International

Houston- TX: Turkish Community hosted an elegant Appreciation Dinner honoring Houston Iftar organizing Committee at their beautiful Rain Drop Turkish Center. Turkish Community Vice President & Provost Faruk Taban welcomed the guests and paid big tribute to the Houston Iftar Committee for organizing the largest and well-organized program which served Iftar dinner for almost 3000 community members. He also praised …

UNITED NATIONS: “If ever there was need for partnership, it is now,” said Pakistan’s UN envoy Munir Akram as global Covid-19 deaths crossed 3.2 million by Tuesday afternoon. The World Health Organisation (WHO), which monitors the unfolding global tragedy, confirmed 153.18m Covid-19 cases and 3.2m deaths as of May 4. It also reported that so far, a total of 1.04 …

ISLAMABAD: Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa travelled to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. In a brief statement, the ISPR said: “COAS has reached KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) on an official visit.” During his visit the army chief would meet the Saudi civilian and military leadership. The visit is taking place ahead of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s trip to the kingdom, …

MEXICO CITY: Emergency services on Tuesday worked to retrieve the bodies of victims from the wreckage of an elevated metro line that collapsed in the Mexican capital, leaving at least 23 dead and dozens injured. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador promised a full investigation into Monday night’s accident, which raised questions about construction standards on a network used by millions …

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 …