HONG KONG: Four Hong Kong lawmakers and its immigration czar joined another top official at a quarantine camp as a coronavirus scare widened Friday, ensnaring the territory’s political elite after they attended a large birthday party. The latest five entries into Hong Kong’s 21-day quarantine facilities have left city authorities […]
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WASHINGTON: Donald Trump on Thursday angrily hit back at Joe Biden on the first anniversary of the Capitol riot, repeating his claims that the 2020 election was “rigged’ after the US president assailed his predecessor as a dangerous threat to American democracy. In a series of statements, Trump used Biden’s […]
PARIS: French Prime Minister Jean Castex said today that France was ready to deploy a fourth Covid-19 vaccination or second booster shot as soon as health authorities gave their green light to such a move. “When the health authorities will give us the go-ahead, we’ll go for it,” Castex told […]
SEOUL: North Korea fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile into the sea today, South Korea and Japan said, in the first such launch by Pyongyang this year. In the decade since Kim Jong-un took power, North Korea has seen rapid progress in its military technology at the cost […]
ALMATY: Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev accepted the government’s resignation on Wednesday, his office said, after violent protests triggered by a fuel price increase rocked the oil-rich Central Asian country. Police used tear gas and stun grenades late on Tuesday to drive hundreds of protesters out of the main square in […]
BEIJING: China today said it will continue to “modernise” its nuclear arsenal and called on the United States and Russia to reduce their stockpiles a day after global powers pledged to prevent such weapons spreading. In a rare joint statement setting aside rising West-East tensions, the United States, China, Russia, […]
WASHINGTON: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said he tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday with mild symptoms and would attend meetings virtually as he quarantined at home for the next five days. News of Austin’s positive test comes after the Pentagon last week tightened restrictions at its headquarters over concern about […]
SEOUL: South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed today to use his last months in office to press for a diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea, despite public silence from Pyongyang over his attempts for a declaration of peace between the two sides. “The government will pursue normalisation of inter-Korean relations and […]
GAZA: Israel targeted Hamas positions in southern Gaza late Saturday (Jan 1) night after rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave, security sources and the army said. The Israel Defense Forces said in a brief message to the press that they were “currently carrying out strikes” in Gaza, the Palestinian […]
In the months since the attack at Kabul Airport, US intelligence analysts and military officials say they have focused on learning more about the ISIS-K strike cell and any future attacks it may be plotting against the West. Four months after an Islamic State suicide bomber killed scores of people, […]