06-12-2022 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: At least seven people were killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday when a blast hit a vehicle carrying oil workers in the northern province of Balkh, while another blast in the eastern city of Jalalabad injured six people. “Today at around 7am …
Read More »‘Tech layoffs won’t destroy American dreams of Indians’
06-12-2022 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ WASHINGTON: Many Indians who work on temporary visas in the US are facing an uncertain future after mass layoffs at big tech firms. Surbhi Gupta, who lost her job at Meta, tells her story of in her own words. It was my mum’s …
Read More »Blinken warns Netanyahu on annexation
06-12-2022 WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed Sunday to oppose Israeli settlements or annexation in the West Bank, but promised to judge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s incoming government by actions and not personalities. Netanyahu is expected within days to return to power after sealing a coalition deal with …
Read More »Indonesia evacuates villagers as volcano erupts on Java Island
06-12-2022 JAKARTA: A volcano erupted in Indonesia on Sunday spewing a cloud of ash 15 km into the sky and forcing the evacuation of nearly 2,000 people, authorities said, as they issued their highest warning for the area in the east of Java Island. There were no immediate reports of …
Read More »G7 price cap on Russian oil kicks in
06-12-2022 BAVARIAN ALPS, GERMANY: The price cap on Russian seaborne oil agreed upon by the European Union, the G7 and Australia has come into force. The cap of $60 per barrel, which took effect on Monday, is aimed at limiting Russia’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine while making …
Read More »Newcomers win Nepal poll, vows to ‘change political discourse’
06-12-2022 KATHMANDU: Biraj Bhakta Shrestha had just stepped out of his teens in the early 2000s and used to spend his time busking out at what is popularly known as Freak Street in Nepal’s capital. With a guitar in his hand, he would pick a spot on the street of …
Read More »Saudi Prince seeks Mideast leadership, independence with Xi’s visit
06-12-2022 RIYADH: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hosts China’s leader this week at a delicate moment in US-Saudi ties, signaling Riyadh’s resolve to navigate a polarized global order regardless of the wishes of its Western allies, analysts said. The ruler of the oil giant has made a comeback on the …
Read More »India plans federal oversight of all real-money online games
05-12-2022 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: India’s planned regulation of online gaming will apply to all real-money games after the prime minister’s office overruled a proposal to only regulate games of skill and leave out games of chance, according to a government document and three sources. The much-awaited regulations are seen …
Read More »Indonesia set to ban sex outside marriage
05-12-2022 JAKARTA: Indonesia’s parliament is expected to pass a new criminal law this month that will punish sex outside marriage with imprisonment of up to a year. Bambang Wuryanto, a politician involved in the draft, said the code could be passed as early as next week. The law, if passed, …
Read More »CNN fires hundreds of employees amid economic uncertainty
05-12-2022 WASHINGTON: International news network CNN bade farewell to hundreds of employees on Thursday amid what the outlet called “the deepest cuts to the organization in years.” The fairly new CEO of the network, Chris Licht, who took over in May, said in an all-staff memo that the layoffs were …
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