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11-01-2023 RIYADH: Islam’s annual Hajj pilgrimage will return to pre-pandemic levels this year after restrictions saw the annual religious commemoration curtailed over coronavirus concerns, Saudi authorities say. The Hajj, required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their life, represents one of the world’s largest gatherings of people. Before the pandemic, …

11-01-2023 WASHINGTON: The US justice department is reviewing documents marked classified found in President Joe Biden’s former office at a think tank, the White House says. About 10 of the files were discovered in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center in Washington in November by Biden’s legal team, …

10-01-2023 MEXICO CITY: Joe Biden has walked along the US-Mexico border in Texas to see up close one of his presidency’s biggest issues. He visited a migrant centre in El Paso and joined Border Patrol agents in touring a section of the border wall. The number of migrant crossings has …

10-01-2023 ABUJA: Eyewitnesses said yesterday that the kidnappers that attacked a sub-station of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC in Igueben, Edo State and abducted dozens of Shia passengers and staff on Saturday, struck because the train station was not protected by security men. This came as Edo State Government confirmed …

10-01-2023 SARAJEVO/ MOSCOW: Milorad Dodik, the Bosnian Serb separatist leader, has awarded Russian President Vladimir Putin in absentia with the highest medal of honor for his “patriotic concern and love” for the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Putin is responsible for developing and strengthening cooperation and political and friendly relations …

10-01-2023 CAIRO: A cargo vessel that ran aground in Egypt’s Suez Canal has been refloated, the Suez Canal Authority and a canal services firm said. Leth Agencies said the MV Glory ran aground on Monday near the city of Qantara, in the Suez Canal governorate of Ismailia. The Norwegian shipping …

10-01-2023 TEHRAN: Iran has sentenced to death three people accused of killing three members of the security forces during the protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, the judiciary said Monday. The country has been rocked by civil unrest since the September 16 death of Kurdish Iranian Amini, 22, …

10-01-2023 TAIPEI/ BEIJING: Taiwan condemned China on Monday for holding its second military combat drills around the island in less than a month, with the defence ministry saying it had detected 57 Chinese aircraft. China views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory and has been ramping up military, political and …

10-01-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ : Indian authorities have evacuated hundreds of people from their homes in the Himalayan town of Joshimath in northern Uttarakhand state after buildings in the area popular with pilgrims and tourists developed cracks due to shifting soil. About 1,890 metres (6,200 feet) above …

10-01-2023 JERUSALEM: Israel’s new far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has instructed police to remove Palestinian flags from public spaces, calling the Palestinian national symbol an act of “terrorism”. Israeli law does not outlaw Palestinian flags but police and soldiers have the right to remove them in cases where …