12-05-2022 STOCKHOLM/ LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday said he had agreed new deals with Sweden and Finland to bolster European security, pledging to support both countries’ armed forces should they come under attack. The agreements, described by Britain as “a step-change in defence and security cooperation”, will …

12-05-2022 WASHINGTON: US consumer price growth slowed sharply in April as gasoline prices eased off record highs, suggesting that inflation has probably peaked, though it is likely to stay hot for a while and keep the Federal Reserve’s foot on the brakes to cool demand. That aspect was reinforced by …

12-05-2022 HONG KONG: Hong Kong police on Wednesday arrested Cardinal Joseph Zen, one of the most senior Catholic clerics in Asia, and four others who helped run a now-disbanded humanitarian fund for protesters, all on charges of “collusion with foreign forces”, a legal source said. Zen, a 90-year-old former bishop …

12-05-2022 By Our Special Correspondent KIRKUK/ BAGHDAD: Iraqi soldiers killed nine Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorists in Kirkuk, Iraq’s northern region, on Wednesday, according to the military. The Iraqi forces surrounded nine militants holed up in a tunnel near Kraw Mountain, some 250 kilometers north of Baghdad, and blasted the …

11-05-2022 Bureau Report + Agencies WASHINGTON/ KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: The United States will take steps to increase pressure on Afghanistan’s Taliban government to reverse some of its recent decisions restricting the rights of women and girls if the group shows no sign of rescinding the actions on its own. “We’ve addressed …

11-05-2022 JENIN, WEST BANK: An Al Jazeera reporter was martyred by Israeli army gunfire in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the Qatar-based news channel said, but the military said she may have been shot by Palestinians as they clashed with its troops. One Palestinian official said Shireen Abu Akleh …

11-05-2022 BEIJING/SHANGHAI, May 11 (Reuters) – China hit back on Wednesday against what it called “irresponsible” comments by the head of the World Health Organization, who described the country’s uncompromising and increasingly painful “zero COVID” policy as “not sustainable.” The policy has placed hundreds of millions of people across dozens …

11-05-2022 WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden is considering executive orders and other measures to increase access and funding for women if the U.S. Supreme Court votes to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, officials and sources with knowledge of the matter said. An unprecedented leak of an initial …

10-05-2022 By Syed Najaf Ali Showkat + Bureau Report MEDINA/ KARACHI/ NEW DELHI/ LONDON/ PARIS/ NEW YORK/ TEHRAN:On 8th Shawwal in the year 1345 AH (April 21, 1925), mausoleums in Jannatul al-Baqi (holy city of Medina) were demolished by King Ibn-e-Saud of Saudi Arabia. The Shia Muslims across the world …

10-05-2022 COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has granted its military and police emergency powers to arrest people without warrants after a day of violence that killed seven people and injured more than 200 and resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the older brother of sitting President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. As …