BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: A massive blackout left tens of millions of people without electricity in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay on Sunday in what the Argentine president called an “unprecedented” failure in the countries’ power grid.Authorities were working frantically to restore power, and by the evening electricity had returned to 90 percent of the South American…
VALLETTA/MALTA, TUNIS: Southern European leaders called for a fair distribution of migrants arriving from across the Mediterranean as the latest NGO boat carrying rescued families was denied a safe port by Italy.The leaders of Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain said on Friday the EU should “guarantee effective implementation of the principle of…
MOGADISHU/NAIROBI: Nine civilians were executed by a local militia in war-torn Somalia after the killing of a policeman by the militant group Al-Shabab, police said on Saturday.Separately, a roadside bomb hit a police vehicle patrolling near Kenya’s border with Somalia, killing several of the 11 officers inside, a police spokesman said.Exact casualty figures from Saturday’s…
PARIS: A small congregation wearing hard hats will attend mass at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday, the first service to be held since fire devastated the Gothic landmark two months ago.Church leaders are keen to show life goes on at the cathedral as donations to help rebuild it trickle in. Less than 10% of…
KABUL: Afghanistan has freed hundreds of jailed Taliban fighters since Eid as a goodwill gesture, the government confirmed on Friday.Feroz Bashari, head of the government media center, told Arab News that “490 Taliban fighters have been freed since Eid.”Brushing aside widespread criticism of the move, President Ashraf Ghani said on Thursday that most freed prisoners…
DHAKA: A 201-dome mosque in Bangladesh has become the center of attraction for people all around the country. It is built on the bank of the Jhinai River in the Tangail district some 140 km from the capital Dhaka.The 451-foot minaret of the mosque is the tallest concrete minaret in the world, recognized by Guinness…
DHAKA: A 201-dome mosque in Bangladesh has become the center of attraction for people all around the country. It is built on the bank of the Jhinai River in the Tangail district some 140 km from the capital Dhaka.The 451-foot minaret of the mosque is the tallest concrete minaret in the world, recognized by Guinness…
DELHI: Muslims in India have largely welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a mega scholarship scheme for students from the minority community. However, they are cautious about the implementation of the project considering the fate of mega projects announced in the past. On Tuesday, the Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi declared that in…
WASHINGTON: Democratic lawmakers accused President Donald Trump on Thursday of giving Russia the green light to interfere in the 2020 US presidential race, while a top Republican ally said Trump was wrong to say he would accept political dirt from foreign sources. The uproar followed televised comments in which the US president told ABC News…
DELHI: Muslims in India have largely welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a mega scholarship scheme for students from the minority community. However, they are cautious about the implementation of the project considering the fate of mega projects announced in the past. On Tuesday, the Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi declared that in…
HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities were shutting government offices in the city’s financial district for the rest of the week after a day of violence over an extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial. Early on Thursday around 20 protesters milled about as a widespread cleanup around the…
DHAKA: Bangladesh has accused Myanmar of launching a “misinformation campaign” over the repatriation of Rohingya refugees. The claim was made on Wednesday by Bangladeshi Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen following a high-level meeting in Dhaka to discuss the issue. During the Future of Asia conference held in Japan at the end of May,…
HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities were shutting government offices in the city’s financial district for the rest of the week after a day of violence over an extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial.Early on Thursday around 20 protesters milled about as a widespread cleanup around the city’s…
Hong Kong gears up for mass strikes as thousands rally overnight against extradition bill HONG KONG: Hong Kong braced for mass strikes on Wednesday after thousands braved thunderstorms overnight to stage fresh protests against a proposed extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial.Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam…
Thousands of protesters paralyze Hong Kong’s financial hub over extradition bill HONG KONG: Chaotic scenes erupted in Hong Kong on Wednesday as tens of thousands of demonstrators stormed key roads next to government offices to protest against a proposed extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial. Thousands of…
DELHI/KARACHI: In India, it is illegal to hire children under the age of 14 for any kind of work. Adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 cannot be employed in any hazardous occupations.Yet, 17 years after the International Labor Organization (ILO) designated June 12 as the World Day Against Child Labor, stringent laws are…
SAN BERNARDINO, California: A Southern California man was convicted Monday of bludgeoning a couple and their two little boys to death, then burying their bodies in a remote desert area where the crime remained hidden until an off-roader stumbled across skeletal remains.After a trial that spanned more than four months and depended largely on circumstantial…
SAN BERNARDINO, California: A Southern California man was convicted Monday of bludgeoning a couple and their two little boys to death, then burying their bodies in a remote desert area where the crime remained hidden until an off-roader stumbled across skeletal remains.After a trial that spanned more than four months and depended largely on circumstantial…
KABUL: The Afghan peace process is entering a new stage, according to the US special envoy for reconciliation as he stressed the need for the country’s warring parties to formally meet and start their negotiations. Talks to end the decades-long conflict in Afghanistan have been foundering as the Taliban refuses to meet Kabul representatives as it…
HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing leader on Monday refused to scrap a controversial plan to allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland, a day after huge crowds came out to oppose the proposal. Striking a defiant tone after the city’s largest protest since the 1997 handover, chief executive Carrie Lam said the legislature would debate the…
