JERUSALEM: On a backstreet in Jerusalem sit the sparse offices of B’Tselem, an Israeli organisation that has long been a bane of successive governments, tirelessly flagging military abuses in occupied Palestinian territory. Set up by a group of academics, lawyers and politicians more than 25 years ago, the NGO –Read More

BEIJING: Although officially atheist, China selected Gyaltsen Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995, in a drive to win the hearts and minds of Tibetans. Tibet’s current spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, had announced his own choice of a six-year-old boy, but he was taken away by authorities andRead More

BEIRUT: Jihadists from the Islamic State group blew up a pipeline feeding natural gas from eastern Syria to the suburbs of the capital Damascus early today morning, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said IS blew up the pipeline near the T-4 military airport in the eastRead More

MILAN: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi welcomed visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin today but offered no sign of breaking ranks with international partners over European Union sanctions against Moscow. Two weeks before the EU is due to decide whether to extend economic sanctions over Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea fromRead More

LONDON: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Britain in October should usher in a “golden age” of relations between the two countries, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said today in London. Xi will stay with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace during the visit, the latest in a series ofRead More

THE HAGUE: Police in three European countries have busted an Internet gang suspected of stealing millions of euros by diverting money to illegal online accounts, justice officials said today. Italian, Spanish and Polish police on Tuesday arrested 49 people suspected of running a so-called “man-in-the-middle” scheme, stealing six million eurosRead More

ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan struggles with the rising risks of floods and melting glaciers, it is crafting a plan to cut its planet-warming emissions under a new global climate deal due to be agreed in Paris in December. The South Asian nation is currently considering a goal to reduce its greenhouseRead More

CAIRO: A suicide bomber blew himself up in the parking lot of Karnak temple in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor on today, security sources and witnesses said, in an escalation of attacks on tourist sites. No group immediately claimed responsibility but Islamist militants bent on toppling the Cairo governmentRead More

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet today decided to bring in an ordinance to amend the Negotiable Instruments Act, which provides for filing of cheque bounce cases in place where the cheque was issued, a move that will benefit 18 lakh people. “As you are aware of the Negotiable Instrument Amendment Ordinance,Read More

KATHMANDU: Nepal is set to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an international donor conference here later this month to raise funds for reconstruction as the country grapples with the after-effects of the devastating quakes. Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat left Kathmandu for India today on a three-day official visitRead More