President Xi makes rare trip to Tibet
BEIJING: President Xi Jinping is on a rare trip to China’s politically sensitive region of Tibet, state media reported on Friday, the first such visit by the country’s top leader in more than three decades. Tibet has alternated over the centuries between independence and control by China, which says it “peacefully liberated” the rugged plateau […]
Australia state declares emergency over Covid
An Australian state government on Friday declared an emergency due to a Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney. The New South Wales state government reported one fatality and 136 new infections in the latest 24-hour period, the biggest daily tally of new cases since the outbreak began in mid June. State Premier Gladys Berejiklian called on the […]
30 killed, several injured as bus crashes in Pakistan
Lahore: At least 30 people were killed, mostly labourers who were going to their hometown to celebrate Eid-ul Azha, and over 40 others injured on Monday when a passenger bus collided with a trailer truck on a highway in Dera Ghazi Khan district of Pakistan”s Punjab Province. The bus was en route from Sialkot to […]
Tensions flare up as Israeli govt allows Jews into Al Aqsa compound
JERUSALEM: Israeli police clashed with Muslim protestors on Sunday at a flashpoint Jerusalem Old City shrine as Jews were headed there to mark a religious holiday, police said. The tensions and the Jewish pilgrimage to the highly sensitive Al Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, were condemned by the Palestinians. Israel’s […]
Shops in Saudi Arabia can stay open during prayer times: local media
Shops in Saudi Arabia may now stay open during prayer times, a leading government-linked newspaper said on Friday, relaxing the kingdom’s strict rules on closing shops and businesses for prayer five times a day. It is the latest in a series of social and economic reforms intended to modernise the kingdom and boost the private sector’s contribution […]
China weighs risk and reward in a Taliban-led Afghanistan
BEIJING: The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and seemingly unstoppable march of the Taliban opens a strategic door to China that is laden with both risk and opportunity. China abhors a power vacuum, especially on its borders, and maintaining stability after decades of war in its western neighbour will be Beijing’s paramount consideration. But […]
China watches as US, Australia begin war games
BRISBANE: Australia, the United States and allies opened large-scale war games on Wednesday, as a Chinese surveillance vessel travelled south to monitor the exercises. More than 17,000 troops from the two allied nations will participate in Talisman Sabre, which is held every two years in Australia, from July 14 to 31. Defence Minister Peter Dutton […]
Anger mounts after 92 die in fire at Covid ward in Iraq
NASSIRIYA: The death toll from a fire that tore through a coronavirus hospital in southern Iraq rose to 92, health officials said on Tuesday, as authorities faced accusations of negligence from grieving relatives and a doctor who works there. More than 100 people were injured in the blaze on Monday night in Nassiriya, officials said. […]
Taliban fighters surround Ghazni, ‘situation critical’
Taliban fighters have surrounded the city of Ghazni in central Afghanistan, taking over civilians’ homes to fight security forces, officials said on Monday, the latest urban centre under threat from the insurgents. The offensive was the latest on a provincial capital as the Taliban make a fresh push to surround cities and gain territory, emboldened […]
35 die in fire at Iraqi Covid ward
NASIRIYAH: At least 35 people died in a fire in the Covid isolation ward of a hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on Monday. “The death toll from the fire that ripped through the Covid isolation ward in Nasiriyah stands at 35, with five wounded, including two in critical condition,” Haydar al Zamili, […]
