04-09-2023 CANBERRA/ SOLOMON ISLAND: Australia has announced plans to send additional police to the Solomon Islands to boost security for the Pacific Games in November, keeping them there until June to assist with the general elections. The extended Australian police presence, announced on Sunday, comes after the Solomon Islands upgraded …

04-09-2023 PYONGYANG: North Korea has announced that it conducted a simulated “tactical nuclear attack” drill with two long-range missiles equipped with mock atomic warheads. The KCNA news agency, in a report on Sunday, said the drill was carried out early on Saturday to “warn enemies” that the country would be …

04-09-2023 CANBERRA: Australia has launched an urgent operation to rescue a researcher with a “developing medical condition” from the remote Casey outpost in Antarctica. The icebreaker RSV Nuyina left from Tasmania last week, the Australian Antarctic Program (AAP) said. It is travelling thousands of miles to reach the station after …

04-09-2023 STOCKHOLM: The Nobel Foundation has reversed a much-criticised decision to invite Russia, Belarus and Iran to this year’s awards ceremony in Stockholm. “We recognize the strong reaction in Sweden,” the foundation said. Russia and its ally Belarus were not invited last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Iran …

04-09-2023 WASHINGTON/ TALLAHASSEE: US President Joe Biden has vowed to give Florida any support it needs to rebuild in the wake of Tropical Storm Idalia’s destruction. Biden was speaking during a visit to the state, where at least two people are known to have died after the storm made landfall …

03-09-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ SRINAGAR: Police in Indian-administered Kashmir have “strongly objected” to an article published by the BBC on press freedom in the Muslim-majority region and have threatened to take legal action for “unfairly castigating” its work. The report by the British broadcaster, headlined “Any story …

03-09-2023 BAGHDAD/ KIRKUK: A curfew has been imposed in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk after rival demonstrations by Kurdish and Arab residents descended into deadly violence, according to officials. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered the curfew in Kirkuk as well as “extensive security operations in the areas affected …

03-09-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies ADELAIDE: A 25-year-old woman from Adelaide, Australia, made a bold decision in February 2023 that changed her life. Romanee Virgara left her 9-to-5 job as a logistics manager to pursue her dream of becoming a successful business coach and public figure. What’s even more remarkable …

03-09-2023 OHIO: Police in the US state of Ohio have released body camera footage of a fatal shooting of pregnant Black woman Ta’Kiya Young, which sparked public anger and renewed calls for an end to deadly police violence in the United States. The footage released on Friday showed the 21-year-old’s …

03-09-2023 KHALED BURHAN, SAMARRA: A road accident in northern Iraq has killed at least 16 people, mostly Iranian pilgrims, as millions of people converge on the holy city of Karbala for Arbaeen, one of the world’s biggest religious gatherings. A traffic accident in northern Iraq has claimed at least 16 …