Washington: The US has strongly condemned the Taliban’s “indefensible decision” to ban women from universities and keep secondary schools closed to girls, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken warning that this decision will come with “consequences” for the hardline Islamist regime in Afghanistan. The Taliban rulers on Tuesday banned university education for women nationwide, as […]
BEIJING: China said on Wednesday that not a single person had died of Covid-19 the previous day, after changing the criteria for recording virus deaths to mean most are no longer counted. Hospitals are struggling, pharmacy shelves are stripped bare and crematoriums are overwhelmed in the wake of the Chinese government’s sudden decision to lift […]
WASHINGTON: The House Jan. 6 committee urged the Justice Department on Monday to bring criminal charges against Donald Trump for the violent 2021 Capitol insurrection, calling for accountability for the former president and “a time of reflection and reckoning.” After one of the most exhaustive and aggressive congressional probes in memory, the panel’s seven Democrats […]
United Nations: Vowing to make 2023 a year for peace, UN chief Antonio Guterres has said he will convene a “no-nonsense” climate summit next year where countries will have to come up with credible and new action plans, with no room for “greenwashers” and “blame-shifters” or repackaging of announcements of previous years. Addressing journalists at […]
WASHINGTON: Joe Biden on Monday promised he will not remain silent in the face of growing anti-Semitism in the United States, as the president hosted a White House reception celebrating Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. “I recognize your fear, your hurt, your worry that this vile and venom is becoming too normal,” Biden said […]
KYIV: President Vladimir Putin said the situation in four areas of Ukraine that Moscow has declared are part of Russia was “extremely difficult” as Kyiv renewed calls for more weapons after Russian drones hit energy targets. In comments made on Security Services Day, which is widely celebrated in Russia, Putin also ordered the strengthening of […]
Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping raising concerns about the use of nuclear weapons had an impact on Russia, which has indulged in “nuclear sabre-rattling” over its war with Ukraine, CIA chief William Burns has said. “I think, very dangerous nuclear sabre-rattling that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and others around him […]
Moscow: Russian warships set off Monday to take part in a joint naval drills with China, an exercise that showcases increasingly close defense ties between the two countries as they face tensions with the United States. The Russian Defense Ministry said the Varyag missile cruiser, the Marshal Shaposhnikov destroyer and two corvettes of Russia’s Pacific […]
PESHAWAR: Several Pakistani Taliban detainees have managed to overpower their guards at a counter-terrorism centre in northwestern Pakistan, snatching police weapons and taking control of the facility, officials said Monday. The militants at the detention centre in Bannu, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and part of a former tribal region, also took police […]
Kyiv: Multiple explosive drones attacked Ukraine’s capital before dawn on Monday, local authorities reported, as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepared to visit ally Belarus, which provided the Kremlin’s forces with a launch pad for its invasion of Ukraine almost 10 months ago. The drone attack came three days after what Ukrainian officials described as one […]