Taliban reject Afghan president’s proposal for election
KABUL: The Taliban on Wednesday rejected a proposal by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to hold elections later this year, after months of peace talks between the two warring sides have made little progress. Although he hasn’t made details public, Ghani will announce the election plan at a stakeholder conference in Turkey next month, according to […]
North Korea fires two short-range missiles, US still open to dialogue
North Korea fired two short-range missiles at the weekend, US and South Korean officials said, but Washington played down the first such tests under President Joe Biden and said it was still open to dialogue with Pyongyang. The North Korean activity involved weapons systems at the low end of the spectrum that were not covered […]
Germany to enter strict Easter shutdown amid ‘new pandemic’
BERLIN: Germany will enter a strict shutdown for five days over Easter amid surging virus rates, Chancellor Angela Merkel and regional leaders agreed on Tuesday as criticism mounted over the government’s handling of the pandemic. As well as extending existing measures including keeping cultural, leisure and sporting facilities shut through to April 18, Merkel and […]
Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake Strikes Japan
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Japan’s capital on Saturday, officials at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. According to the USGS, the quake was centred 34 kilometres (21 miles) east of Ishinomaki, Japan at a depth of 60 kilometres (37 miles). OUTLOOK
‘That Was Long 45 Minutes’: WhatsApp On Global Outage
After suffering a global outage that lasted about 45 minutes, social media platforms WhatsApp and Instagram resumed services late on Friday night. Many users of both the platforms across the globe reported technical issues and inability to send and receive messages. The Facebook-owned platforms later said the “technical issue” had been resolved. “A technical issue […]
Pakistan, US, Russia, China call for Afghan ceasefire
MOSCOW: The United States was joined by Russia, China and Pakistan on Thursday in calling on Afghanistan’s warring sides to reach an immediate ceasefire, at talks that showed Washington’s determination to win backing from regional powers for its plans. Just six weeks before a deadline for the United States to pull out troops that have […]
‘Tough’ to meet May 1 deadline for troop pullout from Afghanistan: Biden
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that it would be “tough” to withdraw the remaining US troops in Afghanistan by May 1, as was agreed to by the Trump administration. In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, Mr Biden said he was still “in the process” of determining when the forces should […]
Residents flee martial law area as Myanmar death toll grows
YANGON: Residents of a protest flashpoint district in Myanmar’s biggest city fled on flatbed trucks and motorbikes on Tuesday as security forces defied global calls for restraint and maintained their use of lethal force against anti-coup rallies. Much of the country has been in uproar since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi […]
Biggest sandstorm in decade turns skies yellow in Beijing
BEIJING: Beijing was cloaked in thick yellow smog on Monday with pollution levels surging off the charts as the worst sandstorm in a decade descended on China’s capital from the Gobi desert. City residents used goggles, masks and hairnets to protect themselves from the choking dust and sand, with landmarks including the Forbidden City partly […]
28 die in Myanmar, Chinese factories burnt
Security forces killed at least 14 protesters in the poor, industrial Hlaingthaya suburb of Myanmar’s main city, Yangon, on Sunday after Chinese-financed factories in the area were set ablaze, according to local media. A further 14 people were reported killed elsewhere in Yangon and other parts of Myanmar and state television said a policeman had […]
