18 January, 2020 By SJA Jafri + Agencies FLORIDA/ NEW YORK/ MELBOURNE: Three more alleged members of a US neo-Nazi hate group have been arrested in Georgia, authorities say, in what appears to be a national operation. The arrests came on the same day that three suspected members of the …
Read More »Heavy rains hit some Australia’s blaze-hit regions
18 January, 2020 By SJA Jafri + Agencies SYDNEY/ QUEENSLAND: Heavy rains and thunderstorms have lashed parts of Australia’s east coast, dousing some of its fires but bringing a new threat of flooding to some areas. There have been downpours in the states of Victoria, New South Wales (NSW) and …
Read More »‘Red dust wall’ envelops Australian town
17 January, 2020 Bureau Report QUEENSLAND/ MELBOURNE: As bushfires continue to rage in nearly every corner of Australia, an entirely different sort of nightmare has afflicted the outback town of Mildura in the state of Victoria. On Thursday, just as the sun was reaching its peak, hot, high and heavy winds …
Read More »Khamenei defends Iran’s military over plane disaster
17 January, 2020 By SJA Jafri + Agencies TEHRAN/ BAGHDAD/ MELBOURNE: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has defended the country’s military after it admitted shooting down a passenger plane by mistake. He said the Revolutionary Guard – the elite unit responsible for the disaster – “maintained the security” of …
Read More »Iranian bank to open branch in India
17 January, 2020 TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Bank Pasargad plans to open a branch in India to facilitate bilateral trade between the Islamic Republic and the South Asian country. “We had a good meeting with the prime minister of India and they had a positive view …
Read More »FBI arrests 3-‘white supremacist’ ahead of pro-gun rally
17 January, 2020 FLORIDA/ NEW YORK/ MELBOURNE: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents on Thursday arrested a former Canadian Armed Forces reservist and two other men who are linked to a violent white supremacist group and who were believed to be heading to a pro-gun rally next week in …
Read More »Missing toddler with dog found in Australia floods
17 January, 2020 By SJA Jafri CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE: A three-year-old girl and her pet dog have been found safe and well 24 hours after they went missing in Western Australia’s flood-hit Pilbara region. The girl was lost on Wednesday after wandering off from her home on Noreena Downs Homestead, around …
Read More »Australia records worst air quality in world
16 January, 2020 By SJA Jafri MELBOURNE/ SYDNEY: This summer’s bushfire disaster has already taken 28 lives directly, but countless others could suffer from the health impacts of prolonged exposure to toxic smoke. Medical experts warn the exposure will lead to future health problems in the longer term, with children …
Read More »Saudi air strikes kill dozens more Shia in Yemen
16 January, 2020 By SJA Jafri + Agencies DAMASCUS/ RIYADH: Dozens of more Yemeni Shia Muslim civilians are reported to have died in Saudi led-coalition air strikes that hit a market and an industrial zone in the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib. A monitoring group said Russian and Syrian government …
Read More »Russian gov’t quits after Putin proposes constitutional reform
15 January, 2020 MOSCOW: The Russian prime minister and entire government resigned on Wednesday as part of sweeping constitutional changes that could see President Vladimir Puton extend his hold on power. Putin, in his annual address to parliament, proposed a referendum on amending Russia’s constitution to increase the powers of parliament …
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