International

The Taliban on Tuesday warned Turkey against extending its presence in the country when US-led forces leave the country, insisting the decision was “reprehensible”. “The decision … is ill-advised, a violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity and against our national interests,” the group said in a statement, days after Turkey promised to provide troops to protect Kabul airport when …

ISLAMABAD: The European Union has announced renewed support for those most in need in Iran and Pakistan with 22 million euros in humanitarian aid. The package, announced from the EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday, will assist those hit by man-made crises, Covid-19 pandemic and climate-induced and other natural disasters in the region. Of the 22 million euros, 7m euros …

BEIJING: China’s military said it “drove away” a US warship that illegally entered Chinese waters near the Paracel Islands on Monday, the anniversary of an international court ruling that held Beijing had no claim over the South China Sea. The USS Benfold entered the waters without China’s approval, seriously violating its sovereignty and undermining the stability of the South China …

BANGKOK: More than 10 million people were placed under fresh Covid-19 restrictions and a curfew in the Thai capital on Monday, as the kingdom battled a surge of cases worsened by the highly infectious Alpha and Delta variants. Thailand has so far recorded more than 345,000 cases and 2,791 deaths — with the bulk of them coming in this latest …

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa said on Monday it was deploying troops to its two most densely populated provinces after unrest sparked by the jailing of ex-president Jacob Zuma led to six deaths and widespread looting. Overwhelmed police are facing mobs who have ransacked stores, carting away anything from boxes of alcohol to beds, refrigerators and bath tubs. Six people have died, …

NASIRIYAH: At least 35 people died in a fire in the Covid isolation ward of a hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on Monday. “The death toll from the fire that ripped through the Covid isolation ward in Nasiriyah stands at 35, with five wounded, including two in critical condition,” Haydar al Zamili, a spokesman for the local …

The death toll from a catastrophic blaze that erupted at a coronavirus hospital ward in southern Iraq the previous day rose to 64 on Tuesday, Iraqi medical officials said. Two health officials said more than 100 people were also injured in the fire that torched the coronavirus ward of al-Hussein Teaching Hospital in the city of Nasiriyah on Monday. Anguished relatives were …

DUBAI: Oman’s Sultan visited Saudi Arabia on Sunday on his first official overseas trip since assuming power last year, with talks expected to focus on the Yemen war and economic and investment cooperation as Muscat looks to shore up its finances. Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, whose country has joined United Nations-led efforts to secure a peace agreement in Yemen, …

BERLIN: The Iranian government has expressed anger over the appearance of senior European and US politicians at a rally in support of an opposition group that has long sought to overthrow Iran’s rulers and which was once considered a terror organisation by the West. Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that the country’s foreign ministry on Sunday summoned Slovenia’s envoy in Tehran …

Thailand will use AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine as a second dose for those who received Sinovac’s shot as their first dose in a bid to increase protection, it said on Monday. The move is the first publicly announced mix-and-match of a Chinese vaccine and a Western-developed shot, as a new preliminary Thai study raised doubts about the longer-term protection of …