27-09-2021 ISTANBUL: Turkey’s leader says his country is considering buying a second Russian missile system despite strong objections by NATO ally the United States. In an interview with American broadcaster CBS News, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would make decisions on its defence systems independently. Speaking to correspondent Margaret …

26-09-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ HERAT/ ISLAMABAD: The Taliban are said to have hung the dead bodies of four alleged kidnappers in public in the western city of Herat in an apparent warning. The gruesome display came a day after a notorious Taliban official warned …

  26-09-2021 LONDON: A temporary visa scheme to make it easier for foreign lorry drivers to work in the UK is set to run for three months, ending on Christmas eve. It is understood that about 5,000 temporary visas could be issued, with more details expected on Sunday. A shortage …

26-09-2021 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: A top foreign ministry official said Saturday India will export eight million COVID-19 vaccine jabs by the end of October after ending its ban on sending doses abroad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to resume exports at a meeting of leaders from the so-called Quad …

25-09-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies NEW YORK/ NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD/ CANBERRA: The Taliban’s new defence minister has issued a rebuke over misconduct by some commanders and fighters following the movement’s victory over the Western-backed government in Afghanistan last month, saying abuses would not be tolerated. Mullah …

25-09-2021 TEHRAN/ NEW YORK: Iran will return to negotiations on resuming compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal “very soon,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters on the sidelines of the UNGA. “We are not seeking to quit the negotiating table,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said. “We will certainly …

25-09-2021 By SJA Jafri UNITED NATIONS/ DAMASCUS: At least 300,000 Shia people among 350,209 Muslims have been killed in Syria’s 10-year war, the United Nations human rights office has said, calling the tally an “under-count” as it released its first report since 2014 on the conflict’s death toll. The figure …

24-09-2021 WASHINGTON/ NEW DELHI: The White House has declined to include India in a new security alliance comprising the US, UK and Australia, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Joe Biden. The Indian prime minister is in the US to attend the first in-person summit of the Indo-Pacific …

24-09-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: There have been reports of divisions among the Taliban leadership, raising questions about the unity within the group which took over the country last month. The public’s doubts about the group’s unity only increased earlier this month, when Mullah …

24-09-2021 BEIJING: The various unilateral sanctions or restrictions on Afghanistan should be lifted as soon as possible, said China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Economic sanctions on Afghanistan must end, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement, citing Wang at a virtual G20 foreign ministers meeting on Afghanistan …