Kabul, May 6 (IANS) One person was killed and three others injured in a blast involving unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan’s Parwan province, local media reported on Wednesday citing a Taliban police statement. The incident took place in Bagram district on Tuesday when a 20-year-old man tried to open a piece of unexploded ammunition, local Taliban authorities said in a statement. The man died in the blast while two girls and a boy were injured and taken to a hospital in Parwan, where they are un…
Latest Xinhua News Agency News & Updates
Wellington, May 6 (IANS) New Zealand’s unemployment rate eased to 5.3 per cent in the March 2026 quarter from 5.4 per cent in the December 2025 quarter, Stats NZ said on Wednesday. The statistics department reported the number of unemployed falling to 163,000 in the March 2026 quarter from 165,000 in the December 2025 quarter, with the employment rate standing at 66.7 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.The underutilisation rate, a broader measure of untapped labour market capacity than unemplo…
Canberra, May 6 (IANS) Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Wednesday at a press conference announced 74 million Australian dollars (about $48.8 million) for a security centre to crack down on online violent extremism and terrorism.The newly created Counter Terrorism Online Centre will be led by Australia’s security agency ASIO and the Australian Federal Police (AFP).Burke said the AFP had put in 31 charges under new offenses on online extremism and radicalization, and 19 of them are m…
Havana, May 6 (IANS) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Tuesday it is “cynical and hypocritical” for the United States to threaten using military forces to “liberate” the country after more than six decades of economic, commercial and financial embargo.”The US government insists in hinting at a military action against Cuba because ‘the country is devastated… and it would be an honor to liberate it,'” Rodriguez wrote on X.”The cynical and hypocritical thing about it is that the US has …
Washington, May 5 (IANS) Two US Navy destroyers have passed through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Gulf after navigating an Iranian barrage, US media outlet CBS News reported. The USS Truxtun and USS Mason, supported by Apache helicopters and other aircraft, faced a series of coordinated threats during the passage, said the report, citing Pentagon officials, who spoke under condition of anonymity, on Monday night (local time).No US warship was struck, though Iran launched small boats, miss…
Johannesburg, May 4 (IANS) As Africa Month commemorations begin across the continent, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has renewed calls for slavery reparations. Centuries of exploitation and the systematic looting of African resources continue to inflict lasting economic damage on African nations, Ramaphosa said in a newsletter released on Monday.Reparations must go beyond financial compensation to include “increased foreign direct investment and market access for the African countries a…
Colombo, May 4 (IANS) Sri Lanka and the Maldives signed seven memoranda of understanding during Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s State Visit to Colombo, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said on Monday.The agreements cover cooperation in tourism, education, higher education, health, sports, youth development, archives and defence, the PMD said.Muizzu arrived in Sri Lanka on Monday for a three-day State Visit at the invitation of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The visit mar…
Samarkand, May 4 (IANS) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it will commit up to 70 billion USD by 2035 to two initiatives to integrate power grids, expand cross-border electricity trade, and strengthen broadband access across the Asia-Pacific region.ADB President Masato Kanda launched the Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative and the Asia-Pacific Digital Highway at the bank’s 59th annual meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan’s second-largest city, Xinhua news agency reported.”Energy and digital access wi…
Kabul, May 3 (IANS) Afghan counter-narcotics forces have seized a substantial quantity of narcotics and drug-processing materials during ongoing operations in southern Helmand province, the state-run Bakhtar News Agency reported on Sunday. According to the report, authorities confiscated approximately 8,170 kg of heroin, along with materials used in the processing and production of illegal drugs. The seizure is part of continued efforts to combat drug trafficking and dismantle criminal networks …
Tokyo, May 3 (IANS) Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi once again signalled pursuing a revision of the country’s 1947 Constitution, local media reported on Sunday. Takaichi expressed her intent in a video message to a gathering of revision proponents on Constitution Memorial Day, which falls on May 3, the report by Kyodo News agency said.She said that the ruling Democratic Party would “advance discussions in the Diet aimed at reaching decisions while securing the cooperation of other parties…