DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – The UN human rights chief arrived in Bangladesh on Sunday on a 4-day official visit to assess the state of human rights in the South Asian nation and monitor the plight of the persecuted Rohingya community. Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen received Michelle Bachelet at the Dhaka airport. This is...
ABUJA, Nigeria (AA) – Nigerian security forces rescued 35 people Sunday who had been taken hostage by armed gangs in Kaduna state. Kaduna Commissioner for Internal Security and Internal Affairs Samuel Aruwan said operations against gunmen were carried out in the Sabon Gero region of the state. Aruwan said 35 children and women were rescu...
KUALA LUMPUR (AA) – A magnitude 5.7 earthquake jolted the Indonesian state of North Sulawesi on August 14. The epicenter of the earthquake was 158 kilometers (nearly 98.2 miles) off the Laikit village of North Sulawesi at a depth of 30 kilometers (18.6 miles), according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Meanwhile, the country’s M...
ANKARA (AA) – A magnitude-5 earthquake struck early on Sunday off the Menderes district of Izmir in western Türkiye. The quake was recorded in the Bay of Kusadasi at 06.24 (0424GMT) local time, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD). The tremor occurred 7 kilometers (4.35 miles) deep into the ground. Iızmir P...
BAGHDAD (AA) – Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council has said it does not have the authority to dissolve the country’s parliament. On Wednesday, Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on the council, Iraq’s highest judicial authority, to dissolve the assembly amid a deep political crisis in the country. The council said in a statement that it had [&hell...
Erie, United States (AFP): The man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie at a literary event pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges on Saturday, as the severely injured author appeared to show signs of improvement in hospital. Hadi Matar, 24, was arraigned in court in New York state, with prosecutors outlining how Rushdie had been [&helli...
Khartoum, Sudan (AFP): Hundreds of Sudanese rallied on Sunday in support of a political initiative backed by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan who led last year’s military coup, AFP correspondents said. The initiative, known as “The Call of Sudan’s People”, was launched last month by renowned Sufi religious leader Al-Ta...
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – A US airstrike in central Somalia has killed 13 al-Shabaab fighters, Somali officials and state media said on Sunday. The airstrike destroyed hideouts in the Hiran region, military officials told Anadolu Agency, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. The operation was conducted in coor...
KANO, Nigeria (AA) – At least 50 people have been killed in floods triggered by torrential rains in northern Nigeria, authorities said on Sunday. Parts of Jigawa state have been lashed by heavy rainfall almost continuously since late July. Thousands of homes have been damaged across Jigawa, according to Sani Yusuf, executive secretary of the [...
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – At least 13 people were killed and five injured in a collision between a passenger van and a truck in Pakistan on Saturday. The accident took place on a highway in Rahim Yar Khan, a district in Punjab province, some 590 kilometers (365 miles) from the provincial capital Lahore. The speeding […]
