International

05 February, 2020 WELLINGTON/ CANBERRA: Severe flooding forced thousands of residents in New Zealand’s South Island to flee their homes on Wednesday and left hundreds of tourists stranded at the remote Milford Sound. The Southland region declared a state of emergency after being deluged with more than 1,000 millimeters (39 …

05 February, 2020 By SJA Jafri + AJ CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE: More than half the Chinese students enrolled in Australian universities have found themselves stranded in their home country with a new academic year looming after the Australian government imposed a travel ban in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The new …

04 February, 2020 TEHRAN: Iran’s Judiciary Spokesman Gholam Hossein Esmaeili said the death sentence for a man convicted of spying for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been upheld. Speaking at a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday, Esmaeili pointed to the US hostilities toward the Iranian nation over …

04 February, 2020 BANGKOK/ HOUSTON: Hopes have been dashed an experimental vaccine could protect people against HIV, the virus that causes Aids. The National Institutes of Health has stopped its HVTN 702 trial, of more than 5,000 people in South Africa, as it found the jab did not prevent HIV. …

04 February, 2020 By SJA Jafri + Agencies HOUSTON/ MELBOURNE: Two people were killed and a third was wounded on Monday in a shooting at a residence hall on the Texas A&M University campus in Commerce, the school said on its website. The wounded person was taken to a hospital, …

03 February, 2020 By SJA Jafri + Agencies BEIJING/ WASHINGTON: The Chinese government has accused the US of causing “panic” in its response to the deadly coronavirus outbreak. It follows the US decision to declare a public health emergency and deny entry to foreign nationals who had visited China in …

03 February, 2020 TEHRAN/ BAGHDAD: Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi said the Islamic Republic welcomes the appointment of Iraq’s new Prime Minister, Mohammed Allawi, who replaced Adel Abdul Mahdi after two months of political deadlock in the Arab country. “The Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes the appointment of …

03 February, 2020 LONDON: Police have shot dead a man wearing a “hoax” explosive device after a stabbing attack in south London that left three people wounded and was described by police as a “terrorism-related incident”. The London ambulance service said three people had been taken to hospital after the …

01 February, 2020 By SJA Jafri + Agencies WASHINGTON/ MELBOURNE: A former US Coast Guard officer has been jailed for 13 years for stockpiling weapons to carry out an alleged white supremacist attack. Officials said Christopher Hasson, 50, was planning to target liberal politicians and news broadcasters. Prosecutors said this …

01 February, 2020 By SJA Jafri CANBERRA: A bushfire near the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) grew to more than 35,000 hectares on Saturday, as officials closed a major motorway. Residents in some areas around the capital, Canberra, were warned that it was “too late to leave” and they should try …