International

12-01-2023 TEHRAN: One of Iran’s most prominent female activists has described how confessions are forced out of prisoners, in a letter written inside a notorious jail. Sepideh Qolian has been serving a five-year sentence since 2018 after being convicted of acting “against national security” for supporting a strike. Writing from …

12-01-2023 NEW YORK: Normal air traffic operations are resuming gradually in the US after hours of delays, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says. It follows a problem with the system that alerts pilots to potential hazards on flight routes. The FAA had said flights would take off again from 0900 …

12-01-2023 VIENNA: “Terrorism” charges against an Austrian academic, Farid Hafez, have been dropped after documentary revealed the case was based on false evidence and fabricated accusations. In an interview, Hafez said he was relieved to be no longer living in “limbo” more than two years after officers barged into his …

12-01-2023 TEHRAN/ BAGHDAD: Iran has summoned the ambassador of neighboring Iraq to protest against its use of the “Arabian Gulf Cup” name for a regional football tournament as part of a long-standing dispute over the waterway’s name. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Wednesday that Tehran had communicated its …

12-01-2023 BEIJING/ TAIPEI: China has renewed its longstanding threat to attack Taiwan and warned that foreign politicians who interact with the self-governing island are “playing with fire”. A spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said on Wednesday that Beijing was recommitted in the New Year to “safeguarding sovereignty and territorial …

12-01-2023 SANAA: The last upload on Ahmed Hajar’s YouTube channel, which has almost 250,000 subscribers and millions of views, was on December 22. On the same day, Hajar was dragged into a bus in broad daylight on a busy street in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. Witnesses said armed individuals, believed …

12-01-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: India’s government said on Tuesday it has approved three proposals worth Rs42.76 billion rupees ($523.03m) to purchase equipment for its army and navy. The country has long been building and modifying its conventional arsenal as a Sweden-based institute Stockholm International Peace Research Institute …

12-01-2023 MONTECITO: Tens of thousands of people were under evacuation orders in California on Tuesday as the state was ravaged by the latest in a barrage of storms that have left at least 17 people dead. Torrential downpours caused flash flooding, closed key highways, toppled trees and swept away drivers …

12-01-2023 ROME/ SYDNEY: Australian Cardinal George Pell, a leading Roman Catholic conservative and former top Vatican official who was acquitted in 2020 of sexual abuse accusations, died on Tuesday at the age of 81, his private secretary said. Fr. Joseph Hamilton told Reuters Pell died in a Rome hospital on …

11-01-2023 Brussels BRUSSELS: In a study of 13 different breeds, the Belgian malinois was discovered to be the most intelligent dog, reported Daily Mail. By giving 1,000 dogs three behavioral and seven cognitive tasks, researchers evaluated the canines. Tests included determining if the animals could navigate a transparent V-shaped barrier …