AFGHANISTAN: A ban on smartphones in schools issued by Taliban authorities in southern Afghanistan came into force, students and teachers confirmed to AFP on Wednesday, over concerns of “focus” and “Islamic law”. The directive by the provincial Education Department in Kandahar applies to students, teachers and administrative staff in schools and religious schools. “This decision…
WARSAW: Poland on Wednesday said it had evacuated around 160 people from Israel as that country’s conflict with Iran escalates, adding that another plane would bring home dozens more on Thursday. Foreigners have rushed to leave Israel after it launched an unprecedented bombing campaign last Friday, targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities and sparking retaliation…
LISBON: Portugal’s leaders must do more to fight crimes and hate speech against minorities, including immigrants, Roma, black people and LGBTQ people, the Council of Europe’s anti-discrimination body said Wednesday. In a new report, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) highlighted a sharp rise in hate speech in Portugal. It comes as the…
RAMALLAH: Israeli troops raided two Palestinian refugee camps in the occupied West Bank’s north overnight, the military told AFP, as Israel presses offensives on multiple fronts. The military told AFP that at “around 4:00 am Israeli forces entered Balata camp”, near the northern city of Nablus, for “a routine counter-terrorism operation”. It added that the…
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Donald Trump that the ceasefire between New Delhi and Pakistan last month was worked out directly between the arch-rivals, a top Indian diplomat said Wednesday. The US president had said that the two nuclear-armed neighbours had agreed to end a four-day conflict on May 10 after “a…
ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday Iran had the “legitimate” right to defend itself in the face of Israel’s ongoing bombing campaign, now in its sixth day. “It is a very natural, legitimate and legal right for Iran to defend itself against Israel’s thuggery and state terrorism,“ the Turkish leader said, a day…
WASHINGTON: WhatsApp said it was “concerned” that its services would be blocked in Iran after a state broadcaster urged the public to delete the messaging app, saying it was sharing data with arch-rival Israel. State television IRIB appealed to Iranians on Tuesday to delete WhatsApp from their phones, alleging that the app collected users’ personal…
VIENNA: Two buildings housing manufacturing sites for centrifuge components for Iran’s nuclear programme have been destroyed at Karaj, just outside the capital Tehran, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Wednesday. The UN agency’s announcement came hours after Israel’s military said it had carried out a series of air strikes in and around Tehran. “The IAEA…
NEW DELHI: Indian commandos shot dead three Maoist rebels Wednesday, police said, including a suspected top commander, less than a month after the insurgent group’s chief was killed. India is waging an all-out offensive against the last vestiges of the Naxalite rebellion, named after the village in the Himalayan foothills where the Maoist-inspired movement began…
MOSCOW: Russia’s army said Wednesday that its forces had captured another village in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, where Moscow has stepped up its offensive in recent weeks. The Russian troops captured Novomykolaivka in Sumy, a settlement around four kilometres (two miles) from the Ukraine-Russia border, the defence ministry said on Telegram. The advance of Moscow’s…
