International

15-01-2022 COLOMBO: Apart from looking after her toddler, Maram Khalifa’s days consist mostly of trying to find ways to bring her husband home. Hejaaz Hizbullah, a prominent Sri Lankan civil rights lawyer, has been in prison for about 20 months, under anti-terrorism charges. Prosecutors accuse him of hate speech and …

15-01-2022 Bureau Report KERALA/ KOTTAYAM/ NEW DELHI: An Indian court has cleared a bishop accused of raping a nun between 2014 and 2016 in a case that had shocked one of the country’s oldest Christian communities. Franco Mulakkal, 54, was arrested from the southern state of Kerala in 2018. He …

15-01-2022 WASHINGTON/ PYONGYANG: The Biden administration on Wednesday imposed its first sanctions over North Korea’s weapons programs following a series of North Korean missile launches, including two since last week. The sanctions targeted six North Koreans, one Russian and a Russian firm Washington said were responsible for procuring goods for …

15-01-2022 TEHRAN/ BEIRUT: A high-ranking official of Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement said the West and Saudi Arabia have failed to know the nature of the resistance and the strength of Lebanese people and faith. Hashim Safi al-Din, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council slammed Saudi Arabia for interfering in the …

15-01-2022 VIENNA/ WASHINGTON/ TEHRAN: United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken says there are only “a few weeks left” to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal before Tehran’s advancements will become too difficult to reverse. Blinken spoke on Thursday as negotiations in Vienna between Tehran and the other signatories of …

15-01-2022 CAROLINA: The fatal shooting of an unarmed African American man by an off-duty white police officer under mysterious circumstances has fueled outrage in a North Carolina town, where residents and relatives of the victim protested Thursday night. The death of Jason Walker threatens to catapult racism back into the …

14-01-2022 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE: Tennis star Novak Djokovic is facing deportation after the Australian government revoked his visa for a second time. The Australian government cancelled his visa on Friday, saying the world’s top-ranked men’s tennis player, unvaccinated for COVID-19, may pose a risk to …

14-01-2022 LONDON: Britain’s domestic spy service MI5 has warned lawmakers that the Chinese Communist Party has been employing a woman to exert improper influence over members of parliament. MI5 sent out an alert and picture of the woman named Christine Lee on Thursday alleging she was “involved in political interference …

14-01-2022 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE/ SYDNEY: Australia’s notorious Park Hotel made headlines last week after tennis star Novak Djokovic was sent there when his visa was revoked. The incident shone a light on the plight of more than 30 refugees held there, some of them for …

14-01-2022 PARIS: Iran has sent back to prison from house arrest French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah, her Paris-based support group said Wednesday, a shock development in the midst of hugely delicate talks on the Iranian nuclear drive. Adelkhah was sentenced in May 2020 to five years in prison for conspiring against …