International

02-01-2022 JOHANNESBURG: South Africa has bid farewell to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the last great hero of the struggle against apartheid, in a funeral stripped of pomp but freighted with tears and drenched in rain. The requiem mass started at 10am (08:00 GMT) at Cape Town’s St George’s Cathedral where, for …

02-01-2022 VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis used his New Year’s message on Saturday to issue a clarion call for an end to violence against women, saying it was insulting to God. Francis, 85, celebrated a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the day the Roman Catholic Church marks both the solemnity …

01-01-2022 BAGHDAD: On the second anniversary of the US assassination of anti-terror icon, Qassem Soleimani, and an Iraqi commander, protesters burned US and Israeli flags before setting fire to a replica of American embassy in Baghdad. Staged in front of Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, the event also marked the second …

01-01-2022 Bureau Report SRINAGAR/ ISLAMABAD: Dozens people have died and injured in a stampede at a religious shrine in Indian-administered Kashmir. The disaster happened around 3am (21:30 GMT) while it was still dark on the route to the Vaishno Devi shrine, one of the country’s most revered Hindu sites. “At …

01-01-2022 SHANGHAI: According to recent McKinsey research, 2021 was a year of transformation: people, corporations and society began to look ahead to influencing their futures rather than just surviving the present. It was the year that premature hopes for herd immunity, an end to pandemic lockdowns, and a return to …

01-01-2022 COLORADO: Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and tens of thousands evacuated in Colorado, United States, after wildfires driven by high winds engulfed two towns near the state capital, Denver. At least one first responder and six others were injured on Thursday, though Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle acknowledged …

01-01-2022 BERLIN: Germany on Friday is shutting down half of the six nuclear plants it still has in operation, a year before the country draws the final curtain on its decades-long use of atomic power. The decision to phase out nuclear power and shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy …

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 …