International

17-03-2024 BEIRUT/ TEHRAN: With ally Hamas under attack in Gaza, the head of Iran’s Quds Force visited Beirut in February to discuss the risk posed if Israel next aims at Lebanon’s Hezbollah, an offensive that could severely hurt Tehran’s main regional partner, seven sources said. In Beirut, Quds chief Esmail …

17-03-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies ISLAMABAD/ KABUL/ PARIS: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is alarmed by a worrying increase in the restrictions imposed on journalists, with authoritarian directives on women journalists’ dress, restrictions on women’s access to the audiovisual media and a ban on filming or photographing Taliban officials. The Afghan …

16-03-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: India appointed two officials as election commissioners on Thursday, filling vacant spots in the three-person body ahead of an expected announcement of a date for a national election likely to be won by incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The appointments come days after …

16-03-2024 WASHINGTON/ JERUSALEM: US Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has called for new elections in Israel, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prioritizing his “political survival” above the country. Schumer, a Democrat and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US, said Netanyahu had “lost his way”. He warned that huge …

16-03-2024 TOKYO: A small Japanese rocket exploded shortly after launch in a blow to Tokyo-based startup Space One’s attempt to become the first local company to put a satellite into orbit. The 18-metre (60 feet), four-stage solid-fuel rocket called Kairos exploded into pieces seconds after liftoff at 11.01am (02:01 GMT) …

16-03-2024 WEST BANK: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has appointed his longtime economic adviser Mohammed Mustafa to be the next prime minister in the face of US pressure to reform the Palestinian Authority as part of Washington’s post-war vision for Gaza. Mustafa, a US-educated economist and political independent, now faces the …

16-03-2024 CHICAGO: Authorities in Chicago said Wednesday that an 11-year-old boy was killed and a pregnant woman was critically wounded after a person launched an attack on the pair in the Edgewater neighborhood in North Side. Police said that they arrested a suspect without releasing any information. The law enforcers …

16-03-2024 GAZA CITY: At least 29 Palestinians were killed while awaiting aid in two separate Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Gaza’s health ministry said. In the first incident, Palestinian health officials in the Hamas-ruled strip said eight people were killed in an airstrike on an aid distribution …

16-03-2024 GEORGIA: Republican nominee for White House and former President Donald Trump has named himself one of the worst-treated person in the country’s history referring to his legal troubles, amid a Georgia judge recently threw out six of 41 criminal charges against him Wednesday. While speaking in an interview with …

15-03-2024 TOKYO: Two more rulings in Japanese district courts have added weight to the push for same-sex marriage to be legalized. This week, courts in Tokyo and Sapporo ruled the nation’s current ban was “unconstitutional”, in line with previous landmark verdicts. The rulings in separate cases found that the ban …