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22-03-2024 MOGADISHU: As a speed boat carrying more than a dozen Somali pirates bore down on their position in the western Indian Ocean, the crew of a Bangladeshi-owned bulk carrier sent out a distress signal and called an emergency hotline. No one reached them in time. The pirates clambered aboard …

22-03-2024 JERUSALEM: Israel’s English-language government spokesman Eylon Levy has been suspended, Israeli media reports say. The Israeli prime minister’s office has not given a reason, according to the reports but there is speculation that it is linked to an online row with the UK foreign secretary, Lord Cameron. Levy has …

22-03-2024 KABUL/ KANDAHAR: A rare suicide bombing in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar, known as the Taliban’s political headquarters, killed at least 23 people and injured dozens early Thursday. Taliban authorities said the victims had gathered outside the officially run New Kabul Bank to receive their salaries when a suicide …

22-03-2024 PORT-AU-PRINCE: Months of turmoil and political instability following the murder of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021 have culminated in the current spate of extreme gang violence. The fighting has already claimed many thousands of victims, from those whose bodies lie strewn in the streets, to others like Sarah …

22-03-2024 RIYADH: The US secretary of state has flown to the Middle East to discuss a post-war plan to govern and secure Gaza. Antony Blinken’s talks with Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia and then Egypt will focus on what the US calls “an architecture for lasting peace”. It comes as …

22-03-2024 LONDON/ NEW DELHI: Working in extreme heat can double the risk of stillbirth and miscarriage for pregnant women, according to new research from India. The study found that the risks to mothers-to-be are significantly higher than previously thought. Researchers say hotter summers can affect not only women in tropical …

22-03-2024 DUBLIN: Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar will step down as party leader immediately and will resign as Taoiseach as soon as his Fine Gael successor is selected. Announcing his resignation, Varadkar described leading his country as “the most fulfilling time of my life”. He said he was stepping down …

22-03-2024 MISSISSIPPI: A former Mississippi police officer has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for torturing two black men in a house. Christian Dedmon, 29, is one of six officers convicted over the 24 January 2023 assault. Three other former officers have been sentenced to a total of more …

21-03-2024 CITY OF VICTORIA: Hong Kong’s parliament has unanimously passed a new security law which grants the government more power to quash dissent. The new legislation threatens sentences of up to life in prison for offences including treason and insurrection, as well as stringent penalties for other offences such as …

21-03-2024 ABUJA: The Nigerian government has rejected a media report published last week about a secret program of forced abortions run by the military in the country’s northeast, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said. The Reuters investigation reported that since 2013, a secret military program has involved terminating at least 10,000 …