Iran held talks with Afghan Taliban amid peace push
Tehran, Dec 26 : Iran has met with the Afghan Taliban, a top Iranian security official said Wednesday according to the Tasnim news agency, just days after the militants attended reconciliation talks in the UAE. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, made the announcement while on a visit to the Afghan capital […]
Japan announces IWC withdrawal, will resume commercial whaling
Tokyo, Dec 26 : Japan is withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission and will resume commercial whaling next year, a government spokesman said Wednesday, in a move expected to spark international criticism. The announcement had been widely expected and comes after Japan failed in a bid earlier this year to convince the IWC to allow […]
Iran held talks with Afghan Taliban: official
Tehran, Dec 26: Iran has held talks with the Afghan Taliban, one of the country’s top security officials said, the Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday. “The Afghan government has been informed of the communications and talks carried out with the Taliban, and this process will continue,” said Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National […]
43 killed in Kabul govt compound attack
Kabul, Dec 25: An hours-long gun and suicide attack on a Kabul government compound killed at least 43 people, the health ministry said Tuesday, making it one of the deadliest assaults on the Afghan capital this year. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the raid, which caps a bloody year for Afghanistan as long-suffering […]
Pope assails greed, pilgrims celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem
Bethlehem (Palestinian Territories), Dec 25: Pope Francis assailed the “insatiable greed” of today’s consumerism at the Vatican and pilgrims crowded into the church at the traditional site of Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem on Tuesday as Christmas celebrations began worldwide. Thousands attended mass on Monday night at the Vatican’s Saint Peter’s Basilica, where Pope Francis, the […]
Sick, hungry Indonesia tsunami survivors cram shelters
Carita (Indonesia), Dec 25: Desperately needed aid flowed into a stretch of Indonesia’s tsunami-struck coastline Tuesday, but humanitarian workers warned that clean water and medicine supplies were dwindling as thousands crammed makeshift evacuation centres. Fears about a public health crisis come as the death toll from Saturday’s volcano-triggered disaster rose to nearly 400 with thousands […]
Death toll in Kabul attack rises to 43: health ministry
Kabul, Dec 25: An hours-long gun and suicide attack on a Kabul government compound killed at least 43 people, the health ministry said Tuesday, making it one of the deadliest assaults on the Afghan capital this year. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which caps a bloody year for Afghanistan as civilians […]
Gunmen kill 17 in Nigeria village attack: Witnesses, police
Kano, Dec 24: Gunmen at the weekend killed 17 people in the latest attack on villages in northern Nigeria’s Zamfara state, witnesses and police said Monday. The assault came just days after 25 people were killed in similar raids on two villages in the region and appeared to be part of a long-running cycle of […]
Order for US military withdrawal from Syria signed: Pentagon
Washington, Dec 24: The order has been signed for the withdrawal of American troops from Syria, where they have been deployed to assist in the war against the Islamic State jihadist group, a US military spokesperson said on Sunday. “The execute order for Syria has been signed,” the spokesperson told AFP, without providing further details. […]
Death toll from Indonesia tsunami rises to 281: Disaster agency
Jakarta, Dec 24: The death toll from a volcano-triggered tsunami in Indonesia has risen to 281, with more than 1,000 people injured, the national disaster agency said Monday, as the desperate search for survivors ramped up. “The number of victims and damage will continue to rise,” said agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. Hundreds of buildings were […]
