World

Washington, Jun 25: The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a string of military chiefs, tightening pressure on the country that President Donald Trump threatened with "obliteration" if it seeks war. Trump signed the punitive financial measures against in the Oval Office, calling this a "strong and proportionate response to Iran's

Jerusalem, Jun 24: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he is ready to "consider" a US plan to resolve his country's long-running conflict with the Palestinians. "We will consider the American proposal in a fair and open way," he said as he hosted US national security adviser John Bolton. The Palestinian leadership has already rejected the plan, citing US "bias" after the White

Washington, Jun 23: The United States Cyber Command (USCC) had last week launched cyber strikes against an Iranian intelligence group in the wake of recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf region, officials familiar with the matter said. Quoting US officials, CNN reported on Saturday (local time) that the spy group had ties with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran and the USCC

Addis Ababa, Jun 23: Ethiopia's army chief and the president of a key region have been shot dead in a wave of violence highlighting the political instability in the country as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tries to push through reforms. The latest unrest in the Horn of Africa nation flared on Saturday afternoon in Amhara, one of nine autonomous regions, when a "hit squad" attacked a meeting of top

Washington, Jun 22: The US has asked Pakistan to release more than 40 members of the religious minorities facing blasphemy charges and also to appoint an envoy to address the various religious freedom concerns in the country. Speaking at the release of the annual report on the International Religious Freedom of the State Department for the year 2018, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted how

Colombo, Jun 22: A state of emergency was extended by Sri Lanka's President on Saturday, going back on pledges to relax the tough laws introduced after the Easter Sunday attacks that killed 258 people. Maithripala Sirisena said in a decree he believed there was a "public emergency" in the country, and was invoking provisions of the public security act extending the state of emergency. The tough

Washington, Jun 22: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will seek to further strengthen strategic ties with India during a visit next week despite increasing frictions over trade, data flows and arms from Russia, officials said. Mr Pompeo arrives in New Delhi on Tuesday for talks that are aimed at laying the ground for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister

Washington, Jun 22: Pakistan has failed to complete its action plan on terror financing, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said on Friday, warning Islamabad to meet its commitment by October or face action, which could possibly lead to the country getting blacklisted. The Paris-based global body is working to curb terrorism financing and money laundering and has asked Pakistan to reassess the

Colombo, Jun 21: Nine senior Sri Lankan police officials will face criminal investigations for their failure to act on the intelligence warnings, including from India, to prevent the Easter Sunday attacks that killed 258 people. Attorney General Dappula de Livera directed acting Inspector General of Police Chandana Wickramaratne to conduct the probe against the officers found liable for criminal

Islamabad, Jun 21: The Islamabad High Court on Thursday turned down former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's bail plea on medical grounds in a corruption case. A two-member bench pronounced the verdict after hearing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader's counsel and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor, Dawn newspaper reported. Sharif was sentenced in December 2018 to seven