05-12-2024 NEW DELHI/ PETRAPOLE: Guards on either side of a border checkpoint between India and Bangladesh scour vehicles and frisk passengers in a hunt for illicit consignments of gold and drugs, as well as food staples such as sugar, grain and even onions. “We caught smugglers in August who were …
Read More »Filipino vessel ‘sideswiped’ by China Coast Guard
05-12-2024 MANILA/ BEIJING: The Philippines says the China Coast Guard has fired water cannon and “sideswiped” a government vessel in the South China Sea. The incident happened near the disputed Scarborough Shoal and Beijing said it acted “in accordance with the law”. The US ambassador to the Philippines condemned China’s …
Read More »South Korean president faces impeachment vote
05-12-2024 SEOUL: South Korean MPs have begun impeachment proceedings against President Yoon Suk Yeol after thwarting his shock move to impose martial law The president had said martial law was needed to protect the country from “North Korea’s communist forces” and to “eliminate anti-state elements” Though he cited North Korea, …
Read More »Namibia elects first female president in disputed poll
05-12-2024 WINDHOEK: Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, from the governing South West Africa People’s Organization (Swapo), has been voted in as Namibia’s first female president after last week’s disputed election. The electoral commission said she had won more than 57% of the votes cast, with her closest rival Panduleni Itula getting 26% but …
Read More »Afghan women suspended from midwife & nurse training
05-12-2024 KABUL: Women training as midwives and nurses in Afghanistan have told media they were ordered not to return to classes in the morning effectively closing off their last route to further education in the country. Five separate institutions across Afghanistan have also confirmed to media that the Taliban had …
Read More »Survival ‘possible’ in no confidence vote: French PM
05-12-2024 PARIS: The French Prime Minister Michel Barnier has said it is “possible” he could survive a no-confidence vote in his minority government. Opposition parties have tabled the motion to oust the former Brexit negotiator after he used special powers to force through his budget without a vote. In the …
Read More »UN failing to bring IS to justice: Nobel Peace Prize winner
05-12-2024 MUNICH: In a courtroom in Munich, Nora sat across from the person who had bought her as a slave, abused her and murdered her five-year old daughter. Nora and Reda were being held captive in Iraq by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in 2015, the year after IS …
Read More »Israeli & Hezbollah strikes test limits of ceasefire
05-12-2024 JERUSALEM/ BEIRUT: The latest exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah is testing the limits of last week’s already fragile ceasefire deal. Hours after Hezbollah fired two mortar shells at an Israeli military outpost on Monday, Israel carried out its largest series of air strikes since the truce came …
Read More »South Korea President backs down from Martial Law order
04-12-2024 SEOUL: South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol says he will lift the martial law order that he had announced in a surprise move. Less than two hours after his martial law declaration, MPs had defied the president, gathering at the National Assembly and voting to block his move. Some …
Read More »Indian police to query Starlink on smuggled drugs
04-12-2024 Bureau Report NEW DELHI/ BENGALURU: Indian police will seek details from Elon Musk’s Starlink, they said on Tuesday, in a bid to hunt down drug smugglers who used its satellite internet device to navigate deep seas and bring meth worth $4.25 billion into Indian waters for the first time. …
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