International

Police in Oman say 10 members of a single family have died after suffocating in a fire at their home in the sultanate. The Royal Oman Police said on Twitter on Thursday that the fire happened at a home in the village of Khor al-Hamam in the country’s Saham region.   Omani civil defense officials say firefighters found the dead ...

Congo says it has decided to boycott two planned UN events focusing on the central African nation because it was not consulted on the agenda or expected outcome. Barnabe Kikaya Bin Karubi is the top adviser to Congo President Joseph Kabila and he told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the government was informed that the meetings had been canceled.   ...

New Delhi, Sep 26 : India’s top court has upheld the government’s policy of issuing a 12-digit identification number to every Indian, but says it can’t be made mandatory for services such as bank accounts, cellphone connections or school admissions. The Supreme Court says the government can use it for tax purposes and providing benefits under welfare schemes like subsidized ...

Flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain in parts of north India led to the death of at least 22 people in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have issued a red alert, report  The Indian Express. Water levels in rivers rose across the region, with the level in Pong Dam nearing danger mark. ...

At least 45 people who had gone for trekking in upper reaches of northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh were reported missing, local media said Tuesday. The trekkers included 35 students from India’s Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee.   The group had gone for trekking in mountainous Lahaul-Spiti district. They were reported to be missing after heavy snowfall hit ...

A statue of Nelson Mandela was unveiled at the UN headquarters on Monday to honour the South African President’s 100th birth anniversary. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the ceremony that Mandela “embodied the highest values of the United Nations — peace, forgiveness, compassion and human dignity”, Xinhua news agency reported.   His fight against apartheid “marks a landmark in ...

An Indian soldier and five suspected militants have died in fighting in Kashmir, the army said Monday, just days after high-level talks with Pakistan were cancelled over tensions in the disputed territory.   Colonel Rajesh Kalia said two suspected rebels died Sunday when the army detected a group trying to cross the de facto border dividing Kashmir into Indian and ...

America’s ports are fearful that they will be big losers as the escalating trade fight between Washington and Beijing bites into business. The anxiety is that tit-for-tat tariffs between the two economic superpowers will crimp shipments, denting port revenues.   Kurt Nagle, head of the American Association of Port Authorities, called the state of play “concerning,” following the latest back-and-forth ...

The Pakistani army said late Saturday that nine terrorists and seven soldiers were killed in an anti-terrorist operation carried out in North Waziristan district in northwestern part of the country. An army statement said that the security forces killed nine terrorists in clashes when the security forces launched an intelligence-based operation in Gharlamai and Spera Kunar Algad in North Waziristan, ...

Chinese police have solved more than 33,000 cases involving guns and explosives since a campaign against such crimes was staged across the country in February. Over 140,000 illegal guns and a large number of explosives confiscated or turned over to the police were destroyed on Thursday in 146 cities, including Chongqing, Qiqihar, Nanjing, Wuhan, Guangzhou and Kunming.   During the ...