Workforce shortages: Australia decides to hike cap on permanent migration
Sep 02, 2022, at 06:45 pm
Melbourne: The Australian government has decided to hike the cap on permanent migration for the first time in a decade to help fill massive workforce shortages.
China responsible for ‘serious human rights violations’ in Xinjiang province: UN human rights report
Sep 02, 2022, at 06:23 pm
New York: A long-awaited report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) into what China refers to as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) has concluded that “serious human rights violations” against the Uyghur and “other predominantly Muslim communities” have been committed.
Sri Lanka: WFP helps alleviate stress of pregnancy amidst skyrocketing food prices
Sep 02, 2022, at 06:18 pm
New York: The queue of women grows steadily outside a government clinic in Kuppiyawatta, in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. In just over half an hour the number swells to around 200. Pregnant women, some with children in hand, are waiting their turn to receive food vouchers from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) – part of its emergency food assistance response.
Ukraine: IAEA experts arrive in Zaporizhzhia on mission to nuclear plant
Sep 02, 2022, at 05:59 pm
New York: Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday, the latest stage in their efforts to inspect conditions at the embattled nuclear power plant there.
Pakistan: WHO warns of significant health risks as floods continue
Sep 02, 2022, at 05:54 pm
New York: Major health risks are unfolding in Pakistan as unprecedented flooding continues, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Wednesday, warning of the threat of further spread of malaria, dengue fever and other water and vector-borne diseases.
Spain: Former Catalan Parliament leaders’ political rights violated, say UN experts
Sep 02, 2022, at 05:50 pm
New York: By suspending former Catalan government and parliament members from public duties prior to them being convicted, following the independence referendum back in 2017, Spain violated their political rights, the UN Human Rights Committee said in a statement published on Wednesday.
Afghanistan: Explosion in Helmand leaves two children dead
Sep 02, 2022, at 03:10 pm
Helmand: An explosion rocked the Helmand province of Afghanistan which left at least two children,who are brothers, dead on Wednesday, media reports said.
Pakistan's August inflation spikes to 27.26pc, highest in 49 years
Sep 02, 2022, at 02:56 pm
Data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Thursday showed the country's inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shot up to 27.26 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in August.
China's Zero Covid policy: Authorities enforce lockdown in Chengdu as cases spike
Sep 02, 2022, at 02:41 pm
China's "zero-Covid" policy has forced authorities to impose a lockdown in Chengdu, a city where a spike in infection has been noticed in recent times.
Saudi Arabia: Two Pakistanis among eight arrested in 'biggest' drug bust
Sep 01, 2022, at 09:53 pm
Riyadh/UNI: Saudi officers foiled an attempt to smuggle 47 million amphetamine pills into the country, the media reported, describing it as the largest drug trafficking operation in the kingdom.
First Alaskan native elected to US Congress
Sep 01, 2022, at 09:35 pm
Washington/UNI: Sarah Palin has lost a special US Congressional election in Alaska in a district that was Republican-held for nearly five decades.
Typhoon to hit Japan's Okinawa
Sep 01, 2022, at 09:19 pm
Tokyo/UNI: Typhoon Hinnamnor is re-approaching Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa amid unstable atmospheric conditions that are expected to lead to heavy downpours in western and eastern Japan, the weather agency said Thursday.
UN inspectors head out to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant amid fighting
Sep 01, 2022, at 09:08 pm
Kyiv/IBNS: A team from the United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog Thursday headed for a Russian-held nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine despite fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region.
China faces UN heat over Uyghur torture
Sep 01, 2022, at 05:03 pm
The UN has accused China of "serious human rights violations" in a long-awaited report into allegations of abuse in Xinjiang province.
Portugal Health Minister quits after pregnant Indian tourist dies
Sep 01, 2022, at 04:51 pm
Lisbon/UNI: Portugal's Health Minister resigned hours after reports emerged that a pregnant Indian tourist died on being turned away from a maternity ward, media reports said.
Pakistan fears major disease outbreaks after severe floods
Sep 01, 2022, at 04:46 pm
Islamabad/UNI: Pakistan health officials have warned of large-scale outbreaks of disease in the aftermath of biblical flooding that displaced millions of people.
Afghanistan: Kabul witnessing rise in women street vendors
Aug 31, 2022, at 11:09 pm
Kabul: Kabul city is witnessing a rise in women vendors amid rising poverty in Afghanistan following the takeover of the country by Taliban forces.
Former Malaysian PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad tests COVID-19 positive
Aug 31, 2022, at 09:20 pm
Kuala Lumpur: Former Malaysian PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has tested COVID-19 positive.
Mikhail Gorbachev: UN chief hails ‘one of a kind statesman who changed the course of history’
Aug 31, 2022, at 08:52 pm
New York: The Secretary-General has paid warm tribute to the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, whose death aged 91 was announced on Tuesday, describing him as the person who “more than any other” brought about the peaceful end of the Cold War, which had dominated international relations since the 1940s.
Pakistan: Death due to flood touches 1,162
Aug 31, 2022, at 08:46 pm
Islamabad: The death toll due to the ravaging flood in Pakistan has touched 1,162 on Wednesday, media reports said on Wednesday.
Libya: Political stalemate and lack of progress on elections
Aug 31, 2022, at 08:43 pm
New York: Leaders in Libya must take immediate steps to resolve their political impasse, which is spilling over into increasing violence, UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council on Tuesday.
Afghanistan: Taliban directs shops not to sell things to women not wearing Hijab
Aug 31, 2022, at 08:37 pm
In yet another bizarre diktat, the Taliban Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice officials have allegedly warned shopkeepers in Mazar-e-Sharif, the provincial capital of Balkh province in northern Afghanistan, not to sell anything to women who are not wearing hijab.
LGBT rights being ‘deliberately undermined’, in some US states: UN expert
Aug 31, 2022, at 08:30 pm
An independent UN human rights expert on Tuesday warned that the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse (LGBT) people are being “deliberately undermined by some state governments in the United States”, urging more action on the part of the Biden administration to protect them.
Enforced disappearance a serious human rights violation, used to spread terror
Aug 31, 2022, at 08:25 pm
New York: Observed this Tuesday, the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances reaffirms the need for victims’ families to know the truth about what happened to missing relatives.
Visa refusal for UN human rights staff in Palestine part of wider ‘worrying trend’: Bachelet
Aug 31, 2022, at 08:15 pm
New York: UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet has deplored Israel’s refusal to grant visas for her staff in the occupied Palestinian territory, according to a statement issued on Tuesday.
Mikhail Gorbachev: Soviet leader who ended Cold War dies
Aug 31, 2022, at 03:43 pm
Moscow: Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who had triggered the fall of the Soviet Union, has died in Moscow city.
China’s zero-Covid policy leaves Nepali traders in trouble
Aug 31, 2022, at 05:45 am
Kathmandu: Nepalese exports to China have nearly dried up due to the closure of the border following Beijing's zero-Covid policy.
China slowly undercutting US influence in Latin America: Reports
Aug 31, 2022, at 05:10 am
Beijing: Analysts believe China stands to secure prized natural resources while vying with the United States for allies through five potential new trade deals with countries in Latin America, media reports said.
China supports travel ban exemptions for Taliban leaders of Afghanistan
Aug 31, 2022, at 05:00 am
Kabul: China hopes that the UN Security Council will extend the travel ban exemption for the Taliban leaders of Afghanistan.
Conflict with Sri Lanka: Chinese fertilizer company refuses to budge
Aug 31, 2022, at 03:28 am
Colombo: A Chinese fertilizer company, which was engaged in a conflict with Sri Lanka, has refused to budge and demanded that Colombo respect the spirit of the agreement reached between both parties, media reports said on Tuesday.