TEHRAN – Iranian authorities yesterday executed a man after convicting him of cooperation with and espionage for Israel’s Mossad spy agency, the judiciary said. “Gholamreza Khani Shakarab was executed on charges of intelligence cooperation and espionage in favour of the Zionist regime,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported, adding that his sentence had been upheld...
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa on Monday marked Africa Day amid renewed concerns over xenophobia, as the government called for African unity and condemned violence against foreign nationals. Speaking at celebrations held at Moruleng Stadium in North West Province, Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie rejected the claims that South Africa is xenophobic, while...
VATICAN CITY – Pope Leo XIV yesterday called for the “disarming” of artificial intelligence in his long-awaited manifesto on the rapidly developing technology, and warned of “new forms of slavery” behind its rise. Leo, the first US pope, warned against “a race for ever more powerful algorithms and larger datasets, driven by the desire to...
TOKYO – Around 20 people were injured at a luxury shopping complex in central Tokyo yesterday after a man sprayed a substance inside, police and fire department officials said. Tokyo police spokesman Yusuke Koide told AFP that a man sprayed a substance at an ATM on the ground floor of the building, while a local...
KAMPALA – Uganda yesterday confirmed two new cases of Ebola, bringing to seven the total since the virus outbreak was discovered in the east African country on 15 May. “The two new confirmed cases are Ugandan health workers working in a private facility in Kampala. Both patients have been admitted to the designated treatment unit...
HAVANA – Cubans expressed their shock and indignation after the United States indicted former president Raul Castro on murder charges, a stunning new step in President Donald Trump’s pressure on the communist state. The charges against the ex-leader — who at 94 years old remains influential in Cuban politics — have fuelled speculation that Trump...
Manama – Bahrain on Tuesday announced a month-long ban on visitors from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan and Uganda, the three African nations at the centre of the latest Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 130 people. The ban will remain in place for 30 days but not apply to Bahraini...
GENEVA – The WHO yesterday said it was examining whether any candidate vaccines or treatments could be used to rein in what it warned could be a lengthy Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The WHO has declared the surge of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever, suspected to have killed 131 people and...
SAN DIEGO – Police were yesterday investigating a shooting in the US state of California as a hate crime after a pair of teenage gunmen killed three people at a mosque complex. Tearful women emerged from a centre set up to reunite families caught up in the shooting, and yellow police tape blocked access to...
JERUSALEM – The Israeli military yesterday warned residents of 12 towns and villages in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate ahead of expected attacks against Hezbollah, the latest despite a ceasefire. “Hezbollah’s continued violations of the ceasefire compel the IDF to operate against it. The IDF does not intend to harm you. For your safety, we...