KABUL: Taliban attacks in the Afghan capital of Kabul are on the rise, with growing targeted killings of government officials, civil society leaders and journalists, a report by a US watchdog said on Monday. It comes as the Biden administration plans to take a new look at the peace agreement between the US and the Taliban signed last February under …

CAPE CANAVERAL: A pair of Nasa astronauts ventured out on their second spacewalk in under a week on Monday and completed a four-year effort to modernise the International Space Station’s power grid. Over the weekend, flight controllers in Houston used the stations big robot arm to replace the last pair of old-style batteries with a single better-quality one. Astronauts Mike …

JAKARTA: A coup in Myanmar has left the military in control under a one-year state of emergency, while the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior politicians have been detained. Here’s a look at what could be behind the military’s actions. WHY NOW? Monday was supposed to be the first day of a new session of …

PARIS: The French parliament on Monday began debating a controversial new bill against what the interior minister described as the “disease” of Islamic radicalism eating away at the country’s unity. President Emmanuel Macron has pushed the legislation — which would tighten rules on issues ranging from religious-based education to polygamy — after a spate of attacks blamed on extremists late …

ANKARA; President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday it may be time for Turkey to adopt a new constitution, feeding speculation that he could seek a way to extend his rule. Erdogan, 66, has governed Turkey as prime minister or president since 2002, cementing his control over the nation of 83 million people and surviving a failed coup. As prime …

NEW YORK: The US north-east on Monday awoke under a blanket of snow as a powerful winter storm pummeled a vast swath stretching from Pennsylvania through New England, causing widespread disruption in New York City and other major urban centres in the region. The powerful nor’easter is forecast to bring 1 to 2 feet of snow across the region through …

MOSCOW: Russian prosecutors on Monday backed a request to imprison opposition leader Alexei Navalny for several years on old charges, after police detained a record number of anti-Kremlin protesters across the country. On Sunday, demonstrators defied government warnings and rallied from the Pacific port of Vladivostok to the northwestern city of Pskov in a second weekend of mass protest over …

Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma has been left off a list of Chinese entrepreneurial leaders published by state media — the snub underscoring just how far he has fallen out of favour with Beijing. China’s best known businessman was not mentioned in an front-page article published by the Shanghai Securities News. Instead Huawei Technologies’ Ren Zhengfei, Xiaomi Corp’s Lei Jun and …

Hundreds of members of Myanmar’s Parliament remained confined inside their government housing in the country’s capital on Tuesday, a day after the military staged a coup and detained senior politicians including Nobel laureate and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, meanwhile, released a statement calling for the military to honor the results of last …

ISLAMABAD: Helped by National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, the government on Monday hurriedly passed three bills, including the one seeking establishment of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority, amid ruckus by the opposition members. Besides the passage of the bills, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan also laid two ordinances, including the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) …