RAWALPINDI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will repatriate 6,461 Pakistanis stranded in Gulf states as two flights carrying 155 and 145 passengers are expected to arrive from Doha and Bahrain on Monday. Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan told media at his public secretariat in Saddar that instead of Airbus the PIA would operate Boeing 777 to bring back the Pakistanis from …

ARAKAPAS: A huge forest blaze in Cyprus killed four people, destroyed homes and forced evacuations of villages, police said on Sunday, as Greece, Israel and other countries deployed fire-fighting planes to the Mediterranean island. The Egyptian government said the four dead were agricultural workers from the North African country, while Nicosia vowed in a tweet to “stand by the victims’ …

VATICAN: Pope Francis went on Sunday to a Rome hospital for scheduled surgery for a stenosis, or restriction, of the large intestine, the Vatican said. The brief announcement from the Vatican’s press office didn’t say exactly when the surgery would be performed but said there would be an announcement when the surgery is complete. Just three hours earlier, Pope Francis …

YANGON: Twenty-five anti-junta fighters and civilians were killed during clashes with the military in central Myanmar, villagers said on Sunday, as locals increasingly take up arms against the regime in the coup-wracked country. Myanmar has been in turmoil since a February coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, with 890 people killed in a junta crackdown on dissent, according …

PERPIGNAN: Marine Le Pen won re-election as head of France’s far-right National Rally on Sunday at a party congress, where she is seeking new impetus for her 2022 presidential bid after performing badly in regional polls. The National Rally (RN), which had been tipped for strong gains in last month’s regional elections, was left floundering after failing to win any …

Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Sunday said that there was an “international scheme” under way to carry out terrorist activities in major cities, calling for Pakistan to take strict steps and perform a responsible role. In an interview with Geo News show “Naya Pakistan“, Rashid was questioned on whether he had seen evidence linking India with Lahore’s Johar Town blast and if …

ISLAMABAD: Just a fortnight after lifting of the curbs imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus, the number of infections and positivity rate have again started increasing in the country. Health experts fear that Eidul Azha can provide an opportunity to the virus to bounce back. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a new guideline to the nations …

LAHORE: A woman, who had alleged that she was repeatedly raped by a man at his house, where she was staying after “her return from United Kingdom” to attend her father’s funeral, withdrew the allegation on Sunday, saying the “suspect” was her husband. Earlier, the woman had alleged she had come to Pakistan from the UK six months ago to attend her …

MUZAFFARABAD: The Election Commission of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday issued a veiled warning to members of the federal cabinet and other visiting dignitaries from Pakistan against resorting to anything in violation of the ‘code of conduct’ for the polls set to be held on July 25. Wilful violation of the code of conduct by any campaigner might also …

MOSCOW: Russia on Sunday counted more than 25,000 new daily infections after a week of record death tolls as the highly contagious Delta variant propels a global resurgence of the pandemic. The coronavirus has killed nearly four million people worldwide, forcing numerous nations to reimpose restrictions well over a year after the outbreak of the pandemic. Moscow has so far …