International

25-02-2023 MICHIGAN: A massive winter storm that brought blizzards and subfreezing temperatures to much of the US has left nearly a million households without power. The number of customers without electricity has grown to over 945,000 across five states on day two of the storm – 820,000 in Michigan alone. …

25-02-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ BENGALURU: Policymakers of the Group of 20 (G20) leading economies should focus on helping the world’s most vulnerable people, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said as top-level financial talks kick off near the Indian technology hub of Bengaluru. “You represent the leadership …

25-02-2023 Bureau Report CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE: Australia has exposed and quietly expelled a large Russian spy ring whose members were posing as diplomats, a local newspaper has reported just days after Australia’s intelligence chief revealed that his agency had scored a major counterespionage success. The spy ring comprised purported embassy and …

24-02-2023 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report GUANTANAMO BAY/ KARACHI: Officials from the United States have returned two Pakistani brothers to their home country after holding them for 20 years without charges at the Guantanamo Bay military prison. Abdul, 55, and Mohammed Rabbani, 53, were the latest inmates to be …

24-02-2023 Bureau Report + BBC LONDON/ NEW DELHI: The BBC will not be put off from reporting without fear or favor, its Director-General Tim Davie has said in an email to staff in India. It follows searches at BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai by tax officials. Davie thanked staff …

24-02-2023 OUAGADOUGOU: The body of Burkina Faso’s revolutionary and charismatic leader Thomas Sankara has been reburied alongside 12 comrades at the spot of their assassination nearly 30 years ago. Soldiers and community leaders paid tribute during a ceremony on Thursday at the site in the capital, Ouagadougou, which has since …

24-02-2023 TOKYO: A huge iron ball that washed up on a local beach in a coastal town in Japan has left police and locals confused. For now, authorities have no clue what it exactly is except the fact that it is not something that would explode. Since it washed up …

24-02-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies CANBERRA/ MANILA: Australia and the Philippines are exploring the possibility of joint patrols in the disputed South China Sea, where recent “aggressive activities” by the Chinese Coast Guard towards a Philippine vessel saw Beijing’s envoy in Manila summoned by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “As …

24-02-2023 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: A new report by Crisis Group warns against international donors cutting aid to Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban’s curbs on women’s education and ability to work at NGOs, instead arguing for Western countries to find a “liminal space between …

24-02-2023 UNITED NATIONS/ KARACHI: The World Health Organization (WHO) says one woman dies every two minutes during pregnancy or childbirth, according to the latest data, with too few countries in the world managing to substantially reduce maternal death rates since 2016. The report, Trends in Maternal Mortality, showed that while …