World

COLOMBO 01 Sep (Online): Bankrupt Sri Lanka’s deposed former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to end his self-imposed exile in Thailand and return home on Saturday, a top defence official told AFP. The 73-year-old fled the island under military guard in July after a huge […]

HERAT 01 Sep (Online): A blast outside a mosque in the city of Herat in western Afghanistan on Friday killed a high-profile pro-Taliban cleric as well as civilians, police said. “Mujib Rahman Ansari, with some of his guards and civilians, have been killed on their […]

TAIPEI 31 Aug (Online): Taipei and Beijing have traded barbs over a recent string of drone sorties from the Chinese mainland to an outlying Taiwanese island, as Taiwan’s president on Tuesday vowed “strong countermeasures” against such incursions. Photos and video taken by Chinese drones of […]

MUMBAI 31 Aug (Online): India will formally commission its first home-built aircraft carrier on Friday, the culmination of 17 years of construction and tests as the country seeks to catch up with regional rival China and its far larger naval fleet. The INS Vikrant, however, […]

Jerusalem, Aug 31 (AFP/APP): Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid discussed Iran’s nuclear deal with US President Joe Biden Wednesday, as the Jewish state makes concerted efforts to block a return to the 2015 accord. Israel has long opposed a revival of the deal, which was […]

WASHINGTON, Sep 01 (APP): Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan, has thanked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for announcing $30 million as humanitarian assistance for flood relief in Pakistan where turbulent waters have killed more than a 1,000 people and displaced 33 […]

BAGHDAD 30 Aug (Online): Heavy clashes erupted in Baghdad, killing almost 20 people on Monday, after powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said he would quit politics, prompting his loyalists to storm a government palace and fight with rival groups. As night fell, machine-gun fire and explosions […]

Luanda, Aug 30 (AFP/APP): Angola’s biggest opposition party has vowed to contest last week’s election results, which saw the long-ruling MPLA win by a significantly reduced majority. The August 24 elections were the most hotly contested in the oil-rich country since its first multi-party vote […]

Baghdad, Aug 30 (AFP/APP): Iraqi supporters of powerful cleric Moqtada Sadr withdrew Tuesday from Baghdad’s Green Zone after he demanded an end to fighting between rival forces and the army that left 30 dead and hundreds wounded. Sadr, a grey-bearded preacher with millions of devoted […]

Addis Ababa, Aug 30 (AFP/APP): Tigrayan rebels said Tuesday they intended to advance further into neighbouring regions of northern Ethiopia but were still open to peace talks after fighting erupted last week and put paid to a five-month-long truce. The government of Prime Minister Abiy […]