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15-04-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI: A group of historians from India’s leading universities have slammed recent revisions to school textbooks that include removing or trimming references to Islamic rule in the subcontinent and to the anger among some Hindu extremists at independence leader Mahatma Gandhi’s pursuit of …

15-04-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies PERTH/ SYDNEY: A powerful cyclone has hit Western Australia as a category five storm, setting a wind speed record but sparing populated areas from major damage. Severe Tropical Cyclone Ilsa struck the state close to Port Hedland, the world’s largest iron ore export hub, just …

15-04-2023 MINNEAPOLIS: Minneapolis has agreed to pay nearly $9m (£7.2m) to settle lawsuits filed by two black residents against Derek Chauvin. Both residents, who were arrested in 2017, said Chauvin had pressed his knee into their necks, the same tactic that killed George Floyd three years later. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob …

15-04-2023 LHASA: A top Tibetan leader has defended the Dalai Lama over a video that showed him asking a child to suck his tongue. Penpa Tsering, head of Tibet’s government-in-exile, has called the spiritual leader’s actions “innocent” and said it demonstrated his “affectionate behavior”. The video sparked outrage after it …

15-04-2023 TALLAHASSEE: Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill banning most abortions after six weeks, paving the way for drastic changes in access to the procedure across the state. Opponents argue six weeks is before many women know they are pregnant. The law will not go into effect …

15-04-2023 PYONGYANG: North Korea says it tested a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, its “most powerful” missile to date. State media hailed Thursday’s launch, which led to a brief evacuation order in Japan, a “miraculous success”. Solid-fuel missiles can be fired more quickly than liquid-fuel ones, making them harder to …

15-04-2023 HOUSTON: Approximately 18,000 cows were killed in a blast at a Texas dairy farm earlier this week, according to local authorities. The explosion, at South Fork Dairy near the town of Dimmitt, also left one person in critical condition. Authorities believe that machinery in the facility may have ignited …

15-04-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ LONDON: The prime minister of India has called on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to take “strong action against anti-India elements” in the UK who have been campaigning for the creation of Khalistan for Sikhs, according to Narendra Modi’s office. Sunak and Modi …

15-04-2023 WASHINGTON: A member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) yesterday in connection with the leaking of classified documents that have been posted online, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced. The arrest of Jack Teixeira, 21, comes following a fast-moving search by …

15-04-2023 RIYADH/ SANA’A/ DAMASCUS: The release and swap of nearly 900 detainees by the two sides in Yemen’s conflict has begun, a significant confidence-building measure as peace talks between Saudi envoys and Houthi rebels intensify. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is managing the prisoner exchange, said …