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16-10-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report AUCKLAND/ WELLINGTON/ MELBOURNE: Jacinda Ardern is on track for a second term as New Zealand’s Prime Minister in elections that will take place on Saturday, thanks largely to her handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has helped burnish her image as an effective …

15-10-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE/ SYDNEY: Police on Thursday dropped a lengthy investigation into a journalist who exposed alleged war crimes by Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan. The Australian Federal Police said prosecutors found there were “reasonable prospects of conviction” in the case against Australian Broadcasting …

15-10-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: A collision between two Afghan army helicopters evacuating wounded soldiers in southern Helmand province has left at least nine people dead. Some were members of a highly-trained elite Air Force mission. The incident early on Wednesday in Nawa district was apparently …

15-10-2020 KENYA (NAIROBI): The world’s response to global food insecurity has been “dangerously inadequate”, said Oxfam in a new report. The report, titled “Later Will Be Too Late”, states that in five countries – Yemen, DRC, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Somalia – where severe hunger continues to increase, donors have …

15-10-2020 NEW YORK: Amy Cooper, the white woman charged with filing a false police report for calling 911 during a dispute with a Black man in New York’s Central Park in May, made a second, previously unreported call in which she falsely claimed the man had “tried to assault her”, …

14-10-2020 TOKYO: A Japanese supercomputer has revealed the greater risk posed by the coronavirus contagion in dry, indoor conditions during winter months and that humidity can have a massive impact on the dispersion of the virus’s particles. The finding suggests that the use of humidifiers may help limit infections during …

14-10-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Tens of thousands of people in southern Afghanistan have fled their homes following days of heavy fighting between the Taliban and security forces, officials said, as violence continues to soar despite ongoing peace talks. Taliban fighters launched a series of attacks …

14-10-2020 UNITED NATIONS/ RIYADH: Saudi Arabia failed in its attempt to become a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the next three-year term starting on January 1, while China, Russia and Cuba were elected on Tuesday in a vote that caused an outcry among human rights …

13-10-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: The United States military in Afghanistan has said its forces launched air raids against the Taliban in order to support Afghan government forces amid heavy fighting in the southern Helmand province. Fierce battles broke out in recent days after the Taliban …

13-10-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE: More than 100,000 people have signed a petition by former Australian PM Kevin Rudd calling for an inquiry into Rupert Murdoch’s media dominance in Australia. Murdoch’s company News Corp Australia controls about 70% of the nation’s print circulation. Rudd said a …