistently stand with the people of Syria during the period ahead, as it did since the start of the conflict and is determined to provide all essential contributions.For his part, Mikati pointed out that Lebanon highly counts on the critical Turkish role in overcoming the cr...

An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila yesterday, killing at least six people and damaging two reservoirs and a hospital, according to local media and the United Nations.National broadcaster VBTC showed footage of vehicles crushed under the debris of collapsed buildings and boulders strewn across a highway. Drone footage showed landslips near a shipping terminal.Caretaker prime minister, Charlot Salwai, yesterday declared a state of emergency and said a curfew would be imposed for seven days in the worst affected areas. International assistance had been requested.It was a “sad and devastating time” in Port Vila, he said, expressing sympathy to families who had lost loved ones.An official at Port Vila’s hospital told VBTC that six people had died and more than 50 were injured. Rescue efforts to find people trapped in collapsed buildings continued in the evening, a police official told local media.“It was the most violent earthquake I’ve experienced in my 21 ye...

The toll from the devastating cyclone that ripped through the French overseas territory of Mayotte risks rising, the prime minister said yesterday, as the authorities announced a nighttime curfew to thwart looting.According to the latest toll, 21 people are confirmed to have been killed by Cyclone Chido when it barrelled into the archipelago at the weekend.But authorities fear that hundreds, and possibly even thousands, will be confirmed dead once the true scale of the toll is revealed after the rubble is cleared and roads are unblocked.In a sign of the potential magnitude of the tragedy, the Red Cross said it feared more than 200 of its volunteers were missing on Mayotte.Cyclone Chido was the latest in a string of storms worldwide fuelled by climate change, with the exceptional system being super-charged by particularly warm Indian Ocean waters, according to experts.“The toll is uncertain for the moment... The toll is, as of today, at more than 20 dead, 200 badly wounded and 1,500 wou...

Thousands of Georgians renewed pro-EU protests yesterday, vowing to win a “game of nerves” with the government, which faces a legitimacy crisis and mounting international outcry over human rights violations.The government’s decision in late November to postpone the opening of EU accession talks for years has sparked nearly three weeks of daily protests in the EU-candidate Black Sea nation.The move came amid an unprecedented constitutional crisis that saw the country’s president declared newly elected parliament and the government “illegitimate” after the opposition accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of rigging October’s parliamentary polls.Yesterday protesters staged marches at a dozen locations across the capital Tbilisi before several thousand gathered outside parliament for 20th consecutive day.Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze — who had threatened to “eradicate” opposition parties, calling them “liberal fascists” — downplayed the protests, saying an attempted revolution “has fa...

The toll from the devastating cyclone that ripped through the French overseas territory of Mayotte risks rising, the prime minister said yesterday, as the authorities announced a nighttime curfew to thwart looting.According to the latest toll, 21 people are confirmed to have been killed by Cyclone Chido when it barrelled into the archipelago at the weekend.But authorities fear that hundreds, and possibly even thousands, will be confirmed dead once the true scale of the toll is revealed after the rubble is cleared and roads are unblocked.In a sign of the potential magnitude of the tragedy, the Red Cross said it feared more than 200 of its volunteers were missing on Mayotte.Cyclone Chido was the latest in a string of storms worldwide fuelled by climate change, with the exceptional system being super-charged by particularly warm Indian Ocean waters, according to experts.“The toll is uncertain for the moment... The toll is, as of today, at more than 20 dead, 200 badly wounded and 1,500 wou...

Canada’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland quit yesterday after clashing with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on issues including how to handle possible US tariffs, dealing a huge blow to an already unpopular government.In a stinging resignation letter, Freeland dismissed Trudeau’s push for increased spending as a political gimmick that could hurt Ottawa’s ability to deal with the 25% import tariffs US President-elect Donald Trump says he will impose.The resignation by Freeland, 56, who also served as deputy prime minister, is one of the biggest crises Trudeau has experienced since taking power in November 2015. It also leaves him without a key ally when he is on track to lose the next election to the official opposition Conservatives.“The government of Canada is itself spiraling out of control,” Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters, repeating calls for an immediate election.“We cannot accept this kind of chaos, division, weakness, while we’re staring down the barrel of a...

HE Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani sent on Sunday a cable of congratulations to President of the sisterly United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the occasion of his country's National Day. source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/695707/international/prime-minister-sends-congratulations-to-president-of-the-united-arab-emirates