International

09-01-2023 BEIJING: China has reopened its borders to international visitors for the first time since it imposed travel restrictions in March 2020. Incoming travelers will no longer need to quarantine marking a significant change in the country’s COVID policy as it battles a surge in cases. They will still require …

09-01-2023 TEHRAN: Tehran has been targeting those who support the protesters in Iran by arresting journalists and dismissing lecturers. Even experts who point out violations are being locked away. “We don’t know which of us will be arrested next. We’re very worried,” Iranian journalists revealed in background talks. They avoid …

09-01-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: India’s government expects economic growth to slow in the financial year that ends on March 31 as pandemic-related distortions ease and pent-up demand for goods levels out going into 2023. Gross domestic product (GDP) will likely rise 7 percent in the current fiscal …

09-01-2023 RANGOON: Myanmar’s military government has held talks with three ethnic armed groups on staging elections in areas under rebel control, a spokesman for one of the groups has said. Leaders from the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), United Wa State Party (UWSP) and National Democratic Alliance Army which have …

09-01-2023 JERUSALEM: Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to protest plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government that they say threaten democracy and freedoms. The protesters gathered in the city of Tel Aviv on Saturday, days after the most right-wing and religiously conservative government in the country’s …

09-01-2023 LONDON: Prince Harry has revealed he cried only once over the death of his mother, Diana, the Princess of Wales, in 1997. In a new interview clip promoting the publication of his autobiography Spare, Prince Harry recounts how he and Prince William were unable to show any emotion as …

09-01-2023 NEW YORK: Wikipedia’s parent company has denied claims the Saudi government infiltrated its team in the Middle East. Two international human rights groups said Saudi officials had altered or deleted content on the website. The claims came after Wikimedia carried out its own investigation and suspended 16 users for …

09-01-2023 WASHINGTON/ HAVANA: Ana Montes, among the best-known Cold War spies caught by the US has been released from prison after more than 20 years in custody. The 65-year-old spent almost two decades spying for Cuba while employed as an analyst at the Defence Intelligence Agency. After her arrest in …

08-01-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: The alleged suicide of a television actress has been making headlines in India because of the circumstances surrounding her death and the arrest of her former boyfriend amid accusations of religious manipulation. Tunisha Sharma was found dead on 24 December in a toilet …

08-01-2023 BEIJING: China has suspended or closed the social media accounts of more than 1,000 critics of the government’s COVID-19 policies, as the country moves to roll back harsh anti-virus restrictions. The popular Sina Weibo social media platform said it had addressed 12,854 violations, including attacks on experts, scholars and …