24-09-2020 WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he would not allow a peaceful transfer of power to Democratic rival Joe Biden if he (Trump) loses the November 3 election, saying that he expected the election battle to end up before the Supreme Court. “We’re going to have to see what …

23-09-2020 NEW YORK: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused China for ”unleashing” COVID-19 on the world and told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to hold it accountable, prompting Beijing to accuse him of “lies” and abusing the UN platform to provoke confrontation. China’s President Xi Jinping struck a …

23-09-2020 CAIRO/ RIYADH: After a seven-month suspension due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Saudi Arabia will allow pilgrims residing inside the country to offer Umrah beginning on October 4, state news agency SPA reported. Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina undertaken any time of the year, attracting …

23-09-2020 Bureau Report CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE: An Australian MP and her husband have been awarded A$875,000 ($628,000; £493,000) in a defamation suit. The National Party’s Anne Webster sued conspiracy theorist Karen Brewer over posts she wrote on Facebook in April and May. On Tuesday, Justice Jacqueline Gleeson called the claims “wholly …

23-09-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report ISLAMABAD/ BEIJING/ NEW DELHI: China and India said on Friday they had agreed to de-escalate renewed tensions on their contested Himalayan border and take steps to restore “peace and tranquillity” following a high-level diplomatic meeting in Moscow. Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi and …

22-09-2020 BEIRUT: An arms depot of the powerful Shia Muslim group Hezbollah exploded in southern Lebanon, sending a new shockwave across the country still reeling from a blast in the capital that killed almost 200 people in August. Lebanon’s official news agency, NNA, said the explosion took place in the …

22-09-2020 By Marwan Bishara (Al Jazeera’s Senior Political Analyst) + By SJA Jafri (Messenger’s Bureau Chief Australia) RIYADH/ JERUSALEM/ WASHINGTON/ ISLAMABAD/ MELBOURNE: As we approach the second anniversary of the state-sponsored assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia continues its retreat, losing direction and influence in the Gulf and Middle …

22-09-2020 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report KABUL/ISLAMABAD/ DOHA: As many as 80 Taliban and 57 more members of the Afghan security forces were killed and hundreds injured in overnight clashes with Taliban fighters across Afghanistan, security officials said on Monday, in the bloodiest day of fighting since government and …

21-09-2020 By SJA Jafri ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI/ MELBOURNE: Bishop John Joseph, 65, one of Pakistan’s most prominent human rights activists, had been campaigning for decades to reform the country’s strict blasphemy laws. On the morning of May 6, 1998, he led a procession to the steps of the court in the …

21-09-2020 GABORONE (BOTSWANA): Toxins made by microscopic algae in water caused the previously unexplained deaths of hundreds of elephants in Botswana, wildlife officials say. Botswana is home to a third of Africa’s declining elephant population. The alarm was raised when elephant carcasses were spotted in the country’s Okavango Delta between …