International

25-11-2023 NEW YORK/ BEIJING: China is closing, destroying and repurposing mosques, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has alleged in a new report. The crackdown is part of a “systematic effort” to curb the practice of Islam in China, HRW said. There are about 20 million Muslims in China, which is officially …

25-11-2023 AMSTERDAM/ THE HAGUE: Dutch Muslims expressed shock on Thursday at the election win of far-right populist Geert Wilders, who has previously called for mosques and the Koran to be banned in the Netherlands. Wilders and his Freedom Party (PVV) beat all predictions on Wednesday night by winning 37 seats …

25-11-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ A controversial theory that some Hindu groups call “Love Jihad” which claims that many Muslim men are taking part in a plot to seduce Hindu women and convert them has circulated in India for years, despite lack of evidence. Now a reverse theory …

25-11-2023 VATICAN CITY: Jewish groups have criticized Pope Francis and demanded clarifications over his comments that they saw as accusing both Hamas and Israel of “terrorism”. Francis made the comments on Wednesday after meeting separately with Jewish relatives of hostages held by Hamas and with Palestinians with family in Gaza. …

25-11-2023 By SJA Jafri + Agencies ISLAMABAD/ QUETTA/ KARACHI: Pakistan has confirmed that it is charging an $830 fee to undocumented refugees who want to leave the country. The exit fee applies to people who arrived without a visa. In October Pakistan announced that it would deport 1.7 million undocumented …

25-11-2023 BEIJING: Computer chipmaker Broadcom has completed its $69bn (£55bn) acquisition of cloud computing firm VMware, wrapping up one of the biggest takeover deals in the technology sector. The deal was scrutinized by regulators around the world ahead of last clearance from China. There were concerns it could be affected …

24-11-2023 JERUSALEM/ DOHA/ GAZA CITY: Qatar has announced key details of the planned pause in fighting and release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas. An official says the temporary ceasefire will begin at 07:00 local time on Friday and that the first group of 13 hostages will be …

24-11-2023 DUBLIN: Vehicles have been set on fire and shops looted in Dublin after a knife attack that left a number of people, including three children, injured. A five-year-old girl and a woman in her 30s were seriously hurt in the attack after 13:40 local time. It happened on Parnell …

24-11-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies QUEENSLAND/ SYDNEY: Thousands of rats dead and alive have swept up on beaches in Queensland Australia, overwhelming residents. The state has been battling a rat and mouse plague for months now. A surge in the native rodent population has forced the rats to move coastwards …

24-11-2023 MOGADISHU: At a camp for internally displaced people on the outskirts of Baidoa city in southwest Somalia, Halima Abdi, 57, walks through the flooded compound to access her makeshift house. It is partly submerged in the water, which had forced her to leave the previous day. Most of her …