News in Brief -(04-07-2019)

FE Team | Published: July 03, 2019 22:29:51

Taliban outfit overruns N Afghan district
SHIBERGHAN, July 03: Militants affiliated with the Taliban outfit have overrun Qush Tepa district in Afghanistan's northern Jawzjan province, provincial governor Lutfullah Azizi confirmed on Wednesday. Taliban militants, according to the official, launched multi-pronged offensives on the district a couple of days ago and finally captured the district center on Tuesday morning. Without providing more details, the official said the government forces would soon launch a counter-offensive to evict militants from the area. — Xinhua
Gunmen kill two people at Lahore airport lounge
LAHORE, July 03: Gunmen shot and killed two people on Wednesday at a visitors' lounge outside the main terminal of Lahore's international airport, police in Pakistan said. The two gunmen did not enter the main terminal's security cordon, but the incident raised concerns as the area is heavily patrolled by police and airport security. The two men were shot dead after returning from a Muslim pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Senior police officer Safdar Raza Qazi said the attackers were quickly apprehended, and that the shooting was over a personal dispute. — AP
People live happily in Xinjiang: Erdogan
BEIJING, July 03: Chinese state media have said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told President Xi Jinping that ethnic minorities live happily in Xinjiang, in what would be a stark reversal of Ankara's past criticism of Beijing's crackdown in the region. Erdogan met Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday, four months after the Turkish foreign ministry called the treatment of mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking Uighurs was "a great embarrassment for humanity". — AFP
Australian HIV rates drop to 18-year low
SYDNEY, July 03: Diagnosed rates of HIV in Australia have fallen to its lowest level in 18 years, according to a new report on Wednesday. The University of New South Wales' (UNSW) Kirby Institute found that during 2018 there were 835 cases of diagnosed across the country, indicating a 23 percent drop over the past five years. "This reduction is very encouraging," head of the Kirby Institute's Surveillance, Evaluation and Research Program Professor Rebecca Guy said. — Xinhua
Mauritania frees opposition supporters
NOUAKCHOTT, July 03: Opposition supporters arrested in Mauritania during clashes after the disputed presidential election have been released following official confirmation of the ruling party's victory, security and justice sources said. Ex-general Mohamed Ould Ghazouani won the June 22 poll with an absolute majority of 52 percent, the Constitutional Council, the final authority on Mauritania's founding law, announced on Monday. — AFP