13-09-2021 PYONGYANG: North Korea says it has carried out a series of successful tests of a new long-range cruise missile over the weekend, as the country continues to expand its military capabilities amid stalled nuclear talks with the United States The Korean Central News Agency said on Monday the cruise …

13-09-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ISLAMABAD: Women in Afghanistan can continue to study in universities, including at the postgraduate level, but classrooms will be gender-segregated and head coverings will be compulsory. Higher Education Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani laid out the new policies at a news conference …

13-09-2021 BAGHDAD: Erbil International Airport in northern Iraq has been targeted in a drone attack, Kurdish security officials said, the latest in a series of similar incidents over the past year. The internal security service for Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, of which Erbil is the capital, initially said three rockets …

13-09-2021 VIENNA/ TEHRAN/ The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog and Iran’s nuclear chief have reached an agreement that will prevent another crisis looming over the prospect of restoring Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), landed in Tehran late on …

12-09-2021 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: India’s renowned media house India Today has launched a new TV channel which will transmit only good and positive content for the viewers. The vice-chairperson of the media house, Kallie Purie, said while speaking to media that the channel, named Good News Today, will feature stories of …

12-09-2021 NEW YORK/ WASHINGTON: The FBI has released a newly declassified 16-page document related to logistical support provided to two of the Saudi hijackers in the run-up to the September 11, 2001, attacks. The document, released late on Saturday, describes contacts the hijackers had with Saudi associates in the United …

12-09-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON/ SHANKSVILLE: The Taliban, who recently announced an interim government after taking control of Afghanistan, have cancelled the inauguration ceremony, according to a member of the Taliban’s cultural commission. “The new Afghan government’s inauguration ceremony had been cancelled a …

11-09-2021 NEW YORK/ WASHINGTON: Twenty years after hijacked passenger jets crashed into New York City’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon outside Washington, DC, people in the United States have come together to honor the nearly 3,000 lives lost on September 11, 2001. Saturday’s ceremony at the September 11 Memorial …

11-09-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON: The UN has condemned the Taliban for what its “increasingly violent response” to dissent, weeks after the group’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan. Taliban fighters killed four people during recent protests, the UN said. Demonstrations have taken place across …

Biden & Xi speak on phone for first time 10-09-2021 BEIJING/ WASHINGTON: United States President Joe Biden and China’s leader Xi Jinping have spoken by phone, ending a nearly seven-month gap in direct communication between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies. The call was confirmed by the White House …