WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday that brings new punitive actions against foreign governments that unjustly imprisoned Americans and the order would also apply to hostage-takings in which the United States has a national interest. “I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with this threat,” the US president said in his order, after declaring …

TEHRAN: Russia, Turkiye and Iran on Tuesday vowed to continue their cooperation to “eliminate terrorists” in Syria, in a trilateral statement after their presidents met in Tehran. The three countries “reaffirmed the determination to continue their ongoing cooperation in order to ultimately eliminate terrorist individuals, groups, undertakings and entities,” the statement read. They “expressed their opposition to the illegal seizure …

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s main opposition leader withdrew from the presidential race on Tuesday and promised support to a low-profile politician from the ruling party who will take on acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe in a tight contest. The 225-seat parliament votes on Wednesday to choose the new president, who will lead efforts to address the country’s economic and political collapse. The …

MUMBAI: The Russian embassy in India said on Tuesday that it was aware of a Russian cargo ship in detention at the Indian port of Cochin. “Russian Embassy in India is aware of the Russian cargo ship detention in the Indian port of Cochin, on board of which a military cargo for the Indian Armed Forces was delivered,” ANI quoted …

WASHINGTON: Twitter and Elon Musk were ordered on Tuesday to trial in October over whether the Tesla chief can be forced to complete his $44 billion deal to buy the social network, an early win for the uncertainty-wracked platform. A judge in the eastern US state of Delaware ruled against Musk’s push for a February date, while hewing closely to …

WASHINGTON: A federal judge said on Tuesday he will consider delaying the criminal trial of Steve Bannon, a prominent former presidential adviser to Donald Trump, due to a dispute over the scope of the defence to be presented for why Bannon defied a subpoena from lawmakers investigating last year’s attack on the US Capitol. Bannon, 68, is facing two misdemeanor …

BEIJING: China’s government on Tuesday warned that it would take “forceful measures” if US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, after the Financial Times said she would go to the Chinese-claimed island next month. Pelosi and her delegation will also visit Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, and spend time in Hawaii at the headquarters of US Indo-Pacific command, …

WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday upgraded Pakistan from the Tier 2 watch list to Tier 2 on its trafficking in persons list, citing overall progress in eliminating trafficking. “The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the imp­act of the Covid-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore, Pakis­tan was upgraded to Tier …

ISLAMABAD: Despite challenging fiscal position and poor economic indicators, the federal governm­ent has notified a heavy fin­ancial benefit — up to 150 per cent — through an ‘exe­cutive allowance’ for government officers working in the federal secretariat and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Field Administration. According to a notification issued by the Finance Division on Tuesday night, there will be 150 …

LAHORE: A US national woman was allegedly gang-raped by her “guide” and his two accomplices at tribal area tourist resort Fort Munro in Dera Ghazi Khan district. Also a social media activist and vlogger, the woman was on a trip to the Fort Munro hill station. Acting on the woman’s complaint, the Border Military Police (BMP) arrested the prime suspect, …