KHARTOUM: Sudan’s former president Omar al-Bashir was on Saturday sentenced to two years’ detention in a correctional centre for corruption in the first of several cases against him. The charges stemmed from millions of dollars received by the toppled strongman from Saudi Arabia. Bashir, who was deposed by the army in April after months of mass protests against his three-decade …

WASHINGTON: The United States welcomes Pakistan’s offer to help facilitate a reduction of violence in Afghanistan and to secure a ceasefire in the war-ravaged country, says US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. Mr Khalilzad visited Islamabad on Friday and “discussed the current status of US-Taliban talks” with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, …

SEOUL: North Korea has conducted another “crucial test” at its Sohae satellite launch site, state media reported on Saturday, as nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington remain stalled with a deadline approaching. The announcement comes a day before US Special Envoy on North Korea Stephen Biegun is set to arrive in Seoul for a three-day visit, and after the United …

LONDON: Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited former strongholds of his Labour opponents in northern England on Saturday and pledged to repay their trust for helping to deliver a stunning victory for his Conservative Party in Britain’s national election. Johnson led the Conservatives on Thursday to their biggest election win since Margaret Thatcher’s landslide victory of 1987, trouncing his socialist Labour …

GUWAHATI: Protests against a divisive new citizenship law raged on Saturday as Washington and London issued travel warnings for northeast India following days of violent clashes that have killed two people so far. Many in the far-flung, resource-rich northeast fear the new legislation will grant citizenship to large numbers of immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, who they accuse of stealing jobs …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) has forwarded the decision of Balochistan High Court (BHC) regarding reinstatement of sacked employees of the dissolved Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) to the attorney general of Pakistan and the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) for legal opinion. Moreover, it has been decided that the decision of the BHC would be challenged. On …

PESHAWAR: A probe committee’s report regarding ‘illegal appointments’ in the defunct Fata Tribunal that was referred to the establishment department for necessary action has apparently been swept under the carpet, sources said. The two-member panel on the direction of the secretary of the home and tribal affairs department had probed the appointment of 24 employees from Grade 1 to Grade …

KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Food Hari Ram Kishori Lal has hinted at drop in wheat flour price by Rs3 per kg to Rs43 a kilo within a week in the wake of Sindh Food Department’s signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) for the procurement of 300,000 tonnes of the grain. The department …

KARACHI: Unknown miscreants vandalised a monument belonging to the once unified Muttahida Qaumi Movement in Azizabad’s Jinnah Ground on Saturday. The incident sparked strong reaction from all factions of the MQM as well as the Mustafa Kamal-led Pak Sarzameen Party as they condemned the vandalism and demanded the immediate arrest of the elements involved. However, it is not yet clear …

ISLAMABAD: The tally for the number of polio cases reported this year has entered triple digits as three more children, belonging to Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have been infected with the crippling disease virus. “The three children are male and the total number of cases for the current year has reached 101. New cases have been reported from the districts …