World

Riyadh, March 21 (AFP/APP): Saudi Arabia, home of the holiest shrines in Islam in Mecca and Medina, has announced that the fasting month of Ramadan will start on Thursday. The kingdom’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday evening that the Islamic calendar month of Shaban, which […]

London, March 21 (AFP/APP): Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and bereaved families on Tuesday led calls for “top to bottom” reform of London’s Metropolitan Police, after a review found the UK’s largest crime-fighting force to be institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic. The report, written by government […]

Paris, March 21 (AFP/APP): French President Emmanuel Macron appeared defiant on Tuesday after his government narrowly survived no-confidence votes, telling allies he would stand by his beleaguered prime minister. Ignoring calls from opponents, Macron said there would be no government reshuffle, no fresh parliamentary elections […]

VélizyVillacoublay, France, March 21 (AFP/APP): French journalist Olivier Dubois made an emotional return home on Tuesday following nearly two years in captivity in the Sahel, AFP reporters saw. Family members and President Emmanuel Macron hugged the 48-year-old on the tarmac of Villacoublay air base outside […]

Nairobi, March 20 (AFP/APP): Kenyan riot police fired tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators and veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga’s convoy on Monday, as clashes flared during anti-government protests over the spiralling cost of living. Running battles erupted between stone-throwing protesters and police in […]

Aīt Kine, Morocco, March 20 (AFP/APP): Surrounded by olive and palm trees in a Moroccan mountain village, a centuries-old collective granary preserves the ancient practices of the Amazigh culture. “The traditions are vanishing, but not here,” said proud village elder Hossine Oubrahim, in Ait Kine […]

Brussels, March 20 (AFP/APP): Aid organisations urged international donors at a funding conference in Brussels on Monday to step up their support for the victims of the devastating earthquake that hit Turkiye and Syria last month. The catastrophic 7.8-magnitude quake flattened entire cities, killing more […]

Ramallah, Palestinian Territories, March 20 (AFP/APP): Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday blasted as “inflammatory” remarks made by far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that Palestinians do not exist. “There are no Palestinians, because there are no Palestinian people,” Smotrich said Sunday, quoting French-Israeli […]

LONDON 19 Mar (Online): UK officials have told Afghans hiding from the Taliban they will need documentation approved by the regime in Kabul to travel to Britain, an investigation by the Independent has found. Thousands of people are currently awaiting the chance to leave the […]

RIYADH 19 Mar (Online): Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Sunday he will meet his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan “in the near future”, adding that three locations have been proposed for the meeting. Amirabdollahian made it clear that based on the […]