22-09-2020 BEIRUT: An arms depot of the powerful Shia Muslim group Hezbollah exploded in southern Lebanon, sending a new shockwave across the country still reeling from a blast in the capital that killed almost 200 people in August. Lebanon’s official news agency, NNA, said the explosion took place in the …

22-09-2020 By Marwan Bishara (Al Jazeera’s Senior Political Analyst) + By SJA Jafri (Messenger’s Bureau Chief Australia) RIYADH/ JERUSALEM/ WASHINGTON/ ISLAMABAD/ MELBOURNE: As we approach the second anniversary of the state-sponsored assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia continues its retreat, losing direction and influence in the Gulf and Middle …

22-09-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report KABUL/ISLAMABAD/ DOHA: As many as 80 Taliban and 57 more members of the Afghan security forces were killed and hundreds injured in overnight clashes with Taliban fighters across Afghanistan, security officials said on Monday, in the bloodiest day of fighting since government and …

21-09-2020 By SJA Jafri ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI/ MELBOURNE: Bishop John Joseph, 65, one of Pakistan’s most prominent human rights activists, had been campaigning for decades to reform the country’s strict blasphemy laws. On the morning of May 6, 1998, he led a procession to the steps of the court in the …

21-09-2020 GABORONE (BOTSWANA): Toxins made by microscopic algae in water caused the previously unexplained deaths of hundreds of elephants in Botswana, wildlife officials say. Botswana is home to a third of Africa’s declining elephant population. The alarm was raised when elephant carcasses were spotted in the country’s Okavango Delta between …

21-09-2020 TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday said the Islamic republic’s 1980-88 war with Iraq showed the country can defend itself, without directly addressing the current circumstances. “Trying for eight years, doing everything they can, and yet achieving nothing — is there a greater victory for Iran?” …

21-09-2020 AGRA/ NEW DELHI: The Taj Mahal is set to reopen to visitors after a six-month closure, even as the pandemic has accelerated in recent weeks with India set to overtake the US to become the nation worst-hit by COVID-19. India, home to 1.3 billion people and some of the …

Hyderabad Sep 21 (PMI): The president of Markazi Anjuman Matami Gurohaan Syed Najaf Ali Shoukat informs all members of the Markazi Anjuman Matami Grouhaan and people of Shia community that a news published on 20th September 2020 in local Newspaper regarding Markazi Anjuman Matami Grouhaan is baseless and malafide in …

21-09-2020 TEHRAN/ WASHINGTON/ GENEVA: Iran has promised to inflict a “decisive response” against the United States for acting like a bully to adversaries and allies alike after Washington said it would reimpose UN sanctions – without United Nations’ approval. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addressed the nation in a live televised cabinet …

21-09-2020 NINGBO, China: Authorities in China’s northeastern Jilin province have found the novel coronavirus on the packaging of imported squid, health authorities in the city of Fuyu said on Sunday, urging anyone who may have bought it to get themselves tested. One of the packages had arrived in the city …