21-06-2021 JERUSALEM/ TEHRAN: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has condemned the new Iranian president as a “hangman”, describing Ebrahim Raisi’s election win as a final “wake up” call for world powers before returning to a nuclear agreement with Tehran. Bennett made the comments on Sunday as he opened his first …
Read More »Afghan President Ghani to meet Biden as violence surges
21-06-2021 Bureau Report KABUL/ ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and the chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah at the White House on Friday to discuss the US troop withdrawal amid a surge in fighting between Afghan forces and the …
Read More »Dozens dead as Tropical Storm lashes southeast America
21-06-2021 ALABAMA: Dozens of people have been killed as Tropical Depression Claudette swept across the southeastern US, causing flash flooding and spurring tornadoes that destroyed dozens of homes. Ten people, including nine children, were killed Saturday in a 15-vehicle crash about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Montgomery on Interstate …
Read More »Famous UAE activist Alaa dies in ‘London car crash’
20-06-2021 Bureau Report LONDON/ DUBAI: Alaa al-Siddiq, a prominent dissident Emirati rights activist and critic, has died in a ‘car crash’ in London. Alaa was the executive director of the United Kingdom-based ALQST, a non-profit organization that advocates for greater freedoms and human rights in the UAE and the wider …
Read More »World reacts to election of Iran’s new hardline president Raisi
20-06-2021 By SJA Jafri + Agencies + Bureau Report WASHINGTON/ MOSCOW/ DUBAI/ BAGHDAD/ ISTANBUL/ JERUSALEM/ ISLAMABAD: Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s hardline judiciary chief, has won a landslide victory in the country’s presidential election, a vote that both propelled the supreme leader’s protege into Tehran’s highest civilian position and saw the lowest turnout …
Read More »WHO declares end to second Ebola outbreak in Guinea
20-06-2021 GENEVA/ CONAKRY: An Ebola outbreak which started in Guinea in February, infecting 16 people and killing 12, has been declared over, the West African country’s health ministry and the World Health Organization said. “I have the honour of declaring the end of Ebola” in Guinea, WHO official Alfred Ki-Zerbo …
Read More »Afghan President replaces security ministers amid Taliban advance
20-06-2021 Bureau Report KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has replaced two top ministers charged with managing the country’s faltering security, as the Taliban presses on with their campaign to capture new territory in fierce battles with government forces. The shake-up of the defence and interior ministry portfolios comes as …
Read More »Brazil passes 500,000 COVID deaths, thousands blasted
20-06-2021 BRASILIA: Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Brazil to protest against President Jair Bolsonaro’s pandemic response as the country’s COVID-19 death toll surpassed 500,000. Protesters across the country blasted the administration for the high death toll and called for the removal of the president. Brazil has …
Read More »Ebrahim Raisi elected Iran’s new president
19-06-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report TEHRAN/ ISLAMABAD: Hardliner Ebrahim Raisi is set to be Iran’s next president after winning most of the votes counted so far. He beat three other candidates in a poll in which most would-be candidates were barred from standing. Raisi is Iran’s top judge …
Read More »Hong Kong police raid sparks rush on newspapers
19-06-2021 QUORA: People in Hong Kong have queued up to buy copies of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily a day after its newsroom was raided by police. The front page carried a message of defiance, reading: “We must press on.” The paper typically prints about 80,000 copies but increased that …
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