International

23-01-2021 PENTAGON/ WASHINGTON:  The former Army general Lloyd Austin made history when he was confirmed by the US Senate as America’s first Black Defence Secretary. The development came a day after Congress handed over Austin a special waiver to hold the post, which is required for any Defence Secretary who …

23-01-2021 BEIJING/ DUBAI/ TEHRAN/ WASHINGTON: China has passed a law that for the first time explicitly allows its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels, a move that could make the contested South China Sea and nearby waters more choppy. The Coast Guard Law passed on Friday empowers it to …

22-01-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies BAGHDAD/ KABUL/ KARACHI: The real and genuine Taliban (Wahabis/ Takfiris/ Daesh/ Islamic State/ IS) those were prepared, created, trained, introduced and finally launched during the Afghan Jihad in 1979 (that is not only continued till today in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Damascus, …

22-01-2021 Bureau Report MELBOURNE: Google has threatened to remove its search engine from Australia over the nation’s attempt to make the tech giant share royalties with news publishers. Australia is introducing a landmark law to make Google, Facebook and potentially other tech companies pay media outlets for their news content. …

22-01-2021 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: The Indian foreign secretary has said that the government has cleared commercial exports of COVID-19 vaccines, with the first consignments to be shipped to Brazil and Morocco on Friday. The shots developed by UK-based drugmaker AstraZeneca and Oxford University are being manufactured at the Serum Institute …

21-01-2021 BEIJING: Chinese Scientists have developed a new gene therapy that showed some reversal effects of ageing in mice and extend their lifespans. However, scientists presume that the findings may one day contribute to similar treatment for humans. The method, detailed in a paper in the Science Translational Medicine journal …

21-01-2021 Bureau Report NEW DELHI/ PUNE: A big fire has broken out at a plant being built for the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s biggest vaccine maker, but it will not affect the production of coronavirus vaccines, a source close to the firm said. Television channels showed a …

21-01-2021 BAGHDAD: A rare twin suicide bombing killed at least 32 people and wounded 83 others on a bustling commercial street in the heart of Baghdad on Thursday, the military said, rupturing months of relative calm. Brigadier General Hazem al-Azzawi, the director of Baghdad Operations Command, told the Iraq News …

21-01-2021 WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has begun to undo some of Donald Trump’s key policies, hours after being sworn in. “There is no time to waste when it comes to tackling the crises we face, “he tweeted as he headed” to the White House following his inauguration. President Biden signed …

20-01-2021 CAPITOL HILL/ WASHINGTON: Joe Biden has been sworn in as president of the United States, entering the White House at a time of deep division in the country. Raising his right hand and placing his left on a bible, Biden took the oath of office on Wednesday during a …