International

NEW DELHI: India’s top tourist attraction the Taj Mahal is set to reopen more than six months after it was shut, officials said on Tuesday, even as the vast nation battles soaring coronavirus infections. India, home to 1.3 billion people, on Monday overtook Brazil to become the world’s second most-infected nation with more than 4.2 million cases, behind only the …

WASHINGTON: Pakistan has a key role in the Afghan peace effort, says Afghanis­tan’s acting Foreign Mini­ster Mohammed Haneef Atmar as US and Taliban envoys resume their peace talks in Doha, Qatar. On Tuesday, US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad held a meeting in Doha with the head of the new Taliban team due to open peace talks with representatives of the …

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump accused the US military brass on Monday of wanting to fight wars to keep weapon makers happy. At a White House news conference, Trump criticised his rival Joe Biden, describing him as a proponent of “endless wars”, before turning his criticism toward military leaders who he himself appointed, saying they are interested in conflict to satisfy …

A roadside bomb in Kabul targeted First Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh on Wednesday morning, but he escaped unharmed, his spokesman said. The blast killed at least four people and wounded 16, a health ministry spokesman said, including some of Saleh’s bodyguards. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which comes just ahead of long-awaited peace talks between the …

In an unfortunate incident, a teacher died of coronavirus in front of a class of students moments after she struggled to breathe during a zoom lecture. The incident occurred in Argentina and images of her last moments were shared in an online video, removed later at the request of the victim’s family. According to details, Paola de Simone, 46, who …

HONG KONG: Hong Kong will expand the size of public gatherings to four people and re-open more sports venues from Friday as the Asian financial hub relaxes strict curbs against a third wave of the coronavirus. The measures come as new daily cases have dropped into the single digits from three figures. Last week gyms and massage parlours re-opened and …

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday China acted in an open and transparent manner on the COVID-19 outbreak and that it had taken concrete efforts that helped save tens of millions of lives around the world during the pandemic. Xi, speaking at a ceremony honouring role models during the country’s fight against the disease, said China is the …

LONDON: World shares rose slightly led by Europe on Monday after last week’s rout in US tech stocks, though investors worried that any rally could be short-lived and valuations remained high against the backdrop of a global economy in recession. Market activity was subdued with the United States closed for the Labour Day holiday, though Nasdaq futures fell 0.4pc. European …

KABUL: Afghan negotiators have pushed back a planned trip to Doha for long-awaited peace talks with the Taliban as logistical issues are still being worked on in the Qatari capital, delaying the start of the talks, a government and a diplomatic source said on Monday. After months of delays largely due to a disagreement over prisoner demands by the insurgent …

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Pervez Khattak has said that Pakistan values its ties with Saudi Arabia and is looking to diversify the cooperation between the two countries. Mr Khattak was talking to Saudi envoy Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Maliky, who had called on him here on Monday. “We consider Saudi Arabia as a confident and a trust-worthy friend and we would like …