Australia talks tough on asylum-seekers
Sydney: Australia cannot be ‘misty-eyed’ about boatpeople, the country’s prime minister said today, the day after his immigration policy was thrown into disarray when Papua New Guinea ordered an offshore processing camp to close.
UN to meet on protection of Palestinians on May 6
United Nations: The UN Security Council will hold an informal meeting on May 6 on the protection of Palestinian civilians, an issue the Palestinians have pressed for decades and say is more needed now than ever.
Pak committing atrocities on Muhajirs: MQM to US
Washington: Pakistan’s Army and paramilitary forces are committing atrocities against Muhajir community in Karachi, the MQM alleged on Thursday in memorandum to the US Government.
2 killed, 9 coal miners missing in China
Beijing: At least two persons were killed and nine others missing days after a coal mine they were working in was flooded in the country’s northwest Shaanxi Province.
Ex-US house speaker sentenced to prison
Chicago: Dennis Hastert, the Republican who for eight years presided over the US House and was second in the line of succession to the presidency, was sentenced to more than a year in prison in a hush-money case that revealed accusations he sexually abused teenagers while coaching high school wrestling.
US House passes email privacy bill
Washington: US lawmakers have approved a bill to boost privacy protection for email and other electronic communication, closing key loopholes in digital data protection.
Endangered dholes spotted in China reserve
Beijing: At least nine dholes, or Asiatic wild dogs, were caught on camera in a nature reserve in China’s Gansu province, the nature reserve officials said on Thursday. Infrared cameras in Yanchiwan National Nature Reserve on the north margin of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau photographed the animals, which are rarely seen in the inland province.
US Vice Prez Biden on surprise visit to Iraq
Baghdad: US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad on Thursday for an unannounced visit to Iraq, whose leadership is bogged down in a protracted political crisis even as its forces battle jehadis.
Yemen bomber targets Aden police chief
Aden: A suicide bomber targeted the police chief of Yemen’s second city Aden on Thursday in the latest attack against senior officials in the base of the Saudi-backed Government.