India calls for collaboration between nations and tech companies to check misinformation
United Nations: India has called for greater collaboration between nations and technology companies to stop spread of misinformation related to COVID-19 as fake news and doctored videos undermine the people’s trust in authorities to tackle the disease. The long-term ramifications of COVID-19 were discussed at the 74th United Nations General Assembly high-level forum on the […]
Huge fire breaks out at Beirut port a month after explosion
Beirut: A huge fire broke out Thursday at the Port of Beirut, triggering panic among residents traumatised by last month’s massive explosion there that killed and injured thousands of people. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire at the facility, which was decimated by the August 4 explosion when nearly 3,000 tonnes of […]
Rights group: Libya militias used machine guns on protesters
Cairo: A prominent human rights organization Thursday accused Libyan armed groups linked to the Tripoli-based government of using heavy weapons to disperse anti-corruption rallies last month in the capital and of detaining, torturing and forcibly disappearing protesters. Between Aug. 23-29, Libyan militias used machine guns and vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft guns against protesters, allegedly killing one and […]
Pak Sikh community wants rare religious scripture transferred from museum to gurdwara
Lahore: Pakistan’s minority Sikh community wants a rare, handwritten copy of Guru Granth Sahib, estimated to be 300 years old and currently on display at a museum in Lahore, to be placed at the Gurdwara Dera Sahib, a media report said on Thursday. The handwritten copy of the holy book, along with other artifacts, was […]
Afghan officials: Kabul bomb targets VP, kills 10 civilians
Kabul: A bombing in the Afghan capital on Wednesday targeted the convoy of the country’s first vice president, killing 10 people and wounding at least 31, including several of the vice president’s bodyguards, the Interior Ministry said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and the Taliban quickly denied they were behind the bombing. […]
Over 300 groups urge more scrutiny of China on human rights
Geneva: More than 300 civil society groups including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Service for Human Rights are urging the United Nations to set up an international watchdog to address human rights violations by the Chinese government. In an open letter published Wednesday, the groups say they are seeking greater scrutiny of […]
More than 100 UK lawmakers condemn China over Uighurs abuse
London: More than 100 British lawmakers have signed a letter to the Chinese ambassador condemning what they described as “a systematic and calculated programme of ethnic cleansing against the Uighur people” in China’s far western Xinjiang region. “When the world is presented with such overwhelming evidence of gross human rights abuses, nobody can turn a […]
Defying US, Xi praises China, WHO for battling coronavirus
Beijing:Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday praised China’s role in battling the coronavirus pandemic and expressed support for the World Health Organisation, in a repudiation of US criticism and a bid to rally domestic support for Communist Party leadership. Xi told a televised assembly at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing that China’s […]
Pentagon leaders want war to keep contractors ‘happy’: Trump
Washington: President Donald Trump has said that top Defense Department leaders want to keep waging wars in order to keep defense contractors “happy”. Trump continues to fight allegations that he made offensive comments about fallen US service members, including calling World War I dead at an American military cemetery in France “losers” and “suckers” in […]
Model diplomacy: Israeli waves flag in UAE pajama photoshoot
Dubai: It wasn’t Camp David or the White House lawn, but for a brief, breezy moment on Tuesday, the Israeli flag fluttered alongside the four-coloured banner of the United Arab Emirates on the sand dunes in Dubai. The unusual snapshot on the part toward normalisation between the two countries, which began with a US-brokered deal […]
