International

Three earthquakes, included one at magnitude 6, have struck western Iran, with state media reporting at least two people killed and 241 injured. The U.S. Geological Survey says two other earthquakes, measuring 4.4 and 4.2 magnitude, struck early Sunday near the city of Javanrud in Iran’s Kermanshah province.   State TV reported the toll, citing Reza Mahmoudian, a governorate official. ...

 Pope Francis will visit an Irish shrine and hold a giant mass in Dublin on Sunday as he wraps up a visit overshadowed by abuse scandals and cover-ups in the Catholic Church. Francis is due to speak in front of some 500,000 faithful in Phoenix Park, as abuse victims and their supporters gather in a “Stand for Truth” rally in ...

Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has announced her resignation from the cabinet. Her move came as new Prime Minister Scott Morrison prepares to announce his new cabinet after winning a bruising leadership contest on Friday.   Ms Bishop said she had not yet decided whether to stand at the next general election, due in 2019.   She had sought the ...

At least 15 people were killed and 27 others were injured in a bus accident on Saturday in Bulgaria, the country’s Minister of Health Kiril Ananiev told reporters. According to the Interior Ministry, the accident took place around 5:10 p.m. (1510 GMT) local time in the Iskar Gorge near the town of Svoge, some 40 km north of Sofia, when ...

Flash floods have killed at least 11 people in the remote eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, officials said on Saturday. Deputy governor Gul Mohammad told Anadolu Agency over phone that the floods caused by torrential rains have caused damage in the Ghazi Abad district of the province. He confirmed 11 people, including eight members of a single family, were killed ...

Senator John McCain, the Vietnam war hero turned senator and presidential candidate, has died aged 81. Mr McCain died on Saturday surrounded by his family, according to a short statement released by his office.   He was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour in July 2017 and had been undergoing medical treatment.   His family announced Mr McCain, who left ...

Ramallah, Aug 25 : Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ spokesman says the U.S. decision to cut more than $200 million in aid is meant to force the Palestinians to abandon their claim to Jerusalem. Nabil Abu Rdeneh tells The Associated Press on Saturday the move is part of continuing political and financial pressure on the Palestinian leadership. He says the Americans ...

Sanaa, Aug 25 : A senior al-Qaida leader was killed in Yemen’s central province of Marib while fighting alongside the government forces battling Shiite rebels, officials and tribal leaders said Saturday. Ghalib al-Zaidi’s death came a week ago in an exchange of fire during clashes with the rebels, known as Houthis, in the Sirwah district of Marib, they told The ...

Rome, Aug 25 : The United Nations’ refugee agency is imploring European Union countries to take responsibility for 150 migrants stranded aboard an Italian coast guard ship and urging Italy to let the migrants off the ship immediately. The Diciotti rescued the migrants from a trafficker’s boat on Aug. 16. The ship has been docked in Sicily for days, and ...

Kabul, Aug 25 : At least two people were killed and four others wounded Saturday when a suicide bomber detonated his vest full of explosives near the office of the Election Commission in eastern Nangarhar province, officials said. Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the wounded were brought to the regional hospital in the capital city Jalalabad with ...