KABUL: Afghanistan’s prime minister called on Muslim nations on Wednesday to be the first to officially recognise the Taliban government, as the aid-dependent country faces economic collapse. No country has yet recognised the Taliban, with most watching to see how the group — accused of human rights abuses during their first stint in power — […]
ATLANTA: A dangerous winter storm combining high winds and ice swept through parts of the US southeast on Sunday, knocking out power, felling trees and fences and coating roads with a treacherous, frigid glaze. Tens of thousands of customers were without power in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. Highway patrols reported hundreds of […]
BRUSSELS: Nato allies rejected Russia’s demand for a new security settlement in Europe on Wednesday, challenging President Vladimir Putin to withdraw troops deployed near Ukraine and join talks on reducing the threat of open conflict. Meeting senior Kremlin envoys at their headquarters in Brussels, the Nato members said Moscow would have no veto on Ukraine […]
BRUSSELS: David Sassoli, an Italian journalist who worked his way up in politics while defending the downtrodden and repressed to become president of the European Unions parliament, died at a hospital in Italy early on Tuesday. He was 65. European Council President Charles Michel called Sassoli a sincere and passionate European. We already miss his […]
KABUL: The Taliban’s foreign minister said on Monday he held talks in Iran on the weekend with Ahmad Massoud, son of the late legendary Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, and guaranteed his security if he returned home. Massoud’s Panjshir Valley forces provided the last resistance in September to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, weeks […]
KABUL: The Taliban’s religious police have put up posters around the capital Kabul ordering Afghan women to cover up, an official said on Friday, the latest in a string of creeping restrictions. The poster, which includes an image of the face-covering burqa, was slapped on cafes and shops this week by the Ministry for the […]
ALMATY: Bursts of gunfire echoed through the streets of Kazakhstan’s largest city on Thursday as Moscow-led troops arrived to help quell mass unrest that left dozens dead and hundreds detained. Fighting in Almaty continued a day after protesters stormed several government buildings, with a correspondent hearing regular eruptions of gunfire from the direction of a […]
ROME: Police were called to Afghanistan’s embassy in Rome this week after a sacked Afghan diplomat claiming ties to the Taliban attacked the ambassador, the mission said. Many of Afghanistan’s embassies are in diplomatic limbo, with staff still loyal to the Western-backed government toppled by the Taliban last August. The Taliban have not appointed new […]
WASHINGTON: The US military spent $14 trillion during two decades of war in Afghanistan and the Middle East, enriching arm manufacturers, dealers and contractors. A detailed, full-page report in The Wall Street Journal shows that since Sept 11, 2001, US military outsourcing pushed up Pentagon spending to $14 trillion. One-third to half of that sum went to contractors. The […]
JERUSALEM: Israeli troops on Friday shot dead a Palestinian man who allegedly attempted to stab soldiers and civilians at a bus stop in the occupied West Bank, the military said. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the death of the alleged assailant, identifying him as Amir Atef Rayyan. The army said the attempted stabbing took place […]