International

BEIRUT, July 5, (Agencies): Hezbollah is helping to lead a Russian-backed offensive in southern Syria, pro-Damascus sources said, exposing the limits of US policy that hopes Moscow can get Iran and groups it backs out of the country. Hezbollah’s role in the offensive near the border with Jordan and the …

Russia to do everything possible to keep N-deal LONDON, July 5 (Agencies): The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday their forces were ready to implement Iran’s threat to block the Strait of Hormuz and that if Iran cannot sell its oil under the US pressure, no other regional …

KUWAIT CITY, July 5: A senior diplomatic source has confirmed Britain’s agreement to deploy troops to Kuwait following a joint steering committee meeting last week during the visit of the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid to the United Kingdom, reports Annahar daily The same source added …

Philippine soldiers backed by armoured vehicles have retaken a southern town held for 12 hours by pro-Islamic State militants, the army said on Wednesday, with four rebels killed in urban clashes reminiscent of a five-month siege last year. The clashes followed warnings by President Rodrigo Duterte that remnants of pro-Islamic …

NEW DELHI, July 4, (Agencies): Media watchdog Reporters without Borders expressed alarm on Wednesday about India, with seven journalists killed in the past 18 months and a sharp rise in online abuse and harassment. “In 2017, the deaths of at least three journalists killed in connection with their work were …

GUARD SAYS READY TO PREVENT REGIONAL OIL EXPORTS DUBAI, UAE, July 4, (Agencies): The US military is reiterating a promise to keep Arabian Gulf waterways open to oil tankers as Iran renewed threats to close off the region. Capt Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US military’s Central Command, told …

MANILA, July 3, (Agencies): Motorcycle- borne gunmen on Tuesday assassinated a mayor in a town north of the Philippine capital, the second such killing of an official in two days, police said. Ferdinand Bote, 57, became the 12th elected local official murdered since President Rodrigo Duterte unleashed a deadly anti-narcotics …

THATTA, Pakistan, July 3, (Agencies): His mother was assassinated on the campaign trail and his grandfather was executed by a military dictator, but that has not prevented Bilawal Bhutto Zardari from seeking the job they both held: prime minister of Pakistan. Oxford-educated and single, 29-year-old Bhutto Zardari is campaigning himself …

Ex-leader to face over 10 counts of committing criminal breach of trust KUALA LUMPUR, July 3, (Agencies): Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was arrested by anti-corruption investigators Tuesday, officials said, the latest dramatic development in a widening graft probe that has engulfed the exleader. Najib, 64, will be charged …

RIYADH, July 3, (Agencies): Command of Arab Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen rejected false information mentioned in a report by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that children were killed in the armed conflict in that Arab country, coalition spokesman said on Monday. Speaking at a news conference in Riyadh, …