International

DHAKA: Deadly heatwaves in South Asia are likely to become more common in the future, with the region’s exposure to lethal heat stress potentially nearly tripling if global warming isn’t curbed, researchers said. But the threat could be halved if the world meets a goal set under the Paris Agreement on climate change to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius …

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said on Thursday it will be “hard” to meet the May 1 deadline to withdraw all American soldiers from Afghanistan as part of a Taliban deal, but stressed troops are not there indefinitely. “It is going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline in terms of tactical reasons. It’s hard to get those …

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party are making a serious bid for electoral victories in three states that have sizeable minority Muslim populations. But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has for years been accused of stoking religious polarisation and discriminating against minorities, and faces stiff challenges in making inroads in the local elections. Top BJP leaders, …

Houston Mayor declared March 20 as Javed Anwar Day. HKSCA hosted a Celebration Dinner to honor Syed Javaid Anwar after confirming an award of Hilaal-e-Imtiaz by the President of Pakistan By : Raja Zahid A Khanzada Houston, TexasL “I proclaim that March 20th, 2021 in Houston is The Syed Javaid Anwar Day.” These were the words of Honorable Mayor of Houston Sylvester …

LAHORE: Pakistan and India began their first talks under the Permanent Indus Commission in two and a half years in New Delhi on Tuesday to resolve the longstanding dispute over the hydroelectric projects India is building on the River Chenab. Reuters news agency quoted an Indian official as playing down prospects for a “breakthrough” in the ongoing talks. Pakistan’s delegation …

KABUL: Tensions are mounting between Afgh­anistan’s government and a powerful local warlord, with deadly clashes erupting in a rural province between his fighters and government troops. The fear is that the violence could be a harbinger of more chaos as US troops head toward the exits. The government has launched an assault in central Maidan Wardak province, vowing to punish …

DHAKA: At least 15 people have been killed in a massive fire that ripped through a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, while at least 400 remain missing, the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday. “It is massive, it is devastating,” said UNHCR’s Johannes Van der Klaauw, who joined a Geneva briefing virtually from Dhaka, Bangladesh. “We still have 400 people …

MOSCOW: Three members of a Russian bomber’s air crew died on Tuesday when their ejection seats accidentally activated during preflight checks, the military said. The Russian Defence Ministry said the incident happened at an airbase in the Kaluga region, about 145 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Moscow. It said the crew of a Tu-22M3 long-range bomber was preparing for a …

GENEVA: UN human rights boss Michelle Bachelet was given a mandate on Tuesday to collect and preserve information and evidence of crimes related to Sri Lanka’s long civil war, which ended in 2009 with the defeat of the separatist Tamil Tigers. The Human Rights Council adopted a resolution, brought by Britain on behalf of a group of countries, boosting her …

BERLIN: Germany will enter a strict shutdown for five days over Easter amid surging virus rates, Chancellor Angela Merkel and regional leaders agreed on Tuesday as criticism mounted over the government’s handling of the pandemic. As well as extending existing measures including keeping cultural, leisure and sporting facilities shut through to April 18, Merkel and Germany’s 16 state premiers ordered …