International

DHAKA: A Bangladesh court sentenced five men to death on Thursday for the 2012 gang-rape of a 15-year-old girl, amid growing public anger over rampant sexual violence. The sentence was handed down in the northern district of Tangail by a special tribunal set up to deal with cases of abuse against women and children. Prosecutor Nasim Ahmed said the victim’s …

ISLAMABAD: In response to a question about a reported offer by India for resumption of dialogue, Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez said on Thursday the onus was on New Delhi to create an enabling environment for the purpose. Addressing the weekly press briefing here, he said that in order to create an enabling environment India should rescind its illegal and …

WASHINGTON: The Taliban have promised US forces to reduce casualties in Afghanistan after a wave of violence raised questions about peace talks, a US envoy said on Thursday. “At present too many Afghans are dying. With the re-set, we expect that number to drop significantly,” Zalmay Khalilzad, who negotiated a February 29 deal with the Taliban to pull out US …

ISLAMABAD: The Italian government has reopened sea­sonal and non-seasonal work visas for Pakistani nationals under its annual schedule of work visa called ‘Decreto Flussi’ for the year 2020-21. Over 30,000 work visas would be issued by the Italian government to the nationals from a few non-EU countries, including Pakis­tan. Pakis­tani workers in agriculture, tourism, construction and freight forwarding sectors can …

NEW DELHI: India and China are engaged in talks to resolve the border standoff and what is going on is “something confidential” between the two sides, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Thursday. The Press Trust of India said the minister was asked specifically about the outcome of the ongoing talks during an online conclave. Mr. Jaishankar replied that the “discussions …

BERLIN: Fears rose on Thursday that Europe is running out of time to control a resurgence of the coronavirus, as infections hit record daily highs in Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy and Poland. France slapped a 9pm curfew on many of its biggest cities and Londoners faced fresh travel restrictions as governments imposed increasingly tough measures. Newly confirmed cases have …

New Delhi: Two days after the Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on national security revealed Indian feelers for bilateral talks, New Delhi described the claim as fictitious on Thursday. In an interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire on Tuesday, Moeed Yusuf, the prime minister’s Special Assistant, had claimed that Pakistan had got messages in the “past year” about a “desire of …

ISLAMABAD: The Indian High Commission on Thurs­day filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking release of those Indian citizens who had been convicted by Pakistan’s military courts of spying and had since completed their respective prison terms. Aparna Ray of the Indian High Commission filed the petition in the IHC through advocate Malik Shahnawz Noon. The petition …

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday encouraged Saudi Arabia to recognise Israel, in what would be a massive boost for the Jewish state amid normalisation by two other Gulf Arab kingdoms. Bahrain, which tightly coordinates its foreign policy with Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates on September 15 signed the so-called Abraham Accords with Israel at the White …

Azerbaijan said on Wednesday it had destroyed missile launchers inside Armenia that were targetting its cities, as fierce fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh risked widening beyond the disputed region. Hundreds have already lost their lives in two weeks of fighting, and continued clashes have rendered almost meaningless a humanitarian ceasefire agreed in Moscow last week. Armenia confirmed that military positions inside the …