International

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan received telephone call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday. The two leaders exchanged felicitations on the advent of the holy month of Ramazan. They discussed issues of mutual interest, including further strengthening of bilateral relations in all areas. In the regional context, the prime minister stressed the importance of a negotiated political settlement …

VIENNA: Diplomats said on Thursday that the latest talks in Vienna to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal were positive despite fresh tensions over Tehran’s announcement that it was preparing to ramp up uranium enrichment in response to an attack on a facility it blamed on arch-foe Israel. The latest round of diplomatic negotiations aimed at ensuring the US’s return …

Prince William and Prince Harry won’t walk side-by-side Saturday as they follow their grandfather’s coffin into the church ahead of Prince Philip’s funeral, minimising the chances of any awkward moments between the brothers who are grappling with strained relations since Harry’s decision to step away from royal duties last year. Buckingham Palace on Thursday released the broad outlines of the …

KABUL: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed on Thursday that the United States will have a lasting partnership with Afghanistan even after it withdraws all forces from the country before this year’s 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The unconditional withdrawal — four months later than a deadline agreed with the Taliban last year — comes despite a …

TEHRAN: Iran’s Presi-dent Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday the decision to boost uranium enrichment to 60 per cent was a response to arch-foe Israel’s “nuclear terrorism” against its Natanz facility. Tehran starting up advanced centrifuges and producing more highly refined uranium “is a response to your malice”, Rouhani said in a message aimed at the Jewish state. “What you did …

YANGON: Anti-coup protesters in Myanmar sloshed red paint in the streets on Wednesday to symbolise the blood spilled and more than 700 lives lost in a brutal military crackdown. The country is barely functioning and the economy has stalled since the military seized power from civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb 1. The junta has sought to quell …

COPENHAGEN: Denmark on Wednesday announced it would stop using the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine altogether, becoming the first European country to do so over suspected rare but serious side effects. “Denmark’s vaccination campaign will go ahead without the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Danish Health Authority director Soren Brostrom told journalists, despite recommendations from the World Health Organisation and Europe’s medicines watchdog to keep …

DHAKA: Thousands of police patrolled the empty streets of the Bangladesh capital on Wednesday as the government enforced a strict nationwide lockdown to combat a deadly new coronavirus wave. Normally jammed with some of Asia’s worst gridlock, Dhaka took on the air of a ghost town as officers set up checkpoints across the city of 20 million people to ensure …

MUMBAI: India’s new coronavirus infections hit a record level on Wednesday with Mumbai set to be locked down at midnight, but hundreds of thousands of pilgrims still thronged to a religious festival in the north of the country. The country reported 184,372 cases in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed, taking total infections to 13.9 million. Deaths rose …

NEW DELHI: Top intelligence officers from Pakistan and India held secret talks in Dubai in January in a fresh effort to calm tensions over Kashmir, according to people with close knowledge of the matter in New Delhi. But the two governments have reopened a back channel of diplomacy aimed at a modest roadmap to normalising ties over the next several …