LONDON: British pilgrims are struggling to keep up with a dramatic jump in the cost of traveling to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj.More than 20,000 people make the pilgrimage from the UK every year but spiralling air tickets and hotel prices have ramped up prices in the past five years.The plunge in the value of…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani anti-corruption officials arrested opposition leader and daughter of former Pakistani prime minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif Thursday, one of the most high-profile arrests in a crackdown on alleged graft.Sharif is the latest member of her family to be targeted under the government of Imran Khan, who swept to victory last year.Her father Nawaz Sharif,…
ATHENS: The body of a missing British scientist has been found in a ravine on the Greek island of Ikaria two days after she disappeared, Greek public television reported on Wednesday.The cause of death of Nicosia-based astrophysicist Natalie Christopher, who had been on holiday with her partner, was not yet determined, the ERT channel said.Greek police…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan announced Wednesday that it is expelling the Indian High Commissioner and suspending bilateral trade with its nuclear-armed neighbor, days after New Delhi stripped the disputed Kashmir region of its special autonomy.“We will call back our ambassador from Delhi and send back their” envoy, foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced in televised comments, while…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Wednesday it would expel India's ambassador and suspend bilateral trade with its arch-rival after New Delhi stripped its portion of the contested Kashmir region of special status.Neighbours China and Pakistan, which both claim parts of Kashmir, have voiced fierce opposition to India's removal of a constitutional provision that had allowed the country's…
French boy thrown from London gallery suffered brain bleed and spine injuries, court told LONDON: A teenager appeared in court on Tuesday charged with attempted murder after a six-year-old French boy was reportedly thrown from a 10th-floor viewing platform at the Tate Modern art gallery in central London.The 17-year-old male, who cannot be named for…
BAMAKO: Twin attacks in Mali have killed four people, including two Malian soldiers, security sources said Tuesday, as the International Committee of the Red Cross suspended activities in Timbuktu due to “growing insecurity.”A gendarme was killed in an ambush in the Segou region, east of the capital Bamako on Tuesday, while at the scene of…
NEW DELHI: Indian lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday that strips the statehood from the Indian-administered portion of Muslim-majority Kashmir amid an indefinite security lockdown in the disputed Himalayan territory, actions that neighboring Pakistan warned could lead to war.Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist-led government submitted the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill for a vote by…
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Monday condemned weekend shootings in Texas and Ohio as “barbaric” attacks and crimes “against all humanity” as he called for bipartisan cooperation to strengthen the nation’s gun laws.Trump said he wants legislation providing “strong background checks” for gun users, but he provided scant details and has reneged on previous promises after…
LONDON: A six-year-old boy thrown from a tenth-floor viewing platform at London’s Tate Modern gallery is a French national who was visiting the British capital with his family, police said Monday.The boy is no longer in a life-threatening condition, according to London’s Metropolitan Police, who appealed for further witnesses to the Sunday afternoon incident to…
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Monday condemned weekend shootings in Texas and Ohio as “barbaric” attacks and crimes “against all humanity” as he called for bipartisan cooperation to strengthen the nation’s gun laws.Trump said he wants legislation providing “strong background checks” for gun users, but he provided scant details and has reneged on previous promises after…
EL PASO, Texas: The shooting that killed 20 people at a crowded El Paso shopping area will be handled as a domestic terrorism case, federal authorities said Sunday as they weighed hate-crime charges against the suspected gunman that could carry the death penalty.A local prosecutor announced that he would file capital murder charges, declaring that…
MANILA: From Sept. 7, nearly 12,000 former members of the Philippines’ largest insurgency group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), are going back to normal life. “We are set to decommission the first 30 percent of our combatants, scheduled on Sept. 7, tentatively. This will involve around 12,000 combatants, and the next 35 percent will…
MANILA: From Sept. 7, nearly 12,000 former members of the Philippines’ largest insurgency group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), are going back to normal life. “We are set to decommission the first 30 percent of our combatants, scheduled on Sept. 7, tentatively. This will involve around 12,000 combatants, and the next 35 percent will…
KABUL: The US is seeking a peace deal that can pave the way for the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, Washington’s special envoy said hours before the resumption of major talks with the Taliban on Saturday.“We are pursuing a #peace agreement, not a withdrawal agreement; a peace agreement that enables withdrawal,” Zalmay Khalilzad tweeted.“Our…
KUALA LUMPUR: Air travelers leaving Malaysia will have to pay an airport tax ranging from $2 to $37 from Sept. 1.The so-called departure levy seeks to boost the government’s coffers and stimulate domestic tourism.Government and tourism officials on Saturday defended the tax, saying there had been no negative effects since it was first mooted in…
MOSCOW: Police detained dozens of demonstrators in Moscow on Saturday as Russian opposition supporters took to the streets in defiance of a formidable security presence, in fresh protests calling for fair elections in the capital next month. The unauthorized march, which comes after stark warnings from Russian authorities and a crackdown on Kremlin critics, was…
SEOUL: North Korea fired missiles for the third time in eight days on Friday, a series of launches that analysts say are designed to improve military capabilities and pressure the United States and South Korea as they seek to restart denuclearization talks. US officials, who have been hoping to revive the stalled talks with North…
SEOUL: North Korea fired missiles for the third time in eight days on Friday, a series of launches that analysts say are designed to improve military capabilities and pressure the United States and South Korea as they seek to restart denuclearization talks. US officials, who have been hoping to revive the stalled talks with North…
WASHINGTON: The Latest on President Donald Trump's plan to impose tariffs beginning Sept. 1 on the $300 billion in Chinese imports he hasn't already hit with taxes (all times local): Midnight Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has criticized President Donald Trump's proposed tariff hike. "Imposing tariffs is definitely not the right way to resolve trade…
