Globe Trotting

Us president urges UK to stay in EU

Washington: He said the UK’s EU membership “gives us much greater confidence about the strength of the transatlantic union”.But British Eurosceptic politicians criticised his intervention, saying it was up to Britain to decide. David Cameron has said a referendum on whether or not to remain a member of the EU will be held by the end of 2017.

Top al-Qaeda commander killed 

Arbil: A US air strike in Afghanistan killed a senior Al-Qaeda commander in charge of suicide bombing and two other militants, the Pentagon said on Friday. The attack, which occurred in Paktika province on July 11, killed Abu Khalil al-Sudani, a “high-ranking al-Qaeda operational commander”, the Pentagon said in a statement released.

Ex-Maldives leader’s 13-yr term commuted 

Colombo: Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed has had his 13-year prison sentence commuted to a term under house arrest, his international lawyer said. 

World’s 1st malaria vaccine gets ema nod 

london/Geneva: The world’s first malaria vaccine on Friday cleared one of the final hurdles as it received a positive scientific opinion from European regulators and now awaits approval from the WHO before it could be administered within the next few years across Africa. 

Pak floods, rain kill 19 people; toll reaches 22

Islamabad: At least 19 more people were killed in Pakistan due to floods triggered by monsoon rains, taking the death toll to 22, officials said on Friday. 

NASA’s Earth 2.0 discovery excites China

Beijing: NASA’s discovery of Earth 2.0 has excited Chinese with over 44 million posts on social media about the discovery of a new planet that has a “substantial opportunity” to host life. On China’s Twitter-like microblogging service Sina Weibo, more than 44 million people have read posts with the hashtag #Another Earth#.