International

29-10-2023 CANBERRA/ BEIJING: Australia has returned to Beijing three historical artefacts that were smuggled out of China. A dinosaur fossil that is more than 100 million years old and two Tang Dynasty figurines were handed to Chinese officials in Canberra. Police working at the Australian border had seized the items …

29-10-2023 TEHRAN: A teenage Iranian girl who fell into a coma after an alleged altercation with morality police earlier this month has died, state media and activists say. Armita Geravand, 16, collapsed after boarding a Tehran metro train on 1 October. Activists accused morality police of assaulting her for not …

29-10-2023 JERUSALEM: The near-total telecommunications blackout in Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the Palestinian territory risks providing cover for mass atrocities, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Friday. Internet access and the phone network were completely cut across the Gaza Strip on Friday, nearly three weeks after Israel …

29-10-2023 LEWISTON, MAINE: The man suspected of killing 18 people and wounding 13 in a shooting rampage in Lewiston, Maine, was found dead of a likely self-inflicted gunshot wound on Friday, ending a 48-hour manhunt that followed the most lethal episode of gun violence in the state’s history. The body …

29-10-2023 VANCOUVER, CANADA: Dr Bakhshish Singh Sandhu, Council of Khalistan’s president, has asserted that the assassination of Canadian Citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar has ignited unwavering support for Khalistan’s independence within the Sikh community. Ahead of the Khalistan Referendum voting on Sunday, here at Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, Dr Bakhshish Singh …

29-10-2023 TEL AVIV: Israeli fighter jets struck 150 “underground targets” in northern Gaza during an intense night of raids, the army said Saturday, three weeks after the deadliest attack in the country’s history. A military statement said the sites hit included “terror tunnels, underground combat spaces and additional underground infrastructure. …

29-10-2023 MADRID: An independent commission in Spain has estimated that over 200,000 minors have been sexually abused by the Roman Catholic clergy since 1940, with over 0.6% of Spain’s adult population (around 39 million people) reporting suffering sexual abuse by clergy during their childhood. When lay members’ abuse is included, …

28-10-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies QUEENSLAND/ SYDNEY: Australia’s most serious bushfire season since its so-called “Black Summer” has turned fatal. As more than 100 fires burned across the country on Thursday, Queensland officials said two people have died in major blazes near the town of Tara. Two people also died …

28-10-2023 BRUSSELS: EU leaders have called for “corridors and pauses” as a means to get badly needed humanitarian aid into Gaza. After more than five hours of talks at a summit in Brussels, a joint statement urged safe and unhindered access. It follows days of disagreement, with some member states …

28-10-2023 JERUSALEM/ GAZA CITY: Israel says it has conducted targeted raids in the central area of the Gaza Strip and struck dozens of Hamas targets. The Israel Defense Forces said Shadi Barud, the deputy head of Hamas’s intelligence arm, was killed in a targeted operation. The UN’s top humanitarian official …