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22-06-2022 ANKARA/ RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler will on Wednesday take another step towards breaking his international isolation by paying his first visit to Turkey since the murder in 2018 of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate. The talks in Ankara between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman …

21-06-2022 JERUSALEM/ WASHINGTON: Israel is building a US-sponsored regional air defence alliance, the Israeli defence minister said on Monday, adding that the apparatus has already foiled attempted Iranian attacks and could be boosted by President Joe Biden’s visit next month. Drawing closer in recent years to US-aligned Arab states which …

21-06-2022 Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ UNITED NATIONS/ ISLAMABAD: The UN mission to Afghanistan reported scores of people were killed and wounded in an attack on a busy market in eastern Nangarhar province on Monday, although Taliban officials said they could only confirm that 10 people had been wounded. “UNAMA …

21-06-2022 MIYAZAKI/ TOKYO: Old-fashioned love letters may be the alternative to modern online dating methods, says one Japanese city whose unusual matchmaking scheme has been a surprising success. Singles in southern Japan’s Miyazaki are being encouraged to put pen to paper in a low-tech search for their soul-mate, part of …

20-06-2022 BERLIN: Germany’s economy minister says the country will limit the use of natural gas for electricity production amid concerns about possible shortages caused by a cut in supplies from Russia. The move comes after Russia sharply reduced flows of natural gas in its pipelines to Western Europe, driving up …

20-06-2022 PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron’s alliance has gotten the most seats in the final round of the parliamentary election, but it lost its parliamentary majority, projections show. The projections, which are based on partial results, showed on Sunday that Macron’s candidates would win between 200 and 250 seats, much …

20-06-2022 ADDIS ABABA: More than 200 people, mostly ethnic Amhara, have been killed in an attack in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, witnesses say, blaming a rebel group, which denies it. Saturday’s attack is one of the deadliest in recent memory as ethnic tensions continue in Africa’s second most populous country. “I …

20-06-2022 COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s troops have opened fire to contain rioting at a fuel station as unprecedented queues for petrol and diesel were seen across the bankrupt country. Troops fired in Visuvamadu, 365 kilometres (228 miles) north of Colombo, on Saturday night as their guard point was pelted with stones, …

19-06-2022 WASHINGTON/ RIYADH: US President Joe Biden said on Friday he was not travelling to Saudi Arabia explicitly to meet de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman during a trip next month and said he was seeing the Saudi crown prince as part of a broader “international meeting.” Biden’s plans to …

19-06-2022 PARIS: France is voting today (Sunday) in a high-stakes parliamentary election that could deprive centrist President Emmanuel Macron of the absolute majority he needs to govern with a free hand. Voting started at 8am (0600 GMT), with initial projections expected at 8 pm (1800 GMT) in an election that …