International

25-12-2021 VATICAN CITY: People across the world are celebrating Christmas, one of the holiest times in the Christian calendar. However, for the second year in a row, there are smaller crowds at church services and other events because of the continuing coronavirus outbreak. On the occasion of Christmas, Pope Francis’ …

25-12-2021 LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles police have killed two people, including a 14-year-old girl trying on new outfits, after opening fire inside a clothing store. A stray bullet hit the teen as she was in a changing room with her mother trying on dresses for a birthday party. Police say …

25-12-2021 Bureau Report NEW SWLHI: A water taxi service will be functional in Mumbai from January 2022 to provide hassle-free connectivity between South Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. According to NDTV, the load on the local train services will ease with the help of the water taxi, specifically the Harbour line. …

25-12-2021 NEW YORK: More than 4,500 flights were cancelled around the world over Christmas weekend and thousands more were delayed as the highly infectious Omicron variant disrupted holiday travel. One route, however, was thankfully not affected: Santa was on track delivering presents to children across the globe, air defense officials …

25-12-2021 Bureau Report + Agencies UNITED NATIONS/ KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: The UN is seeking an aid package of eight billion dollars to tackle the humanitarian and economic crisis in Afghanistan in 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting UN officials. According to the UN officials, the latest plan would exceed the …

25-12-2021 Bureau Report MELBOURNE: Victoria has recorded 2095 new COVID-19 cases as the country’s toughest mask rules came into force. There are 397 people in hospital with the virus including 75 in intensive care, and eight more people have died after testing positive to the coronavirus. At least 27 of …

25-12-2021 TEHRAN: Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has fired 16 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles at the close of five days of military drills that generals said were a warning to archenemy Israel. The official IRNA news agency on Friday reported that the names of the missiles fired during the …

25-12-2021 WASHINGTON: In the wake of concerns around surging Covid-19 cases, the United States is waiving of in-person interviews for H-1B and other certain non-immigrant visa applicants, the State Department said. In a bid to reduce the visa wait time, United States is temporarily dropping an in-person interview requirement for …

25-12-2021 Bureau Report + Agencies MOSCOW/ ISLAMABAD: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said insulting Prophet OF Islam (PBUH) does not count as freedom of expression. Insults to the prophet are a “violation of religious freedom and the violation of the sacred feelings of people who profess Islam”, Putin said on …

24-12-2021 ISLAMABAD/ KABUL: A summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), held in Islamabad recently, became a platform to highlight the plight of Afghan people. Envoys from 57 Islamic nations as well as observer delegates participated in the session. It was the first such meeting in Afghanistan that also …