04-05-2025 Bureau Report ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military says it has successfully test-fired a ballistic missile as tensions with neighboring India over a deadly shooting attack in Indian-administered Kashmir last month remain high. The surface-to-surface missile, named the Abdali Weapon System, with a range of 450km (280 miles), was successfully tested as …

04-05-2025 GAZA STRIP: A baby girl identified as Janan Saleh al-Sakafi has died of malnutrition and dehydration in the Rantisi Hospital, west of Gaza City, more than two months after the start of Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip, according to a media team on the ground. Meanwhile, Israeli attacks …

04-05-2025 Bureau Report + Agencies CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE: Australian PM Anthony Albanese wins re-election but it is unclear yet if he has a majority, local networks say based on early vote counts. Early results suggest Albanese and his Australian Labor Party benefited from swings across the country away from Peter Dutton’s …

04-05-2025 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD: Last week’s deadly militant attack in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, which claimed 26 civilian lives, has reignited a grim sense of deja for India’s security forces and diplomats. This is familiar ground. In 2016, after 19 Indian soldiers were killed in Uri, …

04-05-2025 JERUSALEM/ WEST BANK: On the night Israeli forces entered Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and began ordering its 20,000 Palestinian residents to leave their homes, 66-year-old Jumaa Zawayda said he would refuse. “My family all left but I told them I had to stay, if Israeli …

04-05-2025 TUNIS: A court in Tunisia has sentenced former Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh to 34 years in prison on a raft of terrorism charges. He is the latest high-profile critic of the president to be jailed as campaigners slam “sham trials” in the country. The 69-year-old is a prominent opponent …

03-05-2025 Bureau Report + Agencies CANBERRA: It’s Election Day in Australia where 18 million voters will determine who the next prime minister will be. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the left-leaning Australian Labor Party is seeking re-election and his challenger is Peter Dutton of the conservative Liberal-National coalition. Cost of …

03-05-2025 KYIV/ WASHINGTON: Kyiv and Washington on Thursday hailed a deal giving the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals as a milestone that a top US official said would strengthen President Donald Trump’s negotiating position with Russia. The Kremlin was silent on Wednesday’s agreement, but former Russian President …

03-05-2025 ISLAMABAD/ MUZAFFARABAD: The government of Pakistan-administered Kashmir has closed all religious seminaries in the region for 10 days, officials said yesterday, citing fears they would be targeted by Indian strikes following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir. Islamabad says it has credible intelligence that India intends to …

03-05-2025 MUSCAT: A fourth round of Iran-US talks over Tehran’s nuclear program has been postponed. Iran said the two countries, along with facilitators Oman, had jointly decided to postpone Saturday’s meeting in Rome for “logistical and technical reasons”. The US said the timing of the talks had not been confirmed …