International

Taliban reopen key trade route with Pakistan


Peshawar: Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers reopened a key border crossing with Pakistan Thursday, allowing thousands of trucks carrying desperately needed food and other items to creep forward for the first time in days, officials said. The jam at the Torkham crossing between the two nations began to ease after Islamabad sent a high-level delegation to Kabul...

‘IS bride’ loses appeal to regain UK citizenship


New York: 'IS bride' Shamima Begum has lost her appeal to regain her UK citizenship against the British government. Earlier, she was stripped of her UK citizenship after she fled to Syria. Begum, who was 15 when she travelled to Syria with two of her friends in February 2015, has been waging a legal battle to...

Sunak unveils tougher measures against domestic abuse in UK


London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled tougher new measures to crack down on domestic abusers, including electronic tags for the most dangerous offenders who subject women and girls to harassment, aggression and violence. Downing Street said that as part of a change in law, for the first time controlling or coercive behavior will...

Iranian foundation thanks Rushdie’s attacker with land offer: Report


New York: An Iranian foundation praised the man who attacked author Salman Rushdie last year, news agency Reuters reporting quoting state TV. The foundation said that it will reward the attacker with 1,000 metres of agricultural land. Salman Rushdie, 75, lost an eye and the use of one hand following the assault by a 24-year-old Muslim...

Ukraine vows to ‘kick out’ Russia


Kyiv vowed to "kick out" and "punish" Russia, just after President Vladimir Putin delivered a state of the nation address. "They are strategically at a dead end," Ukraine's presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Telegram shortly after Putin's speech ended. "Our goal is to kick them out of Ukraine and punish them for...

Putin accuses West, Ukraine of starting war in address to nation


Moscow: In his State of the Nation address, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the West and Ukraine for starting the war and added that "we are using force to stop it". In his address to the Federal Assembly, which was the first since April 2021, the President said that "Ukraine and Donbas have become a symbol...

Pak student who had travelled to India for love repatriated


Mumbai: A month ago, Bengaluru police detained a 19-year-old Pakistani woman for entering India through illegal channels and living in Bengaluru for many months. On February 20, the woman was repatriated to Pakistan and reunited with her parents. The woman, Iqra Jewani, had travelled across two countries – the United Arab Emirates and Nepal – to...

With no money to print ballot papers, SL to postpone local polls


Colombo: Bankrupt Sri Lanka is set to postpone local elections due next month, according to a top official, prompting opposition protests this week that forced parliament to be adjourned. The March 9 vote was meant to be a key test of support for President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took office in July after months of protests over...

Bilawal blames Imran’s tenure for inaction against TTP


Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has accused the former Imran Khan government of giving mixed signals to the Afghan Taliban seeking talks with the TTP which led to an inaction against the terror group. In an interview, Bilawal said that during Khan's tenure, the government had been asking the Afghan Taliban to facilitate table talks...