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01-04-2024 VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis has used his traditional Easter message to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and for the return of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The 87-year-old pontiff led Easter Mass at the Vatican in front of thousands, despite concerns over his health. Referring to …

31-03-2024 DAMASCUS/ AZAZ: At least seven people have been killed and 30 others injured after a car bomb went off in a busy marketplace in the Syrian opposition city of Azaz in the northern Aleppo province. Residents and rescuers told the Reuters news agency the blast late on Saturday occurred …

31-03-2024 NEW YORK: Personal information belonging to millions of past and present AT&T customers has been leaked online, including Social Security numbers (SSNs), passcodes and contact details, the multinational company says. In a statement on Saturday, the telecommunication network – the largest in the United States, said a recently discovered …

31-03-2024 BEIJING/ CANBERRA: China has announced it will remove significant tariffs on Australian wine in another key sign of improving relations between the two countries. Beijing imposed taxes of more than 200% in 2020 amid a string of economic blows to Australian exports. That year Beijing targeted Australian coal, barley, …

31-03-2024 DAMASCUS/ BEIRUT: Israel carried out its deadliest strikes in months on northern Syria’s Aleppo province early on Friday and said it killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon, stepping up its campaign against Iran’s proxies in parallel with its war in Gaza. Israel has ramped up airstrikes in Syria …

31-03-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI: India’s main opposition party said on Friday it had been asked to pay an additional 18.2 billion rupees ($218 million) in taxes, which it called an attempt by the tax department to financially cripple it weeks before a national parliamentary election. Calling …

31-03-2024 GAZA CITY: One thousand miles east of Gaza, large blocks of aid are being loaded on to a US military transport plane, its crew silhouetted by the morning sun glancing over the desert landscape around Qatar’s al-Udeid airbase. They push 80 crates into the plane’s cavernous interior, each canvas-wrapped …

31-03-2024 VICTORIA: British Columbia (BC) became the first province in Canada to decriminalize the use of hard drugs as part of its efforts to tackle a deadly opioids crisis last year but the policy is facing pushback, leaving its future uncertain. Every Monday, former Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart would receive …

31-03-2024 PORT-AU-PRINCE: One of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders says he would consider laying down weapons if armed groups were allowed to take part in talks to establish a new government. Groups led by Jimmy Cherizier, also known as Barbecue, are in control of most of the capital Port-au-Prince. He …

31-03-2024 MEXICO CITY: A woman suspected of murdering an eight-year-old girl in southern Mexico was beaten to death after a mob formed from protests sparked by the killing. Violent protests began after the body of Camila Gómez was found by a road near the city of Taxco on Thursday. Footage …