Category: INTERNATIONAL

Suicide bomber kills 13 in Helmand: Afghan official

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Suicide attack in helmand

A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand province late Sunday, an official said. “A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand,” Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP. He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead while more than a dozen others had been wounded. A source working at a nearby hospital told…

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Samsung heir jailed for five years on corruption charges

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Samsung heir Lee Jae Yong has been sentenced to five years in prison for bribery, perjury and other crimes. The Seoul Central District Court on Friday convicted Lee, 49, the vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone maker, of offences related to the corruption scandal that brought down ousted president Park Geun-Hye. Lee Jae-Yong’s penalty could leave the giant firm rudderless for years and hamper its ability to make key investment decisions. Lee Jae-Yong, the son of Samsung group chairman Lee Kun-Hee, has been groomed all his life to take…

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US Navy to relieve 7th fleet commander of duty after collisions

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The commander of the Navy’s 7th Fleet will be removed after a series of warship accidents in the Pacific this year, two US officials said on Wednesday. One official said that Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin was being removed because of the leadership’s loss of confidence in his ability to command. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the decision. The move follows four Navy accidents in the Pacific since late January, including two that left sailors dead and missing. “While each of these…

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UAE to tax selective goods from Oct 1

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DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will start implementing the selective tax law from Oct 1, state news agency WAM reported on Tuesday. “The selective tax will be imposed on all selective goods that are consumed within the country even if they are in a free zone or at airports,” Younis al-Khouri, the under-secretary of the Ministry of Finance, told WAM in an exclusive statement. “Goods accompanied by travellers out of the country will not be taxed, unlike those accompanied with the arrivals of the state, which will be taxed,”…

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BBC journalist on trial for Thailand crime reporting

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A British BBC journalist appeared in a Thai court on Wednesday for the start of a criminal defamation trial brought by a lawyer who featured in an investigation about foreigners being scammed of their retirement homes. Jonathan Head, the BBC‘s Southeast Asia correspondent, faces up to five years in jail at the private prosecution on the popular tourist island of Phuket. Rights groups have said the case exposes how Thailand’s broad defamation and computer crime laws scupper investigative journalism and make it difficult to uncover wrongdoing in an endemically corrupt country. The prosecution…

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US sanctions Chinese, Russians over N. Korea support

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WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday slapped sanctions on 16 Chinese and Russian individuals and companies, accusing them of supporting North Korea’s nuclear programme and attempting to evade US sanctions. The sanctions are part of a broader US effort to disrupt the flow of cash funding North Korean weapon’s programmes and target companies that have dealt in natural resources such as coal and minerals or engaged in financial transactions for North Korean interests. “It is unacceptable for individuals and companies in China, Russia, and elsewhere to enable North Korea to…

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Trump to address nation on new Afghan strategy tonight

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trump

President Donald Trump will announce his decision on America’s strategy in Afghanistan in an address to US troops and the nation Monday night, almost 16 years after the war began. The US leader will “provide an update on the path forward for America’s engagement in Afghanistan and South Asia” in an address to be delivered at 9pm (0100 GMT Tuesday) from the military base at Fort Myer southwest of the capital, the White House said in a statement. The US president, fresh from a nearly three-week-long working vacation at his New…

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1 dead as vehicle hits two bus stops in France’s Marseille

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woman killed in france

At least one woman has died after a vehicle rammed into two bus stops in the French port city of Marseille, French media reported. According to BBC, the driver has been arrested in the scenic Old Port area of France’s second-largest city. The regional La Provence newspaper and BFM-TV say that at least one woman has died. The incident comes just days after back-to-back van attacks in Barcelona and Spanish resort town of Cambrils killed 14 people. Source: Dawn

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‘An attack on Japan is an attack on US,’ says US top general

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The United States’ (US) most senior military officer on Friday said North Korea understands that any attack on Japan is equal to one on the US itself and vice versa. General Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held talks with his Japanese counterpart at the defence ministry in Tokyo, wrapping up a regional tour during heightened tensions with North Korea. Tokyo remains on alert against potential military provocations by Pyongyang after North Korea threatened to fire missiles towards the Pacific island of Guam, US territory, which would…

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Denmark charges imam for comparing gays to paedophiles

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Danish Police

Danish prosecutors have charged a 49-year-old imam for making public remarks against homosexuals, whom he compared to paedophiles. Prosecutor Jan Reckendorff says the unidentified imam violated Denmark’s penal code in interviews in June 2016 following the attack at Orlando’s Pulse gay nightclub, where 49 people were shot dead. Reckendorff said Friday the remarks “were so rough” that a court of law must now decide whether Danish law has been violated. No date for a trial was immediately set. The imam faces a fine or up to two years in jail…

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Bannon out as Trump’s chief strategist

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United States President Donald Trump on Friday finally parted ways with controversial far-right chief strategist Steve Bannon, after weeks of speculation and as the administration reels from the fallout over Trump’s response to a violent white supremacist rally. Seen as the driving force behind Trump’s nationalist-populist agenda — making him a hero of the so-called “alt-right” and a bete noire for centrists — Bannon’s presence at the White House has been contested from the start. He was the latest in a series of high-profile casualties in Trump’s inner circle, including…

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Kashmir not a piece of real estate, says Mirwaiz after release from house arrest

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KARACHI: After 57 days under house arrest, Kashmiri leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq was released and allowed to attend Friday prayers at Jama Masjid in Srinagar. The Mirwaiz had been under house arrest since June 23. On Friday afternoon, the chairman of the Awami Action Committee tweeted a photo from his official and verified account @MirwaizKashmir and said: “#Housearrest ends after 57 days, spoke at #JamaMasjid. GOI must realise aggression& repression can never resolve anything but only aggravate it.” An hour later, he tweeted again and said: “For the past 70years…

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At least two dead as van rams into pedestrians in Barcelona

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A white van jumped the sidewalk on Thursday in Barcelona’s historic Las Ramblas district, killing at least two and injuring several people as it rammed into a summer crowd of tourists and residents, police said. A person suspected of driving a van into pedestrians on one of the busiest streets of Barcelona on Thursday was holed up in a bar, a Spanish police source said. “One of the attackers is holed up in a bar,” said the source, who declined to be named, adding that police were looking for a…

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Australian leader wears burqa to Senate to push for ban, draws criticism from lawmakers

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Australian senator and leader of the right-wing One Nation party, Pauline Hanson, wore the burqa to the Senate chamber for the daily questioning time session on Thursday, The Guardian reported. According to the daily, Hanson’s move — meant to push for a ban on the burqa — caused commotion in the chamber and drew strong criticism from Australian attorney general George Brandis who issued a warning that the action may be offensive to the “religious sensibilities of other Australians”. “Senator Hanson, I’m not going to pretend to ignore the stunt that you…

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US blacklists Hizbul Mujahideen as terrorist group

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The United States added the Kashmiri separatist group Hizbul Mujahideen to its blacklist of terrorist organisations on Wednesday, amidst renewed protests against Indian oppression in the region. US authorities had already designated the group’s leader, Syed Salahuddin, a “global terrorist”, but he is still able to operate in Kashmir, where his group has strong support. The State Department designation bans US citizens and residents from dealing with the group and any assets found to belong to the Hizbul Mujahideen in areas under US jurisdiction will be frozen. “Today’s action notifies…

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