07-03-2023 LARISSA: Relatives of those killed in Greece’s worst-ever train accident stood in silence at the Larissa General Hospital amphitheater, normally used for doctors’ seminars. As they listened to the deputy health minister tell them how they were to give DNA samples that would be used to match the DNA …

07-03-2023 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: Hundreds of women in two north Indian towns have celebrated Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, by playfully hitting men with wooden sticks in response to their “teasing” as part of a ritual. After two years of subdued revelry due to COVID-19, the Holi celebrations …

07-03-2023 TAIPEI CITY: Taiwan must be on alert this year for a “sudden entry” by the Chinese military into areas close to its territory as tensions rise across the Taiwan Strait, its defence minister warned. China has stepped up its military activities around Taiwan in recent years, including almost daily …

06-03-2023 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report QUETTA/ KARACHI: A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle has rammed into a police truck in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, martyring at least nine soldiers and wounding another 13. Agha Samiullah, the deputy commissioner of Balochistan’s Kachhi district, told media the attack took …

06-03-2023 TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called for the perpetrators of schoolgirl poisonings to be punished as attacks spread across the country. Speaking on the sidelines of an annual tree-planting ceremony on Monday, Khamenei said the poisonings are a “major and an unforgiveable crime” and the perpetrators …

06-03-2023 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s media regulator has banned television channels from broadcasting speeches and news conferences by Imran Khan, accusing the former prime minister of attacking the state’s institutions and promoting hatred. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) imposed the ban late on Sunday …

06-03-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Male students trickled back to their classes Monday after Afghan universities reopened following a winter break but women remain barred by Taliban authorities. The university ban is one of several restrictions imposed on women since the Taliban stormed back to power in August …

06-03-2023 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: Officers have arrived at the residence of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in a bid to arrest him in a case related to the purchase and sale of gifts. In a series of tweets on Sunday, the police said Khan was …

06-03-2023 TEHRAN: Iran and the UN nuclear agency issued a joint statement after Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi’s trip to Tehran, agreeing on closer cooperation to settle the outstanding issues pertaining to the Safeguards Agreement. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and the UN …

06-03-2023 DOHA/ DAMASCUS: Qatar’s emir says he was puzzled by the delay in delivering aid to victims in Syria of last month’s earthquake, adding that it was wrong to abuse humanitarian aid for political purposes. Qatar was among several regional states that backed rebels in Syria’s civil war, which has …