22-07-2021 TEHRAN/ DUBAI: Outgoing President Hassan Rouhani has said Iran opened its first oil terminal in the Gulf of Oman, a move that will allow it to avoid using the Strait of Hormuz shipping route that has been a focus of regional tension for decades. “This is a strategic move …

22-07-2021 MUMBAI: The Mumbai unit of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party is urging Union Home Minister Amit Shah to convert the historic Jinnah House in Mumbai to a cultural centre, The Stateman reported Wednesday. The report, citing a BJP leader, said that the party wants to convert the Jinnah House into the South Asia …

22-07-2021 BEIJING: As floodwater crashed through a busy subway station in China on Tuesday, desperate passengers tried to flee while others were swept helplessly off platforms. In one train carriage, water seeped in and rose from ankle, to waist, to neck-height. Panicked commuters stretched upwards to breathe, while others lifted …

22-07-2021 Bureau Report + Agencies ISLAMABAD/ NEW DELHI: The Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers on Wednesday exchanged sweets at various points along the border on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha, the first time since Pakistani side shunned the custom in 2019. The Pakistani side had unilaterally stopped the exchange …

22-07-2021 WASHINGTON: Taliban fighters have gained “strategic momentum” in Afghanistan and now control about half the countryside as they drive to cut off population centres from the Western-backed government in Kabul, the United States’ top military general said. “This is going to be a test now, of the will and …

21-07-2021 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: More than 4,300 people have died of the deadly “black fungus” in India in a growing epidemic of the disease. India has reported 45,374 cases of this rare and dangerous infection, called mucormycosis, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said. Nearly half of them …

21-07-2021 LAUSANNE (SWITZERLAND): The Australian city of Brisbane will host the 2032 Summer Olympics after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved the recommendation of its executive board. “The International Olympic Committee has the honor to announce that the Games of the 35th Olympiad are awarded to Brisbane, Australia,” IOC President …

21-07-2021 NEW DELHI: Indians have expressed shock and anger after a junior health minister said in parliament that no COVID deaths had been reported due to oxygen shortage. Hospitals across the country ran out of oxygen in April and May during a deadly second wave – there were daily reports …

21-07-2021 Bureau Report CANBERRA/ SYDNEY/ MELBOURNE: Anger is growing in Australia as 13 million people – about half the population – endure fresh lockdowns to quash COVID outbreaks. A third state, South Australia joined Victoria and parts of New South Wales in lockdown on Tuesday. Fewer than 14% of Australians …

21-07-2021 BEIJING: Large swathes of China’s central Henan province were under water on Wednesday, with its capital Zhengzhou hardest-hit after being drenched by what weather watchers said was the heaviest rain in 1,000 years. In Zhengzhou, a city of over 12 million on the banks of the Yellow River, 12 …