Category: World

US Energy Secretary Rick Perry has approved six secret authorisations by companies to sell nuclear power technology and assistance to Saudi Arabia, according to a copy of a document seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The Trump administration has quietly pursued a wider deal on sharing US nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia, which aims to build at […]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday it was time to rename Istanbul’s landmark Hagia Sophia as a mosque, saying that it had been a “very big mistake” to convert it into a museum. “Hagia Sophia will not be called a museum. It will be taken out of that status. We will call Hagia […]

European lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday for an EU-wide ban on single-use plastic products such as the straws, cutlery and cotton buds that are clogging the world’s oceans. The text had already been approved in negotiations with member states and EU officials and it will now be rapidly approved into law. The ban comes into […]

Saudi women activists detained for almost a year offered their defence at an emotionally charged hearing on Wednesday, alleging torture and sexual harassment during interrogation, courtroom sources said. Eleven women responded to charges that rights groups say include contact with international media and human rights groups, in the second hearing of a high-profile trial that […]

Adultery and gay sex in Brunei will be subject to death by stoning from next week, authorities said, under a strict Sharia law that has been on hold for four years amid heavy criticism. The law only applies to Muslims. Rights groups reacted in horror on Wednesday to the latest hardline move from the resource-rich […]

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook is extending its ban on hate speech to prohibit the promotion and support of white nationalism and white separatism. The company previously allowed such material even though it has long banned white supremacists. The social network said on Wednesday that it didn’t apply the ban previously to expressions of white nationalism because […]

The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime Wing is seeking inquiries against certain journalists and parties for allegedly executing what it called “a targeted social media campaign” against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman during his February visit to Pakistan. The development came to light when a copy of a letter dated March 13 ─ the […]

Austrian investigators have raided the apartment of a far-right group leader over possible links to the man behind deadly attacks on two mosques in New Zealand, officials said on Tuesday. Martin Sellner of the Identitarian Movement Austria (IBOe) said in a video uploaded online late Monday that he had received a donation, possibly from Christchurch gunman Brenton […]

Survivors of a cyclone that pummelled southern Africa began receiving medicine, food and tents on Tuesday as floodwaters receded, while officials warned up to 500,000 people are displaced in the storm-struck region. Cyclone Idai smashed into Mozambique’s coast, unleashing hurricane-force wind and rain that flooded swathes of the poor country before battering eastern Zimbabwe — […]

Facebook on Tuesday said it shut down more than 2,600 fake accounts linked to Iran, Russia, Macedonia and Kosovo aiming to influence political sentiment in various parts of the world. It was the latest effort by the leading social network to shut down “inauthentic” accounts on Facebook and Instagram seeking to influence politics in the […]