03-07-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies MELBOURNE/ SYDNEY: Thousands of people have rallied in cities and towns across Australia to back a campaign to recognize the country’s Indigenous people in the constitution in advance of a referendum later this year. The gatherings on Sunday, organized by the Yes23 campaign, were part …

03-07-2023 TRIPOLI: Many observers in Western and Central Africa watched with piqued attention as the Wagner Group mutiny unfolded in Russia, curious about its significance on the mercenary force’s vast operations on the continent. Since 2018 when Wagner arrived in Central African Republic (CAR) to fight off a rebel uprising, …

03-07-2023 NEW YORK: Twitter is limiting how many tweets various accounts can read per day, owner Elon Musk has said, in a bid to discourage “extreme levels” of data scraping and system manipulation. The restrictions, announced on Friday, began to have ripple effects early on Saturday, causing more than 7,500 …

03-07-2023 STOCKHOLM: Reacting to the “despicable act” of the public desecration of a copy of the Holy Quran on the occasion of Eid ul Adha, the Swedish government on Saturday strongly condemned the “Islamophobic act committed by individuals in the country. In a statement, Sweden’s ministry of foreign affairs said: …

02-07-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ PUNE: At least 25 people were killed while eight were injured after a bus caught fire overnight on an expressway in western India on Saturday, police said. The bus was travelling to the city of Pune when it hit a pole and overturned …

02-07-2023 Bureau Report SYDNEY: An inquiry that examined business dealings with China has found the former premier of Australia’s most populous state engaged in corrupt conduct involving another lawmaker with whom she was in a secret romantic relationship. The New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said in a …

02-07-2023 PARIS/ NANTERRE: Nearly 1,000 people were arrested for violence and looting across France as the country braced for more riots ahead of the funeral of the teenager killed by an officer during a traffic stop. Despite the government’s claims that violence had “lessened” compared to previous nights, the interior …

02-07-2023 BERLIN: Muslims in Germany often face rampant discrimination, hatred and sometimes violence in their daily lives, according to a new report commissioned by the interior ministry in Berlin. The Independent Group of Experts on Muslim Hostility (UEM) analyzed scientific studies, police crime statistics and documentation of anti-Muslim incidents by …

02-07-2023 UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council ended a decade-old peacekeeping mission in Mali after the ruling military demanded the withdrawal of the international force battling an armed rebellion “without delay”. The end of the operation, known as MINUSMA, follows years of tensions and government restrictions that have hobbled peacekeeping …

02-07-2023 BONN/ LONDON: The target of keeping long-term global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) is moving out of reach, climate experts say, with nations failing to set more ambitious goals despite months of record-breaking heat on land and sea. As envoys gathered in Bonn in early June to …