International

12-10-2023 BEIJING/ MELBOURNE: Journalist Cheng Lei has returned home to Australia after more than three years of detention in China. “She was met at the airport by the Foreign Minister Penny Wong,” Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, announcing her release. Cheng Lei, 48, was working as a business reporter …

12-10-2023 Dozens of bodies of Israeli civilians and Hamas fighters have been found among burned-out houses, scattered furniture and torched cars on the grounds of Kfar Aza in southern Israel, just off the fence with the besieged Gaza Strip. The Israeli military took the foreign press through the site on …

12-10-2023 MEXICO CITY: A hurricane described as “extremely dangerous” has made landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Hurricane Lidia hit Mexico as a Category 4 storm, bringing wind speeds of up to 140mph (220km/h) but the storm has weakened after moving inland, with the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) downgrading it …

11-10-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Northwestern Afghanistan Wednesday was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, according to the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ), The centre stated that the quake, which came in a series of jolts that shook similar parts of Afghanistan over the weekend, occurred at …

11-10-2023 NAYPYIDAW: At least 29 people, including children, have been killed in an artillery strike on a displaced persons’ camp in north-east Myanmar, near the Chinese border. The camp is in an area controlled by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), one of several ethnic insurgent groups which have been fighting …

11-10-2023 The Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry could consume as much energy as a country the size of the Netherlands by 2027, a new study warns. Big tech firms have scrambled to add AI-powered services since ChatGPT burst onto the scene last year. They use far more power than conventional applications, …

11-10-2023 WARSAW: Poland’s two highest-ranking military officers have resigned days before a key election and amid the war in neighboring Ukraine. The army’s Chief of General Staff, Gen Rajmund Andrzejczak, and Operational Commander Gen Tomasz Piotrowski gave no reason for their decision. Media reports say they are worried about attempts …

11-10-2023 JERUSALEM: Explosions have been heard in the Israeli city of Ashkelon after Hamas warned residents to evacuate by 5pm local time (3pm BST) on Tuesday. Air raid sirens sounded in the coastal city and across the country as fierce fighting continued between Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israel’s military. …

11-10-2023 PARIS/ NEW DELHI: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the immediate release of Majid “Jimmy” Hyderi, a freelance journalist who has been held arbitrarily for more than three weeks in northern India’s Jammu and Kashmir region under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) following his initial arrest for alleged …

10-10-2023 JERUSALEM/ LONDON/ GAZA: The horrific Hamas attack on Israel was masterminded by a terrorist dubbed the new Osama Bin Laden. Mohammed Deif has survived seven assassination attempts and has been Israel’s Most Wanted Man for decades. The 58-year-old is permanently confined to a wheelchair after efforts to kill him …