International

11 February, 2020 GENEVA/ NEW YORK/ BEIJING: The coronavirus outbreak poses a “very grave threat for the rest of the world”, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an appeal for sharing virus samples and accelerating research into drugs and vaccines. “With 99 percent of cases in …

11 February, 2020 By SJA Jafri + Agencies WASHINGTON/ TEHRAN: The number of US troops suffering from traumatic brain injuries (TBI) after an Iranian attack on a US base in Iraq in January has risen to 109, according to US officials. The figure is a significant increase from the 64 …

11 February, 2020 Bureau Report SYDNEY/MELBOURNE: Heavy rains in New South Wales (NSW) in recent days have led to hopes that all the bushfires in the Australian state could be out by the end of the week. Since Friday, parts of the fire-ravaged Australian state have experienced their heaviest rainfall …

10 February, 2020 Bureau Report SYDNEY: The Australian city of Sydney has been hit by its heaviest rain in 30 years, bringing flooding and travel chaos and forcing thousands from their homes. The state weather agency said 391.6mm of rain had fallen in the past four days, warning of potentially …

09 February, 2020 By SJA Jafri + Agencies Iran has started the countdown to the launch a scientific observation satellite that is part of a program the United States had previously described as a “provocation”. “Beginning countdown to launch #Zafar_Satellite in the next few hours… In the Name of God,” …

09 February, 2020 By SJA Jafri + Al-Jazeera BEIJING/ SICHUAN: Orders issued by China’s top health authority for the swift cremation of the remains of coronavirus victims at facilities near the hospitals where they died appear to be an overreaction and unnecessary to curb the transmission of the disease, top epidemiologists …

09 February, 2020 By SJA Jafri + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON: The American and Afghan troops have come under direct fire in eastern Afghanistan, and there are reports of casualties. American officials said it is not clear whether militants in Afghan uniforms attacked the US forces in Nangarhar province or …

09 February, 2020 BANGKOK: A soldier has killed 21 people and injured dozens more in a gun rampage in the Thai city of Nakhon Ratchasima. Jakraphanth Thomma on Saturday killed his commanding officer before stealing weapons from a military camp. The suspect continued his attack in a shopping centre, where …

08 February, 2020 SEOUL: Thousands of couples, some in facemasks tied the knot in a mass Unification Church wedding Friday, despite concerns in South Korea over the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. The church founded by Sun Myung Moon revered as a messiah by his followers distributed face coverings to …

08 February, 2020 DUBAI/ NEW YORK: Facebook’s social media accounts were temporarily taken over by a group of hackers on Friday afternoon. The hacking group OurMine posted on the Twitter and Instagram accounts for Facebook and Messenger, writing “even Facebook is hackable”. The accounts have now been restored. OurMine claims …