14-08-2021 WASHINGTON/ NEW YORK: Immigration advocates are criticizing US President Joe Biden’s asylum policies, saying expulsions of migrants at the United States-Mexico border and other deterrent measures were “cruel, unlawful and ineffective”. In a letter to Biden and top officials on Friday, more than 100 organizations urged the Democratic president …

14-08-2021 JERUSALEM/ HEBRON: Israeli security forces used stun grenades to disperse a crowd of Muslim worshippers performing traditional Friday prayers outside the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. At least one person could be seen thrown onto the ground and kicked by Israeli forces. It was …

13-08-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON: The Biden administration, struggling to contain the rapid collapse of much of Afghanistan to Taliban forces, on Thursday announced it was pulling most U.S. Embassy personnel out of Kabul and urged American citizens for the second time in …

13-08-2021 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: The Indian National Congress said on Thursday that Twitter has locked the party’s official account, as well as, accounts of 5,000 of its leaders and workers as “selective” action for sharing a photograph of the family of a nine-year-old rape victim, reported NTDV. …

13-08-2021 LONDON: Police in Plymouth have confirmed six people – including a suspected gunman – have died in a firearms incident. Devon and Cornwall Police were called to Biddick Drive in the Keyham area at about 18:10 BST on Thursday. Police said three females, two males and the suspect died. …

13-08-2021 Bureau Report + Agencies BENGALURU/ NEW DELHI: An Indian rocket carrying a powerful earth observation satellite failed to fire fully on Thursday, the state-run space agency said, in a setback for the country’s space program. The satellite, meant for quick monitoring of natural disasters such as cyclones, cloudbursts and …

13-08-2021 SICILY (ITALY): Fires stoked by hot winds tore through southern Italy on Thursday, a day after a monitoring station in Floridia, Sicily reported temperatures of 48.8C (119.8F) – levels some scientists believe could be the highest in European history. Wednesday’s record temperature, which still needs to be verified by …

12-08-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON: Taliban fighters could isolate Afghanistan’s capital in 30 days and possibly take control of it in 90, a US defence official said Wednesday, citing US intelligence. The official, speaking to PMI on condition of anonymity, said the new …

12-08-2021 TEHRAN: The president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, welcomed the enhancement of relations with France on the basis of mutual respect, stressing that the rights of Iranians must be fulfilled in any negotiation. President Raisi on Monday held an hour-long telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. Iran welcomes …

12-08-2021 OTTAWA/ RIYADH: Canada is violating international law by selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, according to a new report by rights groups Amnesty International Canada and Project Ploughshares, which are urging Ottawa to suspend all arms exports to Riyadh. Released on Wednesday, the report, titled ‘No Credible Evidence’: Canada’s Flawed …