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22-07-2021 WASHINGTON: Taliban fighters have gained “strategic momentum” in Afghanistan and now control about half the countryside as they drive to cut off population centres from the Western-backed government in Kabul, the United States’ top military general said. “This is going to be a test now, of the will and …

21-07-2021 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: More than 4,300 people have died of the deadly “black fungus” in India in a growing epidemic of the disease. India has reported 45,374 cases of this rare and dangerous infection, called mucormycosis, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said. Nearly half of them …

21-07-2021 LAUSANNE (SWITZERLAND): The Australian city of Brisbane will host the 2032 Summer Olympics after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved the recommendation of its executive board. “The International Olympic Committee has the honor to announce that the Games of the 35th Olympiad are awarded to Brisbane, Australia,” IOC President …

21-07-2021 NEW DELHI: Indians have expressed shock and anger after a junior health minister said in parliament that no COVID deaths had been reported due to oxygen shortage. Hospitals across the country ran out of oxygen in April and May during a deadly second wave – there were daily reports …

21-07-2021 Bureau Report CANBERRA/ SYDNEY/ MELBOURNE: Anger is growing in Australia as 13 million people – about half the population – endure fresh lockdowns to quash COVID outbreaks. A third state, South Australia joined Victoria and parts of New South Wales in lockdown on Tuesday. Fewer than 14% of Australians …

21-07-2021 BEIJING: Large swathes of China’s central Henan province were under water on Wednesday, with its capital Zhengzhou hardest-hit after being drenched by what weather watchers said was the heaviest rain in 1,000 years. In Zhengzhou, a city of over 12 million on the banks of the Yellow River, 12 …

21-07-2021 NEW YORK/ NEW DELHI: India’s excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic could be as high as 4.9 million, a new study shows, providing further evidence that millions more may have died from coronavirus than the official tally. The report by the Washington-based Center for Global Development co-authored by India’s …

21-07-2021 RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced it has extended the validity of iqama (residency permit) and exit and re-entry visas of people stranded outside the kingdom, unable to travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Saudi Gazette, the General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) has extended the permits, as …

21-07-2021 VICTORIA (BRITISH COLUMBIA): The Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) has declared a state of emergency amid a surge in wildfires that have forced hundreds of people from their homes and could worsen in the coming days. According to a provincial wildfire tracker, 299 blazes were actively burning across …

20-07-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies ISTANBUL/ DOHA/ KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Anti-Pakistan terrorist and jihadi groups aligned in varying degrees to the Taliban on both sides of the border are angling to carry out new lethal attacks inside Pakistan, a drive that could intensify if Islamabad allows the …