International

19-09-2020 GATES, OREGON: Heavy and intermittent showers were good news for residents of the state on Friday as it helped firefighters subdue the deadly flames further after nearly two weeks of carnage caused by the wildfires. Oregon was especially hard hit by scores of wind-driven wildfires that erupted all at …

19-09-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report LONDON/ MELBOURNE: British Queen Elizabeth-II cannot be arrested and her staff are immune to civil arrest. There is only one person above the law in the UK and that is the monarch, as the Government, police, courts and prison system all act in …

19-09-2020 BEIJING: After a leak from a state-owned biopharmaceutical plant that was manufacturing animal vaccines last year, thousands in north-west China tested positive for a bacterial disease. Health officials in Lanzhou city said 3,245 people had contracted brucellosis, a disease often caused by close contact with infected animals or animal …

18-09-2020 Bureau Report CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE/ SYDNEY: Scott Morrison, the prime minister of Australia, has said his government will increase the number of citizens allowed to return home each week to 6,000 people. Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting on Friday, Morrison said states have agreed to boost quarantine capacity …

18-09-2020 TAIPEI/ WASHINGTON/ BEIJING: China says it is conducting military exercises near the Taiwan Strait to “protect its sovereignty” as a top US official visits Taiwan. The live-fire drills take place as relations between Beijing and Washington sour and the US shores up its support of Taiwan. China regards self-ruled …

18-09-2020 WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS: The President of United States od America (USA) Donald Trump plans to issue an executive order allowing him to impose US sanctions on anyone who violates a conventional arms embargo against Iran, four sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The sources, who spoke on condition of …

18-09-2020 WASHINGTON: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said in a televised town-hall said President Trump has been “totally irrational” in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic resulting in the loss of thousands of lives. “If the president had done his job from the beginning all the people would still be …

18-09-2020 ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that France was being led by an “incapable” president as he stepped up his personal quarrel with Emmanuel Macron. Erdogan and Macron have traded insults for months after finding themselves on opposite sides of conflicts ranging from Libya and parts of the …

17-09-2020 ZUNI CH: FIFA has put the cost of the coronavirus pandemic on football around the world at $14bn in lost revenue. That figure accounts for about a third of the game’s global economic value with the club and national game worth about $46bn worldwide. The pandemic has already led …

17-09-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ DOHA/ ISLAMABAD: Fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban left dozens dead in a restive eastern province as negotiators from both sides pushed ahead with peace talks in Qatar. Overnight clashes erupted in three districts of Nangarhar province when Taliban …