Taliban seize two more Afghan provincial capitals in northern blitz
The Taliban captured two more provincial capitals on Sunday as they gained ground in their fight to take over Afghanistan’s cities after seizing much of the countryside in recent months. The insurgents have snatched up four provincial capitals since Friday in a rapid offensive that appears to have overwhelmed government forces. Kunduz and Sar-e-Pul in […]
Russia boosts arms supplies to Central Asia amid Afghan mayhem
MOSCOW/DUSHANBE: Russia has increased arms and military hardware supplies to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan amid fighting in Afghanistan, Interfax news agency quoted Russian military chief of staff Valery Gerasimov as saying on Thursday. Gerasimov, who was in Tashkent to attend joint Uzbek-Russian military drills near the Afghan border, provided no details such as what arms were being supplied. […]
Lightning kills 16 at wedding in Bangladesh
DHAKA: Several lightning bolts hit a Bangladesh wedding party within a few seconds on Wednesday, killing 16 people and injuring the groom, officials said. The group had just left a boat at the riverside town of Shibganj to take shelter from the thunderstorm when the lightning struck, a government administrator for the town said. The […]
Attack targeting acting Afghan defense minister left 8 dead
Kabul: A bombing attack that targeted Afghanistan’s acting defense minister killed at least eight people and wounded 20, authorities said Wednesday. The deputy minister was not hurt in the attack claimed by Taliban insurgents. The blast went off late Tuesday in a heavily guarded upscale neighborhood of the capital of Kabul. It was followed by a […]
Deadly wildfire encircles Turkish power plant
HISARONU: Roaring blazes encircled a Turkish thermal power plant on Tuesday and forced farmers to herd panicked cattle toward the sea, as wildfires that have killed eight people raged for a seventh day. The nation of 84 million has been transfixed in horror as the most destructive wildfires in generations erase pristine forests and rich […]
US ready to take in thousands of more Afghans as violence worsens
WASHINGTON: The United States said on Monday it was ready to take in thousands more Afghans whose US links put them at risk from the Taliban as Western troops leave, but the asylum-seekers will face an arduous journey to safety. Less than a month before the United States is set to end its longest-ever war, […]
Fires force evacuations in Turkey, southern Europe
ANKARA: Dozens of villages were evacuated in tourist hotspots in southern Turkey on Sunday as wildfires that have claimed eight lives raged for the fifth day, while Greece, Italy and Spain were also hit by blazes. Fanned by soaring temperatures, strong winds and climate change — which experts say increases both the frequency and intensity […]
Taliban, Afghan troops clash outside Herat city
HERAT: Afghan troops and Taliban fighters clashed again on the outskirts of Herat on Saturday, a day after a police guard was killed when a United Nations compound in the western city came under attack. Violence has surged across the country since early May, when the militants launched a sweeping offensive as US-led foreign forces […]
Saudi Arabia to reopen to vaccinated tourists after 17-month Covid closure
Saudi Arabia announced on Friday that it would reopen its borders to fully vaccinated foreign tourists after a 17-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, the state news agency said. However, Riyadh did not announce any lifting of restrictions on Umrah, which can be performed at any time and usually attracts millions of Muslims from […]
Huge quake of magnitude 8.2 on Alaska Peninsula triggers tsunami alert
A strong and shallow earthquake of magnitude 8.2 struck the Alaskan peninsula late on Wednesday, prompting tsunami warnings in the US state and heightened surveillance across the pacific. There were no immediate reports of loss of property or life. Tsunami warning sirens were sounded close to a Walmart store in Kodiak, Alaska, a video filmed […]
