International

The Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting in London was hit by a Covid-19 scare on Wednesday when India’s foreign minister and his entire team said they were self-isolating after two delegation members tested positive. Britain is hosting the three-day meeting — the first such G7 event in two years — which has been heavily billed as a chance to …

SEATTLE: Billionaire benefactors Bill and Melinda Gates, co-founders of one of the world’s largest private charitable foundations, filed for divorce on Monday after 27 years of marriage. but pledged to continue their philanthropic work together (partly reported in Tuesday’s Dawn. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has become one of the most powerful and influential forces in global public health, …

LONDON: The Group of Seven wealthy democracies on Tuesday discussed how to form a common front towards an increasingly assertive China in the foreign ministers’ first in-person talks in two years. Backing US President Joe Biden’s calls for a deeper alliance of democracies, host Britain invited guests, including India, South Korea and Australia, for talks in central London stretched out …

MANILA: The Philipp­ines’ foreign secretary apologised on Tuesday after tweeting an obscene phrase demanding China get out of Philippine-claimed territory in the South China Sea in an outburst that annoyed the Philippine president. Foreign Secretary Teod­oro Locsin Jr. blasted China with the profanity on Monday, when the Depar­tment of Foreign Affairs announced it had protested the Chinese coast guards shadowing, blocking, dangerous …

NAQOURA: After a nearly six-month pause, Lebanon and Israel on Tuesday resumed indirect talks with US mediation over their disputed maritime border. The resumption comes after a new US administration took over. Lebanon has sunk deeper into it economic and financial crisis that started in late 2019 a culmination of decades of corruption and mismanagement by the political class. The …

KANDAHAR: Thousands of Afghans started to flee their homes as fierce fighting erupted between government forces and the Taliban in Helmand province on Monday after the US military began withdrawing its remaining troops from Afghanistan, officials said. Afghan forces claimed pushing back the Taliban on multiple checkpoints in the southern province of Helmand, where the US military handed over a …

India’s coronavirus deaths rose by a record 3,780 during the last 24 hours, a day after it became the second country to cross the grim milestone of 20 million infections after the United States. Daily infections rose by 382,315 on Wednesday, health ministry data showed. Government modelling had pointed to a peak by Wednesday, a few days earlier than thought, since the …

 Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have deep regard for each other, even after parting ways years ago. The two, reunited over the weekend, but are only friends, as confirmed by sources. While they remain good friends, Lopez and Affeck still have a lot of love for each other. “They have spent time together in L.A. over the past week,” a …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday urged the Orga­nisation of Islamic Coopera­tion (OIC) to vehemently counter Islamophobia and falsely equating of Islam with radicalism and terrorism. He also took serious note of the recent European Parliament’s resolution to review GSP plus status of Pakistan and said the government would hold negotiation with the European Union (EU) to delink the country’s GSP …

BANGKOK: An ethnic rebel group in northern Myanmar said it shot down a government military helicopter on Monday during heavy fighting over a strategic position. The claim by the Kachin Independence Army came as protests against Myanmar’s military government continued in Kachin State and elsewhere in the country. It would be the first aircraft shot down during recent hostilities between …