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07-07-2020 GENEVA/ BEIJING: An apparent outbreak of bubonic plague in China is being “well managed” and is not considered to represent a high risk, a World Health Organization (WHO) official has said. Local authorities in the city of Bayannur in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia issued a warning on …

07-07-2020 KABUL/ ISLAMABAD/ DOHA: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has warned that violence by the Taliban is threatening the country’s peace process, as he briefed the international community on Kabul’s preparations for peace talks with the armed group. Afghan authorities and the Taliban are preparing to engage in the so-called intra-Afghan …

07-07-2020 BAGHDAD: An Iraqi analyst who was a leading expert on the Islamic State and other armed groups was shot dead in Baghdad on Monday after receiving threats from Iran-backed militias. Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on Hisham al-Hashimi, 47, outside his home in the Zeyouneh area of Baghdad, …

07-07-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies LONDON/ RIYADH, MOSCOW: The UK is imposing sanctions on 49 people and organizations behind the most “notorious” human rights abuses of recent years. Individuals implicated in the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009 will have their UK assets frozen …

06-07-2020 NEW DELHI: India has overtaken Russia with the world’s third-highest number of novel coronavirus cases, at nearly 700,000, according to the latest data, as the outbreak shows no sign of slowing. India registered 24,248 positive cases in the last 24 hours taking the tally to 697,413, according to the …

06-07-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ BEIJING/ ISLAMABAD: China has begun pulling back troops from along its contested border with India, Indian government sources have said, following the worst clash between the two nuclear-armed neighbors in nearly 50 years, which left 20 Indian soldiers dead. …

06-07-2020 TEHRAN: The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy said Iran has established onshore and offshore missile cities all along the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman that would be a “nightmare” for the enemy. In an interview with Sobh-e Sadeq weekly, Rear Admiral …

05-07-2020 Bureau Report SYDNEY: Thousands of people have gathered in New South Wales for peaceful Black Lives Matter rallies, calling for racial equality and action against Indigenous deaths in custody. Thousands rallied in Sydney on Sunday and hundreds more demonstrated in Newcastle. The Newcastle protest proceeded with authorization by the …

05-07-2020 By Syed Jaffer Abbas Jafri + Agencies KARACHI/ ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: The Pakistan Electronic Media Authority Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Friday suspended with “immediate effect” allegedly “pro-Shia” television channel 24NewsHD’s licence for “illegal transmission of news and current affairs content”. According to a press release issued by the regulatory authority, …

05-07-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies GENEVA/ LONDON/ HOUSTON: Over 212,000 new coronavirus cases were reported globally by the World Health Organization (WHO) – the highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic. WHO said that it was discontinuing its trials of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine …