International

04-08-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Powerful blasts followed by sporadic gunfire hit Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Tuesday near the city’s heavily fortified “Green Zone”, an area home to government buildings and foreign embassies, officials said. A senior security official said the first blast, which …

04-08-2021 BAGHDAD: The United States has begun returning more than 17,000 ancient artefacts looted and smuggled out of Iraq following its invasion in 2003, according to Iraqi officials. The Iraqi culture and foreign ministries said US authorities had reached an agreement with the government in Baghdad to return treasures seized …

04-08-2021 WASHINGTON: A police officer died after being stabbed Tuesday in a violent incident at a transit station at the Pentagon, the headquarters of the United States military, and a suspect was shot by law enforcement and died at the scene, unnamed law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The …

04-08-2021 DUBAI: The National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) said on Tuesday the United Arab Emirates will lift a ban on transit passenger traffic from India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and other countries from August 5. The UAE, a major international travel hub, has banned passengers from many South Asian and …

03-08-2021 KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: An Afghan general has warned of “devastating” consequences for global security if the Taliban win in their fight against government forces. General Sami Sadat is leading the battle against the Taliban in the southern province of Helmand, where intense fighting has broken out in its capital Lashkar …

03-08-2021 KARALA/ NEW DELHI: The southern Indian state of Kerala accounts for more than half of the country’s new Covid-19 infections. The BBC’s Soutik Biswas and Vikas Pandey report on why cases continue to rise in the state, months after the waning of the deadly second wave. In January 2020, …

03-08-2021 TEHRAN: Iran’s incoming President Ebrahim Raisi has promised to take action to lift harsh sanctions imposed by the United States and bridge the gap with dis-satisfied Iranians but said he will not tie the country’s future to the West. After being officially endorsed on Tuesday by Supreme Leader Ayatollah …

03-08-2021 By SJA Jafri + BBC KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Ferocious fighting is taking place in a major Afghan city, amid fears it could be the first provincial capital to fall to the Taliban. Lashkar Gah in southern Helmand province is under heavy assault from the militants, despite persistent US and Afghan …

03-08-2021 JERUSALEM/ GAZA CITY: Israel’s Supreme Court adjourned an appeal from four Palestinian families against their forced expulsion from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, as the families say they have rejected a court proposal for them to stay as “protected tenants” but recognize Israeli ownership. The cases …

03-08-2021 SEATTLE: The divorce between Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, cofounders of one of the world’s largest private charitable foundations, was finalized on Monday, a court document showed. The couple filed for divorce on May 3 after 27 years of marriage but pledged to continue their philanthropic work together. …