International

hasa Iran unveiled a surface-to-surface ballistic missile that Defence Minister Amir Hatami said had a range of 1,400 kilometres and a new cruise missile on Thursday, ignoring US demands that Tehran halt its missile programme. “The surface-to-surface missile, called martyr Qassem Soleimani, has a range of 1,400 km and the cruise missile, called martyr Abu Mahdi, has a range of …

WASHINGTON: The Uni­ted States and China have agreed to double the number of airline flights that each other’s airlines can operate between the countries, from four to eight per week. The deal marks a further easing of a standoff between the world’s two biggest economies over travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic. The US Transportation Dep­a­rtment announced the increase Tuesday, …

LEIDSCHENDAM: A UN-backed tribunal on Tuesday found a member of the Hezbollah movement guilty over the 2005 murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri but cleared three other suspects after a years-long trial. The long-awaited decision prompted mixed reactions, with the late Hariri’s son Saad telling journalists outside the Special Tribunal for Lebanon he “accepted the tribunal’s verdict”. “Everybody’s …

NAIROBI: Scientists racing to save the northern white rhino from extinction have harvested 10 more eggs from the last two females alive which they hope will help create viable embryos that can be incubated by other rhinos acting as surrogates. Neither of the remaining northern white rhinos on Earth — a mother and her daughter — can carry a baby …

GENEVA: The WHO wrote to every country on Tuesday urging them to quickly join its global shared vaccine programme — and spelled out who would get its eventual coronavirus jabs first. The World Health Organisation’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that without vaccinating the planet’s highest-risk populations simultaneously, it would be impossible to rebuild the global economy. And he said …

MILWAUKEE: US President Donald Trump lashed out at former first lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday after she delivered a scathing takedown of his leadership on the opening night of the Democratic convention. “I thought it was a very divisive speech, extremely divisive,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Frankly, I would not even be here if it wasn’t for Barack Obama,” …

ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa held talks with Saudi Deputy Minister for Defence Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz on bilateral defence cooperation and regional security, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Tuesday. “Matters of mutual interest including bilateral defence and security cooperation and regional security were discussed,” the Pakistan military’s media wing further said. …

KABUL: Six members of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s honour guard were wounded on Tuesday when a rocket struck his palace compound, two officials said. The rocket was one of a salvo launched into central Kabul just as officials were gathering in the capital to commemorate Afghanistan’s 101st independence day. Ghani had finished speaking outside the famous Arg Palace to mark …

Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has raised $1.9 billion in new funding, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday. This would be the largest single fundraising round to date by SpaceX, according to PitchBook data. Bloomberg, which reported about the funding round last week, said the private rocket company will have an equity value of $46bn after the transaction, citing people familiar with …

Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden as their presidential candidate, with party elders, a new generation of politicians and voters in every state joining in an extraordinary, pandemic-cramped virtual convention to send him into the general election campaign to oust United States President Donald Trump. For someone who has spent more than three decades eyeing the presidency, the moment on Tuesday …