International

By SJA Jafri + BBC MELBOURNE/ ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says the country’s Defence Chief of Staff has been shot following unrest in the northern Amhara region. Appearing on TV dressed in military fatigues, Abiy also said several officials had been killed in an attack in the …

By SJA Jafri with PTI inputs MELBOURNE/ WASHINGTON/ NEW DELHI: Mob attacks by violent extremist Hindu groups against minority communities, particularly Muslims, continued in India in 2018, amid rumors that victims had traded or killed cows for beef, an official US report said on Saturday. The State Department, in its annual 2019 …

By SJA Jafri + IRBA MELBOURNE/ TEHRAN: Iran has executed a former defence ministry worker who was spying for the United States, according to a report aired on state-run TV. The worker, named as Jalal Hajizavar, was hanged in a prison near Tehran after admitting in a military court he …

By SJA Jafri + Guardian MELBOURNE/ LONDON: Police were called to the home of Boris Johnson and his girlfriend Carrie Symonds in the early hours of this morning after a heated argument between the pair. A neighbour made the call after hearing screaming and shouting coming from their plush home in south …

By SJA Jafri + AP MELBOURNE/ NEW YORK: A New York-based advice columnist has claimed Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s, according to a first-person account published by New York magazine. The US President has denied the allegations and …

By SJA Jafri + Agencies MELBOURNE/ WASHINGTON: The US called off military strikes against Iran on Thursday night that were approved by President Donald Trump, according to an administration official, abandoning a move that would have dramatically escalated tensions that are already running high between the two countries. The attack, …

By SJA Jafri + BBC MELBOURNE/ NEW YORK/ TEHRAN: Iran “made a very big mistake” in shooting down a US military surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump says. However, he told reporters it could have been the result of human error, saying: “I find it hard …

By SJA Jafri + IRNA Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had shot down a US drone aircraft, further raising tensions between Tehran and Washington and sending oil prices sharply higher. The guard announced on Thursday that its air force “targeted and shot down a Global Hawk, a US spy aircraft, …

  By SJA Jafri + Agencies MELBOURNE/ LYON: Former Interpol Chief Meng Hongwei has pleaded guilty to charges of accepting bribes, Chinese state media reported. Meng – a Chinese citizen – has been under investigation since October 2018. He is accused of taking 14.5 million yuan ($2.1m) in unlawful payments …

By SJA Jafri + Agencies MELBOURNE/ RIYADH/ NEW YORK: An independent UN Human Rights Expert investigating the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has recommended an investigation into the possible role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, citing “credible evidence”. The 101-page report released by Agnes Callamard into the …