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20-09-2020 (With input from wires) TEHRAN/ GENEVA: The world community should oppose the United States’ use of sanctions to impose its will as a “bully,” or expect to face sanctions itself, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday. Separately, the chief of the country’s elite Revolutionary Guards rejected …

20-09-2020 MINSK: Military trucks and vehicles have rolled into the centre of Belarus’s capital, Minsk, before a planned opposition march, as anonymous hackers leaked what they said was the personal data of more than 1,000 police officers in retaliation for a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations. The protest movement calling for …

20-09-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Almost 11 civilians were killed and more than 10 others wounded on Saturday in twin air strikes on a Taliban base in the northeastern Afghan province of Kunduz, a provincial official said. The Taliban issued a statement accusing Afghan forces of …

20-09-2020 TEHRAN: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief said Saturday that Tehran will avenge the US killing of its top commander General Qasem Soleimani by targeting only those involved, in an “honourable” retaliation. Soleimani, who headed the Guards elite Qods Force, was killed in an American air strike near Baghdad airport in …

20-09-2020 DUBAI/ WASHINGTON: The White House’s recent decision to allow the sale of advanced weapons systems to the United Arab Emirates highlights the deliberate shift in US policy towards the UAE after it signed “normalization” accords with Israel. Why would the UAE want American drones as it already has dozens …

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 …