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03-08-2021 SEATTLE: The divorce between Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, cofounders of one of the world’s largest private charitable foundations, was finalized on Monday, a court document showed. The couple filed for divorce on May 3 after 27 years of marriage but pledged to continue their philanthropic work together. …

02-08-2021 Bureau Report LUCKNOW/ NEW DELHI: Tushar Vishwakarma, a 12th class student from Lucknow, India, born with a disability, passed his 12th-grade exams with 70% marks by writing with his toes, Indian media has reported. Vishwakarma was born with a disability that prevented him from being able to use his …

02-08-2021 BEIJING: A fresh COVID outbreak in China has spread to more locations, raising concerns over the country’s vulnerability to the highly contagious Delta variant. More than 300 cases have been detected within a span of 10 days. Chinese media is dominated by news on the outbreak, and the country’s …

02-08-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Afghan forces fought fierce street battles and bombed Taliban positions as the group’s fighters swarmed major cities amid an intensifying nationwide offensive. Hundreds of commandos were deployed to the western city of Herat while authorities in the southern city …

02-08-2021 BEIRUT: Unidentified gunmen in the Lebanese town of Kaldeh have killed at least two people at the funeral of a Hezbollah commander killed a day earlier, the group said. Iranian-backed Hezbollah, Lebanon’s most powerful armed group, said two of the mourners were confirmed dead in what it said was …

02-08-2021 OTTAWA: After years of campaigning by Black legislators and community advocates, Canada on Sunday is officially marking the abolishment of slavery nearly 200 years ago in its first nationwide Emancipation Day. Canadian parliamentarians unanimously voted in March to recognize Emancipation Day across the country on August 1, the same date …

01-08-2021 This story is based on reporting by PMI correspondents on the ground in Afghanistan. Their names are being withheld for their protection with reporting by AFP and Reuters.   KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Rockets struck Kandahar airport in southern Afghanistan overnight as government forces continued to battle major Taliban offensives that …

01-08-2021 LONDON: Young people will be offered discounted takeaways and taxi rides to get their COVID jabs in a bid to boost vaccine uptake, the government has said. Food delivery and taxi-hailing firms including Uber, Bolt, Deliveroo and Pizza Pilgrims will offer incentives to people to get vaccinated. The Department …

01-08-2021 PARIS: Thousands of people have protested in Paris and other French cities against a mandatory coronavirus health pass for entry to a wide array of public venues, introduced by the government as it battles the fourth wave of infections. Some 3,000 security forces deployed around the French capital on …

01-08-2021 ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared parts of southern Turkey ravaged by wildfires as “disaster areas”, with the death toll from the fires rising to six after two forest workers were killed. Fires across Turkey since Wednesday have burned down forests, encroaching on villages and tourist destinations and …