International

19-03-2022 HELSINKI: Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the fifth year in a row, according to an annual report, with fellow Nordic countries also continuing to rank highly. The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s 10th World Happiness Report, published Friday, found that Finland’s score was “significantly …

19-03-2022 Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON: The number of people in Afghanistan who cannot afford food and other essentials has doubled since the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) takeover of the country in August 2021 as unemployment rises and wages fall, a World Bank survey showed on Tuesday. The Afghanistan …

19-03-2022 WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping are set to speak on Friday as the White House warns Beijing that providing military or economic assistance for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will trigger severe consequences from Washington and beyond. Planning for the call has been in the works since …

AFTER BIDEN ANTONY ACCUESED PUTIN OF WAR CRIMES Rescuers search Mariupol theater rubble as ‘shelling continues’ 18-03-2022 Bureau Report + Agencies UNITED NATIONS/ KYIV/ MOSCOW/ CANBERRA: The United Nations has recorded the deaths of 726 civilians, including 52 children, in Ukraine. UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo says the death …

18-03-2022 Bureau Report KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) established a commission to pave the way for the return of the Afghan political leaders who left the country after the Islamic Emirate swept into power in mid-August. It is called the “Commission Ertibatat Ba Shaksiat Hai Afghan Wa Awdat Anan,” …

18-03-2022 DUBAI/ TEHRAN: A cargo ship named Al Salmy 6 belonging to the United Arab Emirates capsized with 30 crew aboard and sank off the coast of Iran, due to rough and stormy weather in the Persian Gulf. According to Captain Nizar Qaddoura, operations manager of the Salem Al Makrani …

17-03-2022 SANA’A/ RIYADH: Yemeni security forces foiled a terror plot hatched by Saudi Arabia’s spy agencies to threaten security and stability in the capital Sana’a, as Riyadh and its allies maintain a deadly war and blockade against Yemen. The Saudi General Intelligence Presidency (GIP), according to Yemen’s official Saba news …

17-03-2022 TEHRAN: Two detained British-Iranians, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, have left Iran after lengthy prison terms, and third, Morad Tahbaz, has been released from prison on furlough. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed the development on Wednesday after the Iranian media said the British …

17-03-2022 Bureau Report NEW DELHI/ MAHARASHTRA: Almas, a hijab-wearing Muslim student in India, said she would rather not go to college than go without hijab, reported NDTV’s Reality Check. She is one of the students who protested in court against the government’s ban on hijab by the Karnataka High Court. …

17-03-2022 KYIV/LVIV/ MOSCOW: Russia and Ukraine both emphasised new-found scope for compromise on Wednesday as peace talks were set to resume three weeks into a Russian assault that has so far failed to topple the Ukrainian government. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the talks were becoming “more realistic”, while Russian …