BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was forced on Tuesday to scrap her trip to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji after her plane suffered recurring technical problems, the latest in a series of incidents to hit the German fleet. “We tried everything but unfortunately it’s logistically not possible to carry out my Indo-Pacific travel (plans) without the defective plane,” the …

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday he could not confirm a report that Iran slowed its pace of amassing near-weapons-grade enriched uranium but would welcome any Iranian steps to de-escalate its “growing nuclear threat.” Blinken also told reporters that Iran moving US detainees into house arrest was not related to any other aspect of US policy …

LVIV: Russian air strikes hit two western regions of Ukraine bordering Nato member Poland and other areas on Tuesday, killing three people in a factory and wounding more than a dozen, Ukrainian officials said. Local media said the attacks were the largest air assault on the Lviv region since the Russian invasion in February 2022. The fatalities were reported in …

Travis King defected to North Korea to escape “mistreatment and racial discrimination in the US Army”, state media said on Wednesday, Pyongyang’s first official confirmation they were holding the American soldier. A private second class with a chequered disciplinary record, King was due to fly back to America in July but instead slipped out of South Korea’s main airport, joined …

Another incident of desecration of the Holy Quran has taken place outside the Swedish Royal Palace in the capital Stockholm amid a heavy police presence, it emerged on Wednesday. The incident, which took place on Monday, marked the second time in a matter of weeks that Salwan Momika, 37, and Salwan Najem, 48, have desecrated the Holy Quran, Al Jazeera reported. Momika, …

Social media app TweetDeck began going behind a paywall on Tuesday, with users of platform X, formerly known as Twitter, being diverted to a paid-subscription sign-up page when they tried to access it. X announced in July that TweetDeck, a popular programme that allows users to monitor multiple accounts and lists of users at once, would be available only to “verified” account …

MUZAFFARABAD: Kashmiri activists staged rallies in different parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Tuesday to mark India’s Independence Day as ‘black day’ as part of their consistent campaign to draw the attention of the international community towards the denial of their fundamental right to self-determination by the so-called largest democracy. In state capital Muzaffarabad, Pasban-i-Hurriyat Jammu Kashmir (PHJK), …

ISLAMABAD: Less than a week after the dissolution of the National Assembly to pave for general elections, PML-N Senior Vice President and Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz has sprung into action, galvanising supporters to prepare for polls which “will not take too long”. She had kept a low profile for the past couple of months and instead kept herself busy in …

ISLAMABAD: Local courts of Islamabad on Tuesday rejected nine petitions of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan seeking bail in First Information Reports (FIRs) registered against him over violent protests. The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Islamabad dismissed three bail petitions, while Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Mohammad Sohail rejected six petitions seeking pre-arrest bail for …

LAHORE: As many as 17 people died and 1,773 others injured in 1,659 traffic accidents in all 37 districts of Punjab while celebrating the Independence Day on Aug 14, showing the reckless attitude displayed by revelers on festive occasions in the province. The provincial capital was at the top of the list, where the highest number of road accidents, resulting …