International

26-05-2021 WASHINGTON: The U.S. passed another major milestone Tuesday in its race to vaccinate the population against COVID-19. Half of U.S. adults’ more than 129 million people over 18 are now fully vaccinated against the virus, according to data from the US Centre for disease Control and Prevention. The CDC …

26-05-2021 GAZA CITY: Suzan Matar watched the building that housed her eight-year-old business crumble live on television. It was one of the several landmark structures targeted by Israeli fighter jets during its 11-day assault on the besieged Gaza Strip. The nine-floor al-Johara Tower in the heart of Gaza City was …

26-05-2021 BAGHDAD: A protester died Tuesday after being shot as clashes erupted between demonstrators and Iraqi security forces in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, Iraqi security officials and a rights monitor said. Security forces used live ammunition to disperse crowds after protesters began throwing stones, witnesses and Iraqi officials said. The officials …

25-05-2021 Bureau Report BIRMINGHAM/ LONDON/ ISLAMABAD: Councillor Muhammad Afzal has become Birmingham’s new Lord Mayor and was sworn in to be the “first citizen” of the city where he’s lived for more than 50 years now. Afzal, who was first elected as a councillor way back in 1982 from the …

25-05-2021 Bureau Report CANBERRA/ KABUL: Australia has said it will shut its embassy in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Friday, as the withdrawal of international troop’s proceeds. In a statement, Canberra talked of “an increasingly uncertain security environment” in the country. It said Australian diplomats would visit Afghanistan regularly – but …

25-05-2021 GAZA CITY/ JERUSALEM/ MENLO PARK, (CALIFORNIA): After this month’s fighting between Israel and Gaza´s Hamas, Messaging app WhatsApp has blocked the accounts of dozens of Palestinian journalists, reporters said. Shortly after a ceasefire went into effect at 2:00 am on Friday (2300 GMT Thursday) ending 11 days of deadly …

25-05-2021 MINSK/ LONDON: European Union leaders have agreed on a set of sanctions against Belarus, including a ban on the use of the 27-nation bloc’s airspace and airports amid fury for the forced diversion of a passenger jet flying between two EU countries in order to arrest an opposition journalist. …

25-05-2021 BAMAKO: Mali’s interim president and prime minister have been taken to a military base outside the capital Bamako following a cabinet reshuffle on Monday, multiple diplomatic and government sources told media. President Bah Ndaw, Prime Minister Moctar Ouane as well as defence minister Souleymane Doucoure were all taken to …

25-05-2021 JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised a “very powerful response” if Hamas breaks a ceasefire that ended a deadly 11-day bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu made the comment in West Jerusalem on Tuesday during a joint press conference with American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who …

  24-05-2021 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: India has crossed 300,000 coronavirus deaths, the third country after the United States and Brazil to hit the grim figure, as it battles a huge second wave of infections now affecting the poorer countryside. India’s health ministry on Monday reported 4,454 coronavirus-related deaths over …