International

31-12-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report WELLINGTON/ CANBERRA: The year 2022 is here in some countries, with the inhabitants of the South Pacific islands of Samoa and Kiribati the first to start the New Year at 10:00 GMT, and New Zealand following an hour later. In Australia, Sydney kicked …

31-12-2021 Bureau Report NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD: Naseeruddin Shah, one of the most highly regarded Bollywood actors, has warned of a civil war in Modi-led India as calls for a genocide against Muslims and ethnic cleansing in India continue to create headlines. “If it comes to the crunch, we will fight …

31-12-2021 Bureau Report KABUL/ BUBAI/ ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s former president has defended his decision to flee the country as the Taliban closed in earlier this year, saying he did it to prevent the destruction of Kabul. The Taliban seized power in August after taking control of the capital. Ashraf Ghani revealed …

31-12-2021 TEHRAN/ VIENNA: Iran has launched a satellite carrier rocket bearing three research devices into space, according to state media, as difficult negotiations over its tattered nuclear deal with world powers continue in Vienna. The reports on Thursday did not say when the launch was conducted, nor what devices the …

31-12-2021 WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden’s first year in office was a rollercoaster, marked by legislative victories and major political setbacks and with midterm elections set for November, next year promises to be even tougher. When Biden was inaugurated this past January, outgoing President Donald Trump’s supporters were still angling …

30-12-2021 Bureau Report MELBOURNE: A motor neurone disease patient, Philip O’Keefe, has become the first person to send a tweet to the world using only direct thought, with the help of a microchip implant that picked up his brain signals. O’Keefe is a 62-year-old man from Australia with amyotrophic lateral …

30-12-2021 RIYADH: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will re-implement social distancing as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus surges across the globe. On Wednesday, the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque decided that worshippers and Umrah performers would have to maintain social distance …

30-12-2021 JAKARTA: A powerful 7.3 magnitude quake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Maluku province in the early hours of Thursday, the United States Geological Survey said in a statement. There were no immediate reports of tsunami warnings, nor casualties or damage. The offshore quake took place around 3:25 am …

30-12-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Al Jazeera NEW DELHI/ BENGALURE: Netizens have reacted vehemently to the Indian government’s decision to change the name of great Muslim poet Akbar Allahabadi, Indian media reported on Wednesday. According to the Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Services Commission (UPHESC), an autonomous authority …

30-12-2021 A mother whose 14-year-old girl was accidentally killed by a stray police bullet in Los Angeles says her daughter “died in my arms”. Valentina Orellana-Peralta was with her mother in a clothes shop on 23 December when an officer opened fire on a suspect. The bullet pierced a wall …