International

11-06-2026 TEHRAN/ BEIRUT: Iran has announced that it will stop striking Israel after the countries exchanged fire for the first time since April but a statement from the country’s top military command headquarters warns that it will carry out a “more severe” response if Israel continues striking southern Lebanon. It …

11-06-2026 ABUJA: At least 360 people kidnapped by Boko Haram jihadists from a mainly Muslim community in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno state in March have been freed from a remote mountain hideout. The circumstances of how they were freed are disputed. The army says it had launched an unprecedented intelligence-led operation …

10-06-2026 WEST BANK: Israeli troops killed a seven-month-old Palestinian baby in the occupied West Bank and injured his parents after opening fire on the family’s car, despite it having complied with an order to stop. Soldiers opened fire on Friday on a car carrying the infant and his parents in …

10-06-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI: A major Indian film workers’ union has withdrawn its appeal asking members not to work with Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh after his alleged abrupt exit from an upcoming film. The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) issued the informal ban last month after …

10-06-2026 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: The world’s coastal mangrove forests, which protect millions of people from storms and soak up vast amounts of planet-warming gases are staging an unexpected comeback, scientists find. For decades these swampy trees had been declining rapidly as they were cleared for fish farms and housing but …

10-06-2026 BEIRUT: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has launched an investigation after confirming it attacked a vehicle carrying Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese Army said Saturday’s “aggressive and barbaric” strike had killed a brigadier-general, a captain and a private. The IDF said the vehicle was “moving …

10-06-2026 MOSCOW/ KYIV: Russia says Ukraine has launched an “unprecedented attack” on and around St Petersburg, as the city hosted the final day of an economic forum. More than 140 drones were shot down over the surrounding Leningrad region, governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said, while the city’s governor, Alexander Beglov, urged …

10-06-2026 TEHRAN: Iran is already preparing for the perilous transition from wartime unity to a fractious peace marked by hyperinflation, a 10% contraction in the economy, power cuts and calls for a triumphalist government to end its unprecedented hunting down of dissent. With peace not yet secured, the debates within …

10-06-2026 MADRID: Pope Leo XIV on Saturday called for an end to “polarizing narratives” and “sterile simplifications” on a week-long visit to Spain expected to focus on the divisive issue of immigration. Leo also thanked Spain, whose Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has clashed with US President Donald Trump over Iran …

09-06-2026 By SJA Jafri + Agencies MELBOURNE: After years spent detained in Syria, the freedom of the Islamic State group-linked families who landed back in their homeland of Australia this week was dramatically short lived. Three of the women were swiftly arrested. The fourth was left to confront a frenzied …