KABUL: The Taliban government in Afghanistan appealed today for international flights to be resumed, promising full cooperation with airlines and saying that problems at Kabul airport had been resolved. The statement from the foreign affairs ministry comes as the new administration has stepped up efforts to open up the country […]
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BANGKOK: Myanmar’s junta has denied suspending the internet in conflict-wracked regions, blaming a recent spate of data blackouts on anti-coup protesters who had destroyed military-owned communications towers. The Southeast Asian country has been in chaos since the military toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in February, triggering huge democracy protests […]
RAMALLAH: Israeli troops killed at least four Hamas soldiers in gun battles during raids today against one of the group’s cells in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli military spokesman said. Israeli officials have long voiced concern that Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, intends to gain strength in the […]
MANILA: The government of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte today said it will not cooperate with an International Criminal Court (ICC) probe into his notorious war on drugs, or allow any investigators into the country. Judges at the ICC yesterday approved a formal probe into Duterte’s bloody campaign, in which thousands […]
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the trio were “severely damaging regional peace and stability, intensifying an arms race, and damaging international nuclear non-proliferation efforts”. The United States, Britain and Australia announced a new security partnership for the Indo-Pacific in a move hailed by regional allies but denounced by […]
KABUL: Anti-Taliban fighters in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley said today they were battling to repulse “heavy” assaults, as the Islamists seek to capture the last holdout province defying their rule. Efforts to strike a peace deal between the two sides have failed, and the Taliban are keen to cap their lightning […]
PARIS: Former French prime minister Francois Fillon, who is appealing a five-year jail sentence for embezzling public funds, is under investigation again by financial prosecutors over payments to an assistant, his lawyer said today. Lawyer Antonin Levy accused the National Financial Prosecutor’s (PNF) office of a witch hunt and said […]
KABUL: Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar will lead a new Afghan government set to be announced shortly, sources in the Islamist group said on Friday, as it battled rebel fighters in the Panjshir Valley and strived to ward off economic collapse. Baradar, who heads the Taliban’s political office, will be joined […]
US President Joe Biden has condemned a new law in Texas banning abortion from as early as six weeks and vowed to defend women’s constitutional rights. The “extreme” law “blatantly” violated rights and would “significantly impair” women’s access to healthcare, he said. On Wednesday the Supreme Court refused, by a […]
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters today yesterday that he had no plans to dissolve the country’s lower house because of the severity of the coronavirus situation. Domestic media reported this week that he intended to dissolve the lower house of parliament in mid-September after a cabinet and […]