International

20 July, 2019 TEHRAN: There will be “serious consequences” if Iran does not release a British-flagged tanker seized in the Gulf, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said. The Stena Impero’s owners say they have been unable to contact their vessel, which had 23 personnel on board and was “heading north …

19 July, 2019 TEHRAN/ WASHINGTON: A senior spokesman for the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces vehemently dismissed US President Donald Trump’s claim about the downing of an Iranian drone over the Strait of Hormuz, saying such claims are rooted in Trump’s illusions. “Contrary to the false claim rooted …

19 July, 2019 WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has disavowed the “send her back” chants directed at Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar by his supporters at a campaign rally. Ms Omar is a US citizen who emigrated from Somalia with her family after fleeing the country’s civil war. The chants, which came …

19 July, 2019 ISTANBUL/ BAGHDAD: Turkey on Thursday launched an air attack on the Kurdish region in northern Iraq in response to the killing of a Turkish diplomat in the region, the country’s Defence Minister said. The Turkish vice consul to Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region was shot dead on Wednesday in the local …

19 July, 2019 By SJA Jafri MELBOURNE: New Zealand (NZ) Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says one policy is driving a wedge between Australia and New Zealand but Peter Dutton says it’s not about to change. Peter Dutton has rejected suggestions by Jacinda Ardern that Australia’s policy to deport criminals — …

18 July, 2019 By SJA Jafri TEHRAN: Iran’s mission to the United Nations denounced the instrumental and political use of human rights by the West and strongly rejected the “unacceptable” practice of certain Western countries towards China. In a letter released on Thursday, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s permanent mission …

18 July, 2019 WASHINGTON: A bid to launch impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump has been blocked in the US House of Representatives. Texas Democrat Al Green filed the resolution after the House voted to denounce Mr Trump’s attacks aimed at four US congresswomen as racist. But the measure failed …

18 July, 2019 TOKYO: At least 33 people are dead and dozens injured after a man set fire to an animation studio in the Japanese city of Kyoto, officials say. Police said the 41-year-old suspect broke into the Kyoto Animation studio on Thursday morning and sprayed petrol before igniting it. …

18 July, 2019 TEHRAN: Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has released details of its recent capturing of a foreign tanker smuggling one million liters of Iranian fuel near the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. A local IRGC naval command post published the details in a statement, which …

18 July, 2019 By SJA Jafri + Agencies BEIRUT/ BEIJING: Last week, 22 mostly Western countries launched the world’s first major collective challenge to China’s crackdown on Uyghur Muslims and other minorities. In a joint statement to the High Commissioner of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, the nations criticized Beijing for what …