ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan and the United States (US) have signed an agre­ement on cultural property protection, which establishes import restrictions on certain types of archaeological and ethnological materials originating from Pakistan and entering the US. The US Ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Blome, and Secretary National Heritage and Culture, Humaira Ahmed, signed an agreement at a ceremony in Islamabad on Tuesday. The …

DOHA: Several unidentified Palestinians were laid to rest at a mass burial in Gaza on Tuesday after Israeli authorities handed over bodies they had been holding in Israel. Many onlookers covered their noses with masks as about 100 bodies were placed in graves in the southern city of Rafah before bulldozers piled sand on them. Palestinian officials said the bodies …

NEW DELHI: Construc­tion has resumed on an Indian tunnel that collapsed last year, trapping 41 workers for 17 days — with at least one of those men back on the job. Manik Talukdar, a worker from West Bengal who was among those trapped in the under-construction Silkyara road tunnel, told the Times of India he was “on my way back” to his underground job. …

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he had decided on a response to a drone strike that killed three American troops in Jordan but said he did not want a wider war in the Middle East. Facing growing pressure in an election year, Biden said he held Iran responsible for supplying the weapons to the people who carried …

SAN FRANCISCO: Elon Musk said on Tuesday his Neuralink startup had installed a brain implant in its first human patient with “promising” initial results. The neurotechnology company co-founded by Musk in 2016 aims to build direct communication channels between the brain and computers. The ambition is to supercharge human capabilities, treat neurological disorders like ALS or Parkinson’s, and maybe one …

JENIN: Israeli forces disguised as medical staff and civilians burst into a hospital in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday and shot three Palestinians dead, one of whom was lying paralysed in bed. A border police counter-terrorism unit and a unit from the internal security forces, known as the Shin Bet, entered Ibn Sina hospital on the outskirts of the …

The European Union has raised concerns that Hong Kong’s plan for a new national security law may weaken the city’s freedoms, with business leaders calling for greater clarity. City leader John Lee on Tuesday unveiled a legislative proposal that would introduce new categories of security crimes — on top of an existing national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020. Lee said …

An Indian court weighed in on one of the country’s most sensitive religious disputes on Wednesday by permitting Hindu worshippers to pray inside a mosque in the city of Varanasi. The Gyanvapi mosque is one of several Islamic houses of worship that Hindu activists, backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, have sought for decades to reclaim for their religion. …

LAHORE: Residents of Hair area of the Lahore Cantonment are worried following registration of a criminal case by police against some locals for allegedly confronting security force personnel. The police say they acted after a video clip of the incident surfaced on social media, showing some locals apparently confronting security force personnel over a piece of land located near the …

RAWALPINDI: Special Branch of the police will scrutinise all security guards deployed at China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Non-CPEC projects or working alongside Chinese nationals. A directive in this regard was issued by the Regional Police Office (RPO) to the City Police Office (CPO) and the District Police Officers (DPOs) of the three districts of Rawalpindi division. They have also …