International

24-12-2022 Bureau Report KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s Taliban-run administration said on Thursday it had closed universities to women partly due to female students not adhering to its interpretation of the Islamic dress code, in a decision that was condemned globally. Female university students were turned away from campuses on Wednesday and …

23-12-2022 BEIJING: Weeks after China gave up its zero-COVID strategy, the country is witnessing a new outbreak. Concerned citizens are rushing to the pharmacies to buy medicine, while crematoriums across China struggle to cope with the rising number of deaths. This week, Chinese authorities announced another change they would narrow …

23-12-2022 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: The Taliban have arrested five women taking part in a protest in the Afghan capital, Kabul, against the ban on women attending universities. Three journalists were also arrested. Protests are also understood to have taken place in the Takhar province. Guards …

23-12-2022 AMMAN: The outbreak of protests and strikes in Jordan, and some cases of accompanying violence have shed light on the worsening economic situation in the country. Protests against a rise in fuel prices have waned in intensity, but have not yet died out, still occurring sporadically in Jordan’s southern …

23-12-2022 MELBOURNE: The alleged boss of Asia’s biggest crime syndicate and one of the world’s most wanted men has been extradited to Australia and arrested on drug trafficking charges, police said Thursday. Chinese-born Canadian Tse Chi Lop, 59, is suspected of being the leader of an Asian mega-cartel known as …

23-12-2022 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: India has begun randomly testing international passengers arriving at its airports for COVID-19, the country’s federal health minister has said, citing an increase in cases in neighboring China. Mansukh Mandaviya announced the new rule in parliament on Thursday, where he also urged state governments to …

23-12-2022 JERUSALEM: Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Wednesday he had secured a deal to form a new government after weeks of unexpectedly tough negotiations with religious and far-right coalition partners. “I have managed (to form a government),” Netanyahu said on Twitter, minutes before a midnight deadline set …

Russia accuses US of fighting proxy war in Ukraine 23-12-2022 MOSCOW: The Kremlin has accused the United States of fighting a proxy war against Russia after Washington boosted military support for Ukraine and hosted President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a historic visit. Zelenskyy enjoyed a hero’s welcome on his lightning trip …

23-12-2022 KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release, due to his age, of Charles Sobhraj, a French national known as “the serpent” who police say is responsible for a string of murders in the 1970s and 1980s. Sobhraj, 78, is accused of killing over 20 young Western backpackers …

22-12-2022 MOSCOW/ KYIV: Vladimir Putin believes Russia is not to blame for the war in Ukraine, adding both countries are “sharing a tragedy”. During a televised address with senior military officials, the Russian president said he continued to see Ukraine as a “brotherly nation”. He claimed the conflict was “the …