International

01-02-2022 Bureau Report MELBOURNE: A year-long trial of e-scooters rolled out today in Melbourne streets and they are already proving popular among commuters. The bright-colored scooters have sparked a buzz in the council areas of Port Phillip, Melbourne and Yarra, where the pilot program is being championed. They run at …

01-02-2022 BEIRUT: Lebanon said Monday it had busted at least 17 suspected Israeli spy networks in one of the largest nationwide crackdowns in recent years, with a judicial source reporting 21 arrests. Interior minister Bassam Mawlawi told cabinet that security forces had “clamped down on 17 spy networks working for …

01-02-2022 WASHINGTON: A senior US official said Monday that time was running out for nuclear negotiations with Iran and urged Tehran to agree to direct talks to help forge a deal. Speaking on background, the official said that Iran’s nuclear program was nearing “breakout” toward nuclear weapons capability, leaving just …

31-01-2022 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report KABUL/ NEW YORK/ KARACHI: More than 100 former members of the Afghan government, its security forces and those who worked with international troops have been killed since the Taliban took over the country in August, according to a report by the United Nations. …

31-01-2022 DUBAI/ SANA’A/ JERUSALEM: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) says it has intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired from Yemen as the Gulf state hosted Isaac Herzog on the first-ever visit to the country by an Israeli president. The UAE’s defence ministry said on Monday the debris of the …

31-01-2022 BEIJING: A video of a Chinese mother of eight children locked up in a village hut with a chain around her neck has sparked outrage and shock in China. The video on Douyin, which owns TikTok, was shot by a man who visits the woman, and is visibly shocked …

31-01-2022 DAMASCUS/ JERUSALEM: Syrian air defences have intercepted a barrage of Israeli missiles targeting the vicinity of the capital Damascus, state media reported, citing a military source. The source was quoted as saying the interception on Monday resulted in some material damage, without elaborating on its intended target. Israel, which …

31-01-2022 By SJA Jafri + Agencies KANSAS/ KABUL/ KARACHI: An American woman has been arrested and charged with organizing and leading an all-female battalion of the Islamic State group. Allison Fluke-Ekren, a mother who once lived in Kansas, allegedly trained women and children to use AK-47 assault rifles and suicide …

31-01-2022 OTTAWA: Hundreds of truckers have driven their giant rigs into the Canadian capital Ottawa to protest against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates required to cross the United States border. The so-called “Freedom Convoy”, coming from east and west started out as a rally against a vaccine requirement …

31-01-2022 SANA’A/ UNITED NATIONS: Nearly 2,000 children recruited by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have died on the battlefield, the United Nations says, and the group is sourcing key components for weapon systems from companies in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. In an annual report to the Security Council circulated on …