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13-10-2023 RIYADH/ TEHRAN: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi engaged in a historic telephone call on Wednesday and discussed ways to defuse the tension surrounding Palestine following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The telephonic discussion marked their first direct communication since the …

13-10-2023 WASHINGTON: The White House backtracked a statement by US President Joe Biden saying he had seen photos of Israeli children who were beheaded by Hamas. In an address to Jewish community leaders at the White House on Wednesday, Biden said: “I never really thought that I would see, have …

12-10-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: India’s financial crimes agency has arrested a Chinese employee of smartphone maker Vivo, the firm said. Indian officials have not commented yet but Vivo said it “will exercise all available legal options” on behalf of its employee, Andrew Kuang. Authorities raided Vivo’s office …

12-10-2023 BRUSSELS/ NEW YORK: The EU has warned Elon Musk that X is being used to spread “disinformation” after Hamas’ attack on Israel. In a post on the site formerly known as Twitter, the bloc’s industry chief said “violent and terrorist content” had not been taken down, despite warnings as …

12-10-2023 GAZA: Gaza’s power authority has said the blockaded enclave’s sole power plant will run out of fuel within hours, leaving the Palestinian territory without electricity after Israel cut off supplies in retaliation to the recent attacks by Hamas, the armed group that runs Gaza. Palestinian Energy Authority Chairman Thafer …

12-10-2023 BEIJING/ MELBOURNE: Journalist Cheng Lei has returned home to Australia after more than three years of detention in China. “She was met at the airport by the Foreign Minister Penny Wong,” Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, announcing her release. Cheng Lei, 48, was working as a business reporter …

12-10-2023 Dozens of bodies of Israeli civilians and Hamas fighters have been found among burned-out houses, scattered furniture and torched cars on the grounds of Kfar Aza in southern Israel, just off the fence with the besieged Gaza Strip. The Israeli military took the foreign press through the site on …

12-10-2023 MEXICO CITY: A hurricane described as “extremely dangerous” has made landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Hurricane Lidia hit Mexico as a Category 4 storm, bringing wind speeds of up to 140mph (220km/h) but the storm has weakened after moving inland, with the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) downgrading it …

11-10-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Northwestern Afghanistan Wednesday was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, according to the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ), The centre stated that the quake, which came in a series of jolts that shook similar parts of Afghanistan over the weekend, occurred at …

11-10-2023 NAYPYIDAW: At least 29 people, including children, have been killed in an artillery strike on a displaced persons’ camp in north-east Myanmar, near the Chinese border. The camp is in an area controlled by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), one of several ethnic insurgent groups which have been fighting …