TURKEY: A Turkish imam was reportedly suspended after pieces of cucumber was found in his rectum after the doctors examined for severe abdominal pain. The 39-year-old imam hailing from the Central Anatolian province was admitted to hospital last week after suffering from severe abdominal pain and bleeding. According to the Hurriyet Daily News, the allegedly removed pieces of cucumber from ...

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin promised ever-closer cooperation and oversaw a series of deals on Saturday, as the two countries deepen ties in the face of growing tensions with the West. In what was Putin’s fourth trip to China since Xi became president in 2013, the two men stressed their shared outlook which mirrors the ...

Dawn breaks behind the Houses of Parliament and the statue of Winston Churchill in Westminster, London, Britain June 24, 2016. REUTERS LONDON: Britain has voted to leave the European Union, results from Thursday’s landmark referendum showed, an outcome that sets the country on an uncertain path and deals the largest setback to European efforts to forge greater unity since World War ...

MOSCOW: With President Vladimir Putin heading to China this weekend, officials in both countries extol a blossoming “strategic partnership” between the two former communist rivals. But despite Moscow’s push to strengthen ties with Beijing amid a bitter strain in relations with the West, Russia-China trade has shrunk sharply and a slew of ambitious projects have remained largely on paper. Observers ...

The United Nations Security Council was briefed regarding the latest upheavals in Afghanistan by the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Nicholas Haysom. Haysom said Afghanistan has taken positive steps to overcome five key challenges for the survival of the unity government in 2016. Recalling his statement to UNSC in March, Haysom said Afghanistan had to tackle a potent ...

The United States and its allies are expected to raise $15 billion for the Afghan National Defense and Security (ANDSF) in the NATO summit scheduled for next month in Warsaw, it has been reported. The funds will be raised with an aim to fund ANDSF through 2020 as they face a resurgent Taliban following the full transfer of security responsibilities ...

The Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai is expected to visit Pakistan on Monday to discuss the Torkham issue which led to deadly clashes between the Afghan and Pakistani forces last week. The Afghanistan National Security Council (NSC) said Karzai is expected to lead a high level delegation during his visit to Pakistan to discuss the issue with the Pakistani officials. ...

CAIRO: An Egyptian court Saturday sentenced former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi to life in prison in an espionage trial in which six of his co-defendants were handed death penalties. The court acquitted Morsi of charges of having supplied Qatar with classified documents but sentenced him to life for leading an unlawful organisation, his lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maksoud told AFP. ...

LONDON: A British lawmaker from the opposition Labour Party has been shot and injured in her constituency in northern England, media reported on Thursday. Jo Cox, 41, a mother of two, was left bleeding on the pavement after the incident in Birstall in Yorkshire, the Press Association cited an eyewitness as saying. West Yorkshire police said a 52-year-old man was ...

  DUBAI. Modi and Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who visited India in March 2015, signed seven agreements to strengthen ties, according to the official Twitter account of India’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Vikas Swarup. Modi also met Qatari businessmen and encouraged them to invest more in India, calling it “a land of opportunity”. Qatar is one of ...