International

04-09-2021 BAGHDAD/ NAJAF: Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammed Saeed al-Hakeem, one of Iraq’s top Shia leaders, has died aged 85 in the southern holy city of Najaf. Al-Hakeem’s office announced on Friday that he died of a sudden medical condition it did not specify. A relative, Mohsen al-Hakeem, told The Associated …

03-09-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies PANJSHIR/ KABUL/ IALAMABAD: Fighting between the Taliban fighters and resistance forces has intensified in the northern province of Panjshir, as the Afghan group battles to take control of the country’s last rebel stronghold. Residents in nearby areas of neighboring Parwan province …

03-09-2021 AUCKLAND: At least six people have been injured in a lone-wolf stabbing attack at a supermarket in the New Zealand city of Auckland, before police shot him dead, according to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The man, known to the government’s “multiple agencies”, was killed within 60 seconds after beginning …

03-09-2021 HOUSTON: US President Joe Biden has launched a “whole-of-government” response to oppose a new law in Texas that bans most abortions. He called the Supreme Court’s decision not to block the law an “unprecedented assault” on women’s rights. Any individual now has the right to sue anyone involved with …

03-09-2021 NEW YORK: Flash flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida killed at least 25 people in the New York area overnight into Thursday, including several who perished in their basements during the “historic” weather event that officials blamed on climate change. Record rainfall, which prompted an unprecedented flash …

02-09-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD/ NEW YORK: As the formation of Afghanistan’s new government is in its final stages, the Taliban are all set to appoint Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada as the country’s supreme leader, sources reported Wednesday, citing a Taliban official. The announcement may come …

02-09-2021 ABUJA: Nigerian police say ISIL gunmen have abducted more than 70 students in the country’s northwest, in the latest in a series of school attacks targeting pupils. Zamfara state police spokesman Mohammed Shehu said in a statement that a large group of attackers stormed the Government Day Secondary School …

02-09-2021 JERUSALEM/ WASHINGTON: Israel has said that the United States’ plan to reopen its consulate in Jerusalem is a “bad idea” and could destabilize Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government. The previous administration of US President Donald Trump signaled support for Israel’s claim on Jerusalem as its capital by moving the …

01-09-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON/ NEW DELHI/: United States President Joe Biden, in a televised speech, said the US pullout in Afghanistan was the “best decision”, adding that the choice was either to withdraw from the country or escalate the conflict. “I was …

31-08-2021 Bureau Report MANILA/ ISLAMABAD: Pakistani microfinance pioneer, who developed an interest- and collateral-free microfinance program, a Bangladeshi scientist, and a Filipino fisherman were among Tuesday’s winners of what is Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. The Ramon Magsaysay Award was established in 1957 to honor people and groups tackling …