International

ISLAMABAD: The Afghan government and Taliban negotiators are nearing a compromise on a key sticking point that has stalled peace talks in Doha, Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation that is overseeing Kabul’s peace push, said in an interview. After several small-group meetings, the issue had been resolved “to a large extent”, he added. Talks started in the …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday offered to train personnel of Iraqi armed forces at the military training facilities in the country. The offer was made by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak while talking to Iraqi envoy Hamid Abbas Lafta, who had called on him. “Both countries should work closely to share their experiences and build capacities of their armed forces,” Mr Khattak …

PARIS: A thunderous noise that panicked residents of Paris on Wednesday was caused by the sonic boom of a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier, police said. The military said the jet was scrambled to go to the aid of a passenger aircraft that had lost radio contact, and had been authorised to travel at supersonic speed. “A very loud …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday called for impr­oving Pak-Afghan relations by adopting a forward-looking approach rather than remaining stuck in the past. “Enjoyed meeting Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Chair­man HCNR of Afghanistan. We had a very interesting conversation: theme being the past is an invaluable teacher to learn from but not to live in. We must look forward towards …

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and Joe Biden return to the campaign trail on Wednesday after a chaotic debate that allowed the 77-year-old Democratic candidate to rebuff Republican claims that he doesn’t have the stamina for the White House job. Snap polls on the debate performances of the presidential candidates leaned towards Biden, who withstood a barrage of barbs from …

The group that manages US presidential election debates said on Wednesday it would take steps to bring order to the final two contests between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, following widespread criticism of their first encounter. The 90-minute debate on Tuesday night was chaotic, marred by the Republican president’s constant interjections and interruptions of both his Democratic rival and …

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny told a German magazine that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind his suspected poisoning and stressed that he was not afraid. Navalny was flown from Russia to Berlin in August after falling ill on a domestic flight. He received treatment in the Charite hospital for what Germany said was poisoning by a potentially deadly nerve agent before being …

US President Donald Trump scrambled on Wednesday to quell an uproar over his failure to explicitly denounce white supremacist groups during his debate debacle with Joe Biden, who branded his election rival a “national embarrassment”. The bitter adversaries returned to the campaign trail one day after their off-the-rails showdown in Cleveland made headlines less for the substance than for its unrestrained …

A woman from India’s marginalised Dalit community has died after being gang-raped, police said on Thursday, days after the death of a teenager from the same low-caste group at the hands of a group of high-caste men sparked outrage. The 22-year-old, a member of India’s “untouchable” Dalit community, was allegedly raped by two men on Tuesday and died while being taken to …

WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Imran Khan urged the international community on Tuesday to create fiscal space for developing nations to help them cope with the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Addressing a meeting of world leaders on the pandemic’s economic impact via video link, the prime minister also emphasised the need to ensure an equitable and affordable distribution of a …