28-07-2021 RIYADH/ LONDON: Saudi Arabia will impose a three-year travel ban on citizens travelling to countries on the kingdom’s ‘red list’ under efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus and its new variants, state news agency SPA said on Tuesday. It cited an unnamed interior ministry official as saying some …

28-07-2021 KANDAHAR/ KABUL: The arrest of four journalists in Kandahar by the National Directorate of Security, NDS, the country’s intelligence agency, has sparked reactions from watchdog organizations who say the four must be released and the reason for their detention should be made clear. Three of the journalists–Bismillah Watandost, Qudrat …

28-07-2021 KOLKATA/ NEW DELHI:  India’s ambitious railway project to connect a small northeastern Indian state along its border with China to the rest of the country is raising concerns among local forest dwellers and environmentalists. The 45km (28-mile) project, work on which began in 2009, connects Sevoke in eastern state …

28-07-2021 NEW YORK: Thousands of scientists have repeated calls for urgent action to tackle the climate emergency, warning that several tipping points are now imminent. The researchers, part of a group of more than 14,000 scientists who have signed on to an initiative declaring a worldwide climate emergency, said in …

27-07-2021 TEHRAN: People in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province are desperate. Suffering from drought and water shortages since March, they’ve taken to the streets in the last couple of weeks to express their anger with the government and its poor management of water resources. According to official sources, at least four …

27-07-2021 WASHINGTON/ BAGHDAD: President Joe Biden has said US combat forces will leave Iraq by the end of this year, though troops will continue to train and advise the Iraqi military. The announcement came after Biden held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the White House. There are …

26-07-2021 UNITED NATIONS/ KABUL: Nearly 2,400 Afghan civilians have been killed or injured in May and June as fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces escalated, the highest number for those two months since records started in 2009, the United Nations said on Monday. The UN’s Assistance Mission to …

26-07-2021 RIYADH: The Saudi Arabia’s authorities have decided to allow only immunized overseas pilgrims against COVID-19 to perform Umrah form 9th of August (Muharram 1). According to Hani Ali Al-Amiri, member of the National Committee for Hajj and Umrah, the aspiring pilgrims can book Umrah packages and make all the …

26-07-2021 WASHINGTON: Representative Ronny Jackson, the former White House physician-turned-congressman, has claimed that US President Joe Biden has “serious health problems” that will only get worse with time, because of which he will be “forced to resign from office.” Jackson, who served under the tenures of former presidents Barack Obama …

26-07-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KANDAHAR/ KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: More than 22,000 Afghan families have fled from their homes to escape fighting in the former Taliban bastion of Kandahar, officials said Sunday, as authorities arrested four suspected insurgents over this week’s rocket attack on Kabul. Since early …