28-12-2024 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report KARACHI/ LAHORE/ PESHAWAR/ QUETTA/ ISLAMABAD: The ongoing sit-ins organized by the Majlis Wehdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) over the killings in Parachinar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district, have extended across Pakistan, causing significant disruptions. The protests, originally held in solidarity with the people of Parachinar who have …

28-12-2024 MADRID: More than 10,000 migrants died while trying to reach Spain by sea this year, a report released by a Spanish migration rights group has revealed, the most since it began keeping a tally in 2007. On average, that means 30 migrants died every day this year attempting to …

28-12-2024 SANA’A: The Kamal Adwan Hospital’s director said about 50 people have been killed, including five medical staff, in an Israeli air strike on a building near the hospital in northern Gaza. Israel attacked a house overnight in Gaza City, killing at least nine people, the Palestinian news agency Wafa …

28-12-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI: Indian banks’ financial position has stayed robust, marked by the sustained expansion in loans and deposits, while their gross bad loan ratio has dropped to multi-year lows, a central bank report showed on Thursday. Banks’ gross non-performing assets ratio (NPA), or the …

28-12-2024 DAMASCUS: Syria’s new rebel-led authorities say supporters of ousted President Bashar al-Assad have killed 14 interior ministry troops in an “ambush” in the west of the country. They say 10 other troops were wounded in the fighting on Tuesday near the Mediterranean port of Tartous, a stronghold of Assad’s …

28-12-2024 MOSCOW/ BAKU: The Russian government has cautioned against promoting “hypotheses” about the cause of the crash of a Russia-bound passenger plane that killed 38 people in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Some aviation experts suggested that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane had been hit by air defence systems over the Russian republic …

28-12-2024 PANAMA CITY: Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino has denied claims by US president-elect Donald Trump that there are Chinese soldiers stationed at the Panama Canal. In recent days Trump has threatened to take the canal back into US control, accusing Panama of “ripping off” the US by charging high …

28-12-2024 SANA’A/ UNITED NATIONS: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN staff were at Yemen’s international airport in Sanaa on Thursday during Israeli air strikes which are reported to have killed at least six people. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said they were about to …

27-12-2024 DUBAI/CAIRO/ JERUSALEM: The Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel traded blame on Wednesday over their failure to conclude a ceasefire agreement despite progress reported by both sides in past days. Hamas said that Israel had laid down further conditions, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the group of …

27-12-2024 OTTAWA: The Canadian government condemned China on Tuesday for taking steps against two Canadian institutions and 20 people involved in human rights issues concerning the Uyghurs and Tibet. China announced the measures, which included asset freezes and bans on entry, on Sunday. Its targets included the Canada-based Uyghur Rights …