07-02-2023 CITY OF VICTORIA: The trial for the largest national security case in Hong Kong has begun, with some 47 people accused of “subversion” for holding an unofficial primary election. They include some of the city’s most prominent pro-democracy figures, such as activists Joshua Wong and Benny Tai. Most of …

07-02-2023 BEIJING: The Chinese government has admitted a balloon spotted over Latin America on Friday is from China but claimed it is intended for civilian use. Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the aircraft had deviated from its route, having been blown off course. A similar balloon was shot down …

06-02-2023 ISTANBUL/ DAMASCUS: A major earthquake of struck southeastern Turkey and northwest Syria, killing more than 1,400 people and injuring hundreds in both countries as buildings collapsed across the region, triggering searches for survivors in the rubble. The earthquake hit near the Turkish city of Gaziantep at 4:17am local time …

06-02-2023 BAGHDAD: Iraqis are protesting to demand a law against domestic violence, days after a YouTuber was strangled by her father in a killing that sparked outrage. Tiba al-Ali, 22, was killed by her father on January 31 in the southern province of Diwaniyah, Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan said, …

06-02-2023 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report ISLAMABAD/ NEW DELHI/ DUBAI: In 2001, Pervez Musharraf believed the time had come to “turn over a new leaf” in rebuilding the broken relationship between India and Pakistan. The nuclear-armed rivals had fought two wars and a limited conflict over the disputed region …

06-02-2023 KYIV: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that the situation on the eastern front line was getting tougher, with Russia throwing more and more troops into battle to break down Ukrainian defences. Zelenskyy’s comments on Saturday came as shelling continued in the eastern Donetsk region while an accident at …

06-02-2023 JERUSALEM/ MOSCOW: Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says he received a promise from Russian President Vladimir Putin that he will not kill his Ukrainian counterpart. Bennett emerged as an unlikely intermediary in the early days of Russia’s 11-month war with Ukraine, becoming one of the few leaders to …

06-02-2023 LONDON: A UK family will publicly apologies to the people of the Caribbean island of Grenada, where its ancestors had more than 1,000 slaves in the 19th Century. The aristocratic Trevelyan family, who owned six sugar plantations in Grenada, will also pay reparations. BBC reporter Laura Trevelyan, a family …

06-02-2023 WORCESTER/ MASSACHUSETTS: A dangerous combination of record-setting cold temperatures and powerful winds buffeted the northeastern United States on Saturday, creating life-threatening conditions and causing the death of an infant in Massachusetts. New Hampshire’s Mount Washington overnight recorded a wind chill, a measure of how the combined effect of air …

06-02-2023 TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader has pardoned or allowed a reduction in jail sentences for “tens of thousands” of prisoners including some arrested in recent anti-government protests. The pardons approved on Sunday by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came with conditions, according to details announced in state media reports, which said the …