West Asia Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on Wednesday and agreed on reinstating their respective ambassadors and general consuls, thus restoring full diplomatic ties. Lapid said in a statement that "restoring ties with Turkey is an important asset to the stability of the region and bears great economic significance to Israel's citizens "We'll continue working and strengthening Israel's international standing in the world," Lapid said. President Isaac Herzog also welcomed the renewal of diplomatic ties with Turkey, calling it an "important de ..read more

World Author Salman Rushdie has been taken off a ventilator and is able to talk, a day after he was stabbed as he prepared to give a lecture in upstate New York. Rushdie, who penned a controversial book in 1980s drawing criticism from across the Muslim world, remained hospitalised with serious wounds, but fellow author Aatish Taseer said on Saturday evening that he was "off the ventilator." Rushdie's agent, Andrew Wylie, confirmed that information without offering further details.  Suspect Pleads Not Guilty Earlier in the day, the man accused of attacking him on Friday at the Chautauqua ..read more

World New York: Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born British author whose writing led to death threats from Muslims in the 1980s, has been stabbed as he was about to give a lecture in southwestern New York state. Police confirmed Rushdie was stabbed "at least once in the neck, and at least once in the abdomen" on Friday after an assailant rushed to the stage and lunged at the 75-year-old writer just as he was being introduced to the audience. After being airlifted to hospital where he spent hours in surgery, Rushdie was on a ventilator and unable to speak on Friday evening."The news is not go ..read more

World The Israeli army continued its offensive campaign on the Gaza Strip into the night of 5 August, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens more. Palestinian resistance groups launched dozens of rockets in retaliation, targeting Israeli settlements bordering Gaza. Several of these projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system. According to Hebrew media, red alert sirens have been wailing across the illegal settlements, while public bomb shelters were activated in Tel Aviv under official instructions. Tensions boiled over earlier on Friday after Tel Aviv b ..read more

World Taipei: Taiwan is preparing its air-raid shelters as rising tension with China and Russia's invasion of Ukraine raise new fears about the possibility of a Chinese attack on the democratic island. China considers Taiwan its territory and has increased military activity in the air and seas around it. Taiwan vows to defend itself and has made strengthening its defenses a priority, with regular military and civil defense drills. The preparations include designating shelters where people can take cover if Chinese missiles start flying in, not in purpose-built bunkers but in underground ..read more

West Asia Beirut: Tel Aviv is reported to have sent an SOS to Washington urging it to finalize an agreement over its maritime border with Lebanon before the September deadline given by Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah. According to the military affairs correspondent of Israel's Channel 12, Nir Dvory, Tel Aviv is pressuring the US to finalize an agreement over their maritime border with Lebanon before the September deadline given by Hezbollah. Referring to the US-mediated talks between Lebanon and Israel as "stuck," Dvory also highlighted that Tel Aviv is carrying out "a very large prote ..read more

West Asia Beirut: Tel Aviv is reported to have sent an SOS to Washington urging it to finalize an agreement over its maritime border with Lebanon before the September deadline given by Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah. According to the military affairs correspondent of Israel's Channel 12, Nir Dvory, Tel Aviv is pressuring the US to finalize an agreement over their maritime border with Lebanon before the September deadline given by Hezbollah. Referring to the US-mediated talks between Lebanon and Israel as "stuck," Dvory also highlighted that Tel Aviv is carrying out "a very large prote ..read more

South Asia Colombo: Sri Lanka's Presidential Secretariat, which was stormed by a sea of anti-government protesters in early July, resumed operation from Monday amidst tight security, 107 days after the building's entry gate was blocked, officials said. The building's entry gate has been blocked by the protesters since April 9. On July 9, the protesters stormed the building and occupied it. In the early hours of Friday last, police and security forces conducted a raid and took back control of the building from the protesters on the order of the crisis-hit island nation's new President Ranil Wi ..read more

Southeast Asia ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Prime Minister Imran Khan's move to dissolve parliament was unconstitutional and called for lawmakers to return in two days, a decision that could spell the end of his premiership. The no confidence vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan will now be held on Saturday. If Imran Khan loses, he will be the first Prime Minister to be removed through a no-trust vote. Two other Prime Ministers against whom a no-confidence motion was called, had resigned before the vote, but former cricket star Khan had refused to step dow ..read more

Southeast Asia Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that there was a "foreign conspiracy hatched by the United States" to topple his government through the opposition's no-confidence motion for pursuing an "independent foreign policy". Imran Khan addressed the nation hours after he chaired the meeting of the National Security Committee, which called the formal communication of a foreign country's official "blatant interference" in Pakistan's internal affairs and also decided to issue a demarche to that country. Immense political turmoil has followed the joint opposition's ..read more