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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 …

08 February, 2020 Bureau Report SYDNEY/ MELBOURNE: The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) is braced for severe wet weather this weekend as downpours ease the bushfire crisis in the region. Severe weather warnings for rain, winds and flooding have been issued for coastal areas of the eastern state. …

08 February, 2020 GENEVA: A record high temperature of 18.3C (64.9F) has been logged on the continent of Antarctica. The reading, taken on Thursday by Argentine research base Esperanza, is 0.8C hotter than the previous peak temperature of 17.5C, in March 2015. The temperature was recorded in the Antarctic Peninsula, …

07 February, 2020 DAMASCUS/ MOSCOW: A passenger plane in Syria was forced to re-route after it was ‘almost hit’ by the country’s missile defence system, Russia’s Defence Ministry says. According to a statement quoted by Russian media, the plane was about to land in Damascus when Syrian anti-aircraft fire responded …

07 February, 2020 Bureau Report SYDNEY: Torrential rain across the east coast of Australia has extinguished a third of the fires in the region – and could put more out, officials say. A wide band of rain sweeping New South Wales (NSW) has put out 20 of about 60 fires …