02-11-2021 RIYADH/ DUBAI/ BEIRUT: Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said on Saturday the latest crisis with Lebanon has its origins in a Lebanese political setup that reinforces the dominance of the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group and continues to allow endemic instability. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries expelled Lebanese envoys in …

02-11-2021 LONDON/ NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD: Thousands of Sikhs across the United Kingdom took part in a referendum for an independent Sikh homeland, Khalistan, at the Queen Elizabeth Centre near the British parliament on Sunday, the day when Indian premier Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 for ordering Operation Blue Star …

01-11-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada addressed supporters in the southern city of Kandahar, officials announced Sunday, his first public appearance since taking control of the group in 2016. Akhundzada has been the spiritual chief of the Islamist movement since 2016 but …

01-11-2021 RIYADH: Saudi Arabian state oil producer Aramco has said its third-quarter net profit more than doubled, boosted by higher crude oil prices and volumes sold, beating analysts’ forecasts. Net income jumped to $30.4bn for the quarter to September 30 from $11.8bn a year earlier, it said in a bourse …

01-11-2021 GLASGOW: The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) has begun in the Scottish city of Glasgow, accompanied by drastic warnings from the scientific community of an escalating climate crisis. Delayed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, COP26 aims to keep alive a target of capping global warming at 1.5C …

01-11-2021 OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM, ISRAEL: A few metres away from the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound’s eastern walls lies the centuries-old Al-Yousufiya Cemetery, also known as the Bab al-Asbat (Lion’s Gate) Cemetery. Over the past few weeks, videos and images of Palestinians clinging to their family members’ graves as Israeli forces arrest, …

31-10-2021 TOKYO: A man brandishing a knife on a Tokyo commuter train on Sunday stabbed several passengers before starting a fire. NHK public television reported dozens passengers were injured, including one seriously. The attacker, only identified as a man in his 20s, was arrested on the spot and was being …

31-10-2021 Bureau Report MELBOURNE: More than 300,000 Victorians are still without power and some residents may in the dark until Monday after a destructive storm brought down powerlines and tore rooves off houses overnight. Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said nearly a quarter of the whole state had lost power as …

31-10-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report NANGARHAR/ KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Gunmen who identified themselves as Taliban attacked a wedding in eastern Afghanistan to stop music being played, killing at least two people and injuring 10 others, officials say. A Taliban spokesman said two of the three gunmen had been arrested …

31-10-2021 ROME: Leaders of the world’s 20 major economies have approved a global agreement that will see the profits of large businesses taxed at least 15%. It follows concern that multinational companies are re-routing their profits through low tax jurisdictions. The pact was agreed by all the leaders attending the …