Baghdad: Iraqi lawmakers have urged their government to counter the latest restrictions by US President Donald Trump on the entry of the nationals of seven Muslim countries, including Iraq, into the US, a media report said. Some members of the Iraqi parliament on Sunday rejected Trump’s decision, saying Iraq should retaliate by barring US nationals from entering Iraq, Xinhua news agency reported…

Quebec City: Six people died and eight were injured after gunmen opened fire at a Quebec City mosque. The Islamic Cultural Center of Quebec, which is also known as the grand mosque of Quebec, had already been the target of hate: a pig’s head was left on the doorstep last June during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The attack comes as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has vowed to open…

 Washington: Starbucks says it will hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years, a response to President Donald Trump’s indefinite suspension of Syrian refugees and temporary travel bans that apply to six other Muslim-majority nations. Howard Schultz, the coffee retailer’s chairman and CEO, said in a letter to employees on Sunday that the hiring would apply to stores worldwide and…

An early-morning fire Saturday destroyed a Texas mosque that was a target of hatred several years ago and experienced a burglary just a week ago.   A clerk at a convenience store spotted smoke and flames billowing from the Islamic Center of Victoria at around 2 a.m. and called the fire department. "It's sad to stand there and watch it collapse down, and the fire was so huge,"…

New York: A federal judge blocked Saturday part of President Donald Trump's temporary immigration ban, ordering authorities to stop deporting refugees and other travelers stuck at US airports. "Victory!!!!!!" the American Civil Liberties Union, whose lawyers sued the government to stop the executive order Trump signed Friday, tweeted after US District Judge Ann Donnelly issued her decision.…

TrudeauCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L). Source: TwitterOpen Ottawa: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has welcomed Canadian immigrants in a sunny Twitter message written in stark contrast to Donald Trump’s order temporarily banning all refugees and many Muslims from traveling to the United States.  Follow  Justin Trudeau ✔ @JustinTrudeau To those fleeing persecution, terror…

Fueled by indignation over President Donald Trump’s immigration ban, hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Terminal 4 at Kennedy Airport Saturday for protests that ended with collective jubilation after word spread that a federal judge had halted deportations required under Trump’s Muslim-nation immigration order. The protests were instigated by the detentions Friday night of two Iraqi…

Many joined the protesters who spent part of the day at the airport trying to win the release of about a dozen people they said had been detained. NYC AirportProtesters assemble at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after earlier in the day two Iraqi refugees were detained while trying to enter the country. Photo: APOpen New York: New York City’s Kennedy airport became a scene…

New US President Donald Trump’s ‘Buy American-hire American’ rallying cry has put the USD 150- billion Indian IT industry on edge, which is in wait-and-watch mode to see how the new administration evolves policies around outsourcing and movement of skilled workers. India hopes to have a meaningful engagement with the US, Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said, reports…

Former US president George HW Bush is recovering well from pneumonia but will remain in the intensive care unit at the Texas hospital where he has spent the last week, a spokesman said in a statement. Barbara Bush, his wife, was also taken to the Houston Methodist Hospital this week with bronchitis but may be well enough to be discharged on Sunday, the statement said. “Following another good…

SYDNEY - A major 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck Papua New Guinea Sunday, the US Geological Survey said, and a tsunami warning was issued for nearby countries. The tremor struck 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Panguna in Papua New Guinea at a depth of 153 kilometres at 3:30pm local time (0430 GMT), the USGS said. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre warned hazardous waves could hit coastal areas of…

Washington: The outgoing Barack Obama administration has announced a contribution of half a billion dollars to the UN Green Climate Fund, just three days before Donald Trump takes over the White House. The USD 500 million payment, announced by State Department spokesman John Kirby in a statement yesterday, is the second from the United States to support the United Nations Green Climate Fund, which…

Washington: Following tradition, outgoing US President Barack Obama and his family would board the Air Force One for the final time as they fly to Palm Springs in California for a vacation after Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20. “The first family is looking forward to flying to Palm Springs, California on Friday. The President vowed to take his family to a destination that is…