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Flight restrictions lifted in Iran
DUBAI — Flight restrictions have been lifted in Iran after conditions were deemed safe, state media reported on Monday, shortening the period of flight cancellations announced earlier by the Civil Aviation Organization. A spokesperson for the organization had earlier said that flights from all Iran’s airports would be canceled until 6 a.m. (0230 GMT) on Monday from 9 p.m. on Sunday. “After ensuring favorable and safe …
Flights at some Iran airports suspended until Monday
Tehran — Iran ‘s aviation body announced Sunday the cancelation of flights at some of the country’s airports, citing “operational restrictions,” state media reported as Israel vows to retaliate for an Iranian missile strike. Because of those restrictions, “the flights at some airports of the country will be canceled from 21:00 tonight (1730 GMT), Sunday, October 6, until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow, October 7,” according to IRNA …
Source: Myanmar junta frees ally of Suu Kyi on health grounds
Yangon — A close ally of detained Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was granted amnesty by junta authorities as he battles cancer, a party source told AFP on Sunday. Zaw Myint Maung, 72, is a stalwart of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party that has been a thorn in the side of the military during its decades of rule. He …
Pro-Palestinian, pro-Israeli crowds rally globally on eve of Oct. 7 anniversary
Paris — Crowds were participating in pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests and memorial events across the world Sunday on the eve of the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel. Sunday’s events follow massive rallies that took place Saturday in several European cities, including London, Berlin, Paris and Rome. Other events are scheduled through the week, with an expected peak Monday, the date of the anniversary. …
Coco Gauff wins China Open final in straightsets, Sinner rallies to advance in Shanghai
Beijing — Coco Gauff won her second title this season with a lopsided 6-1, 6-3 victory over Karolina Muchova in the final of the China Open on Sunday. Aged 20, the sixth-ranked U.S. player became the youngest China Open champion in 14 years. She is also the second American champion in Beijing, following Serena Williams’ title runs in 2004 and 2013. It was Gauff’s eighth career …
Iran’s Khamenei decorates commander for Israel attack
Tehran — Iran’s supreme leader has decorated the Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander for the Islamic Republic’s missile attacks on arch-foe Israel, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s website said Sunday. “Ayatollah Khamenei presented the Order of Fath (“Conquest” in Farsi) to General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Guards Aerospace Force,” it said. The decoration was bestowed because of what was described as “the brilliant ‘Honest Promise’ operation,” according …
A strike on a mosque kills 19 as Israel bombards northern Gaza and southern Beirut
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike on a mosque in the Gaza Strip early Sunday killed at least 19 people, Palestinian officials said, as Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Beirut in a widening war with Iran-allied militant groups across the region. Displaced people were sheltering at the mosque that was struck near the main hospital in the central town of …
‘Impossible’ for People’s Republic of China to be our motherland, Taiwan president says
TAIPEI, Taiwan — It is “impossible” for the People’s Republic of China to become Taiwan’s motherland because Taiwan has older political roots, the island’s President Lai Ching-te said Saturday. Lai, who took office in May, is condemned by Beijing as a “separatist.” He rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying that the island is a country called the Republic of China, which traces its origins back to the …
With daily phone calls, pope offers Gazans encouragement
Rome — Pope Francis is calling for prayer and fasting on October 7, the first anniversary of the start of the ongoing conflict in Gaza. As the death and destruction continue, so too do the daily phone calls from the pope to the Catholic Holy Family Church parish in Gaza City, offering spiritual sustenance to the priests, nuns and parishioners seeking shelter there. At the start …
In South Korea, deepfake porn wrecks women’s lives, deepens gender conflict
SEOUL, South Korea — Three years after the 30-year-old South Korean woman received a barrage of online fake images that depicted her nude, she is still being treated for trauma. She struggles to talk with men. Using a mobile phone brings back the nightmare. “It completely trampled me, even though it wasn’t a direct physical attack on my body,” she said in a phone interview with …
Thousands join pro-Palestinian rallies around the globe as Oct. 7 anniversary nears
rome — Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent demonstrators in Rome as tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets in major European cities and around the globe Saturday to call for a cease-fire as the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel approached. Huge rallies were held in several European cities, with gatherings expected to continue over the …
China says it evacuated 215 nationals from Lebanon
Beijing — China said Saturday that it has evacuated 215 of its nationals from Lebanon, where Israel has been carrying out intense bombardments since last month, resulting in more than 1,100 deaths. This week, Israel said its troops launched “ground raids” into parts of southern Lebanon, a stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah, following days of heavy strikes on areas across the country where the group holds sway. …
Floods inundate Thailand’s tourist city of Chiang Mai, strand elephants
bangkok — Chiang Mai, Thailand’s northern city popular with tourists, was inundated by widespread flooding Saturday as its main river overflowed its banks following heavy seasonal rainfall. Authorities ordered some evacuations and said they were working to pump water out of residential areas and clear obstructions from waterways and drains to help water recede faster. Dozens of shelters were set up across the city to accommodate …
Huge crowd at South Korea fireworks amid safety concern after deadly 2022 crush
seoul, south korea — A large fireworks festival in South Korea drew a massive crowd Saturday, snarling traffic through its busy capital, prompting police to deploy 2,400 officers and sending hotel room rates above $7,400. The popular annual event has taken on a serious public safety dimension as memory is still fresh of a Halloween night disaster two years ago that killed 159 mostly young people …
Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
BEIRUT — Hezbollah said Saturday its fighters were confronting Israeli troops in Lebanon’s southern border region, where the Israeli military said it struck militants from the Iran-backed movement at a mosque. Rapidly escalating violence in recent days saw intense Israeli strikes on Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon as ground troops conducted raids near the border, transforming nearly a year of cross-border exchanges into full-blown war. In the …
South Korea adoptees endure emotional searches for their birth families
SEOUL, South Korea — They began a pilgrimage that thousands before them have done. They boarded long flights to their motherland, South Korea, to undertake an emotional, often frustrating, sometimes devastating search for their birth families. These adoptees are among the 200,000 sent from South Korea to Western nations as children. Many have grown up, searched for their origin story and discovered that their adoption paperwork …
After residents flee Israeli strikes, a man in Lebanon cares for pets left behind
beirut — A dog clings to Hussein Hamza inside a car as he pans his camera around to show the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon. “Poor thing. Look at this, he’s clinging to me out of fear,” Hamza says in the video he posted online. “A missile hit here,” he said, his voice shaking. As Israel pummels southern Lebanon with airstrikes, tens of …
Israel’s air defense passes another test in fending off Iranian missile strike
jerusalem — Israel’s multilayered air-defense system appears to have passed another test after fending off Iran’s latest missile barrage. In Tuesday’s night’s strike, Iran fired over 180 missiles toward Israel. The attack set off air raid sirens across the country and sent residents scrambling for shelter, but caused only a handful of minor injuries and limited damage, in large part because many were intercepted or landed …