22-01-2023 JERUSALEM: Tens of thousands of Israelis have gathered in Tel Aviv to protest plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s new government to overhaul the country’s judicial system and weaken the Supreme Court. Israeli media, citing police, said more than 100,000 people joined Saturday’s protests. The rally followed another demonstration …

22-01-2023 BRASILIA: Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has dismissed the country’s army chief General Julio Cesar de Arruda in the wake of the storming of several government buildings by the supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Lula did not immediately release a statement on the replacement, but the …

22-01-2023 DODOMA: Tanzania’s main opposition party has held its first mass rally since the lifting of a 2016 ban, raising hopes of greater political freedom in the East African nation. President Samia Suluhu Hassan this month lifted the ban on Chadema imposed by her hardline predecessor John Magufuli, who was …

22-01-2023 Bureau Report SYDNEY: Several popular beaches in Sydney have been closed after sharks attacked a dolphin in waters near the city. At least two bull sharks were spotted in the Shelly Beach area, in northern Sydney, after the attack and authorities closed all nearby beaches as a precaution. The …

22-01-202 MONT-DE-MARSAN: France will boost military spending by more than a third in coming years, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, as he unveiled ambitions to transform the French army to deal with the great “perils” of this century. Acknowledging the end of the “peace dividend” of the post-Cold War …

22-01-2023 WELLINGTON: Chris Hipkins, who played a significant role in New Zealand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is set to replace Jacinda Ardern as prime minister after emerging on Saturday as the only candidate to lead the ruling Labour Party. Hipkins, 44, is expected to be confirmed as the new …

22-01-2023 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: India’s government has allegedly ordered Twitter and YouTube to remove links to a BBC documentary about the 2002 Gujarat riots and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reported local Indian media. On the microblogging and video-sharing networks, several tweets and YouTube videos from the documentary “India: The …

OUAGADOUGOU: Sixty-six women and children kidnapped by armed assailants in northern Burkina Faso last week have been freed, national broadcaster Radiodiffusion Television du Burkina (RTP) said on Friday. The mass kidnapping was unprecedented in Burkina Faso, which is facing a violent terrorist insurgency that spread from neighboring Mali in 2015. …

22-01-2023 ISTANBUL: Turkey on Saturday called off a visit by Sweden’s defence minister over a planned demonstration by right-wing activists in Stockholm. Turkey has been angered by permission obtained by Rasmus Paludan, a Swedish-Danish politician whose anti-Islam actions sparked riots across Sweden last year, to stage a protest in front …

22-01-2023 WASHINGTON: Canada on Friday announced a multi-year plan to support the first privately built rocket launches in the country and develop new launch regulations, as global demand for space-based services soars. The goal, presented at the Canadian Space Agency’s headquarters by transportation minister Omar Alghabra, is aimed at significantly …