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18-12-2024 TEHRAN: Iran’s National Security Council has paused the implementation of the controversial “hijab and chastity law”, which had been due to come into force on Friday. President Massoud Pezeshkian called the legislation “ambiguous and in need of reform”, signaling his intention to reassess its measures. The proposed new law …

17-12-2024 JERUSALEM/ GAZA STRIP: Israeli forces killed at least 50 people in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, including in four attacks targeting schools where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, medics say. The victims included Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed Al-Louh, two other Palestinian journalists and five members of the …

17-12-2024 DAMASCUS/ LATAKIA: Syrian Christians attended regular Sunday services for the first time since the dramatic overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad a week ago, in an early test of assurances by the new Islamist rulers that the rights of minorities will be protected. As the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham …

17-12-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI: India’s Reliance Industries, opens new tab said on Friday it has bought a 74% stake in an industrial area developer, situated in the country’s financial hub of Mumbai, for 16.28 billion rupees ($192 million). Navi Mumbai IIA was renamed from Navi Mumbai …

17-12-2024 BALI/ CANBERRA: The five remaining members of the infamous “Bali Nine” drug ring say they are “relieved and happy” to be home in Australia, after serving nearly 20 years in Indonesian prisons. Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, and Michael Czugaj arrived back in the country …

17-12-2024 JERUSALEM/ DAMASCUS: Israel’s government has approved a plan to encourage the expansion of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move was necessary because a “new front” had opened up on Israel’s border with Syria after the fall of the Assad regime to an …

17-12-2024 MOSCOW: Two Russian oil tankers have been badly damaged in the Black Sea, causing an oil spill, authorities in Russia have said. Footage released by Russia’s Southern Transport Prosecutor’s Office showed the bow of one tanker completely broken off, with streaks of oil visible in the water. Both tankers …

17-12-2024 SAINT-DENIS/ ANTANANARIVO: Authorities in the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte say the number of dead following the devastation caused by a cyclone will definitely be in the hundreds, and possibly in the thousands. Rescue workers are still attempting to reach some communities as they search for survivors. Entire …

16-12-2024 SYDNEY: Australia’s government said on Sunday that five members of the “Bali Nine” drug ring have returned from Indonesia, after diplomatic efforts between the countries this month to strike a repatriation deal. “The Australian Government can confirm that Australian citizens, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, …

16-12-2024 TEHRAN: A court in Iran has sentenced Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh to 10 years in prison after finding him guilty of “collaborating with the hostile US government”, according to his lawyer. Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, the lawyer of Valizadeh, told media that the Tehran Revolutionary Court issued the first-instance verdict …