International

Australian lawmakers moved a step closer to banning under 16s from social media platforms Wednesday, threatening companies that fail to comply with multimillion-dollar fines. The landmark legislation passed parliament’s lower chamber Wednesday and is now set to be debated by the Senate. The new rules would mean the likes of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat have to take “reasonable steps” ...

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal of India has demanded the release of Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote spokesperson Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, who was arrested in Bangladesh. West Bengal state’s opposition leader, Suvendu Adhikari, came up with the statement after attending an event with BJP lawmakers on Monday. Expressing concern over the arrest, Suvendu said, “We demand ...

Pakistan’s army has been ordered to “shoot on sight” after clashes with demonstrators killed four soldiers and at least one protester, according to reports. The violence erupted when protesters demanding the release of Pakistan’s jailed former premier Imran Khan entered the capital Islamabad late Monday, defying efforts by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government to stifle the nationwide demonstrations. Television networks ...

Flash floods and a landslide swept four districts of Indonesia’s Sumatra island over the weekend, killing at least 16 people, the national disaster agency said. “In total, 16 people died and seven more people are missing,” the spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency or BNPB, Abdul Muhari, said in a statement Monday, reports AFP. Karo district suffered from the ...

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday hailed the COP29 deal in Baku as marking “a new era for climate cooperation and finance”. She said the $300-billion agreement after marathan talks in the Azerbaijani capital “will drive investments in the clean transition, bringing down emissions and building resilience to climate change.” “The EU will continue to lead, focusing ...

Three days of bitter sectarian gunfights in northwestern Pakistan have killed at least 82 people and wounded 156 more, a local official said Sunday. “Among the deceased, 16 were Sunni, while 66 belonged to the Shia community,” said a local administration official in Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, speaking on condition of anonymity. Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country but ...

US President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday he would nominate former Florida Attorney General and loyalist Pam Bondi to be US Attorney General, moving swiftly to replace his former nominee Matt Gaetz after the embattled former congressman withdrew from consideration. Gaetz was the subject of a House Ethics Committee probe into allegations of having sex with an underage 17-year-old girl ...

The US embassy in Kyiv has received information of a potential, significant air attack and will be closed, the Department of State Consular Affairs said in a statement, reports AFP. “Out of an abundance of caution, the embassy will be closed, and embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place,” a statement published on the website of the US ...

Leaders of the world’s 20 major economies called for a global pact to combat hunger, more aid for war-torn Gaza and an end to hostilities in the Mideast and Ukraine, issuing a joint declaration Monday that was heavy on generalities but short of details on how to accomplish those goals. The joint statement was endorsed by group members but fell ...

The Canadian government recently announced that it is making significant cuts to the number of immigrants admitted into Canada. The number of new permanent residents is expected to be cut by nearly 20% next year, while fewer temporary foreign workers will be allowed to come to Canada. The government says the cuts would result in a 0.2% decline in Canada’s ...