Islamabad, Washington- U.S. President Barack Obama confirmed on Monday the death of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, saying it marks an “important milestone” in longstanding efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan. “We have removed the leader of an organization that has continue
Vienna-Austrians cast their ballots on Sunday to elect a new president in polls that are closely followed by Europe amid concerns that right-winger Norbert Hofer would defeat Alexander Van der Bellen, a Greens politician running as an independent. Austria’s 6.4 million eligible voters were inv
The Palme d’Or for Best Picture at the 69th Cannes Film Festival, on Sunday, was won by British director Ken Loach for “I, Daniel Blake”. Noting that Loach had already won the highest distinction in 2006 for “The Wind That Shakes the Barley”. While the Iranian film R
Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) said it was working with trade unions, government as well as the U.N. to improve workers’ conditions after a study found violations in supplying garment factories in India and Cambodia. Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) found through a stud
Drummer, Nick Menza, former member of the heavy metal band Megadeth, passed away at age 51 after collapsing on stage at a Los Angeles club late on Saturday, said a family spokesman, J. Marshall Craig, who is also Menza’s biographers. The latter also added that Menza collapsed while performing
U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday headed for his first visit to Vietnam, looking forward to transform an old enemy into a new partner to help counter China’s growing assertiveness in the region, following four decades of the Vietnam War. This visit is expected to deepen defense and economi
Turkey’s ruling party has formally appointed a trusted ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its new chairman, setting the stage for his appointment as the next prime minister. Delegates of the governing Justice and Development Party on Sunday voted to endorse Transport and Communications
Iraq’s military on Sunday told residents of Fallujah to leave as it was preparing to launch an offensive to retake the ISIS stronghold city. Families who could not flee should raise white flags to mark their location in the city 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, the army’s media unit sai
Egypt deployed on Sunday a submarine belonging to the country’s Oil Ministry to hunt for the EgyptAir flight Flight-804 and the cockpit voice and flight data recorders that crashed in deep Mediterranean waters, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said, warning investigations into the disaster would
At least 60,000 people have died in Syrian regime jails during the five-year conflict, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. “No fewer than 60,000 detainees were martyred … either as a result of direct bodily torture, or denial of food and medicine” the Observatory said in
Moscow- In a Noteworthy transformation, two of the largest Russian banks, one of which is Sberbank, will soon incorporate Islamic banking rules into their line of work, in a quick response to the invitation sent out by President of Tatarstan, a federal subject of Russia, Rustam Minnikhanov. Minnikha
Cairo- Ahmed Qaddaf al Dam, prominent leader in the National Libyan Front Party and a high-up leader in the late Libyan Prime Minister Muammar Gaddafi’s administration, confirmed that the deteriorating state-of-affairs- in Libya is grave. Al Dam was also Gaddafi’s cousin and former intelligence top
Yemeni troops staged on Sunday a raid on a house outside the southern city of Mukalla, killing 13 militants, the army said, extending a struggle to restore security in the area ruled until last month by al Qaeda. Two soldiers also lost their lives in the operation. “Special forces and the army
Cairo- The mystery obscuring the last twenty minutes of the Egypt air flight A320, which crashed on its return flight to Cairo last Thursday, coming from the Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, raised suspicions and stirred different projections as to how the ill-fated flight had come to its end. Egyp
Riyadh- Asaad al-Zoubi, head of the Syrian opposition delegation of High Negotiations Committee (HNC) in Geneva, revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper the existence of a plot aimed at establishing an independent Alawite state which chunked out from Syrian grounds and will go by “Handy Syria;” i.e. r
Khobar- Former Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al Nuaimi is expected to receive his award of appreciation on the 24th of May. Al Nuaimi had departed his post earlier this month due to a cabinet reshuffle, given that he at his time represented the whole of the Saudi oil industry. Al N
Russia recently proposed to the U.S.-led coalition to launch joint air strikes on Syrian rebels, including the militant group Al-Nusra Front. However, the U.S responded coolly to the proposal on Friday. The campaign supposedly would kick off as of May 25 and be coordinated with the Syrian regime, Ru
Mourad Laachraoui, a Belgian whose older brother was one of the suicide bombers in the terror attacks on Brussels has won gold at the European Taekwondo Championships. He is now set to compete for Belgium at the Olympic Games in Brazil. On Friday, Mourad won gold in the Under-54kg in Montreux, Switz
The Turkish parliament yesterday stripped almost a quarter of its members of immunity in the largest removal of immunity in Turkish history. The move included 138 deputies out of a total of 550, and these 138 deputies are currently facing criminal investigations. It was clear that this process is sp
British house prices could plummet by up to 18 percent if the country leaves the European Union, the Treasury says — a claim ruled out as scaremongering by campaigners for a U.K. departure from the bloc. House prices could take an 18% hit over the next two years and there would be a “profound econom
