International

GAZA CITY: While US President Joe Biden told Israel that he expects a “significant” reduction in the military confrontation with Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he was determined to continue this operation until its aim is met. “The president conveyed to the prime minister that he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire,” …

Pakistan will decide Afghanistan’s future as the United States only has a minor role now in the country after almost 20 years of uninterrupted military presence. This claim by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani echoed in the US Congress this week, where lawmakers from both Republican and Democratic parties expressed concern about Afghanistan’s future after the withdrawal of American and Nato …

A senior Hamas official predicted a ceasefire within days, after US President Joe Biden urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek a “de-escalation” in the violence. Rocket fire into Israel died down overnight, a lull that stretched into Thursday morning. Israel was launching new air strikes in Gaza after daybreak, but, Israeli media said, at a slower pace than in past …

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi urged the international community on Wednesday to persuade Israel to end its aggression against the Palestinians and to take concrete steps for a solution to the Palestine issue. The foreign minister arrived in New York on Wednesday evening on a Palestine peace mission and to attend an emergency meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), called by …

• Qureshi, three other foreign ministers due in New York today for emergency session on Palestine • Meets his Turkish counterpart to mobilise countries to help stop Israeli aggression • UNGA president to visit Islamabad, Dhaka from May 25 to 27 UNITED NATIONS: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that Pakistan has joined hands with Palestine, Sudan and Turkey …

QUITO: The famous rock formation off the Galapagos Islands known as Darwin’s Arch has collapsed due to “natural erosion,” the Ecuadoran Ministry of Environment said on Monday. “The collapse of Darwin’s Arch, the attractive natural bridge found less than a kilometre from the main area of Darwin Island, was reported,” the ministry said in a statement. The ministry said its …

BEIJING: One of China’s tallest skyscrapers was evacuated on Tuesday after it began to shake, sending panicked shoppers scampering to safety in the southern city of Shenzhen. The near 300-metre (980 ft) high SEG Plaza inexplicably began to shake at around 1pm, prompting an evacuation of people inside while pedestrians looked on open-mouthed from the streets outside. The building was …

PARIS: All future fossil fuel projects must be scrapped if the world is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and to stand any chance of limiting warming to 1.5C, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday. In a special report designed to inform negotiators at the crucial COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November, the IEA predicted a “sharp …

GENEVA: The Red Cross on Tuesday stressed the need for “extraordinary steps” to increase access to Covid-19 vaccines around the world, including speeding up negotiations towards patent waivers. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement called for states and pharmaceutical companies to move much faster towards evening out glaring inequities in access to the jabs around the world. Among …

WASHINGTON: The fatal shooting last month of a Black man by law enforcement officers in the US state of North Carolina was “justified” and no one will face charges, the prosecutor in charge of the case, which has drawn scrutiny, said on Tuesday. The death of Andrew Brown “while tragic, was justified” because his actions led the sheriff’s deputies “to …