International

Lebanese police fired tear gas to try to disperse rock-throwing protesters blocking a road near parliament in Beirut on Sunday in a second day of anti-government demonstrations triggered by last week’s devastating explosion. Fire broke out at an entrance to Parliament Square as demonstrators tried to break into a cordoned-off area, TV footage showed. Protesters also broke into the housing and …

WASHINGTON: The International Crisis Group (ICG) has urged India’s international allies to “strongly encourage it to restore Kashmiri statehood, free detained politicians, and end security forces’ abuses against civilians”. The ICG, a global think tank, advises India in its new report to re-engage with held Kashmir’s political class and end security forces’ abuses in the occupied valley and urges New …

ISLAMABAD: Monsoon season is becoming increasingly unpredictable and catastrophic despite its significance for South Asia, speakers at a webinar said on Sunday. International experts and scientists from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan participated in an online seminar on the ‘Impacts of Climate Change on South Asian Monsoon’, organised by the Comsats Centre for Climate and Sustainability (CCCS). They discussed …

US President Donald Trump is in a campaign mode, asserting that the energy sector is back on its feet. Visiting Midland, a region deep in the heart of the western Texas oil patch, Trump underlined: “And now we’re back”. A euphoric Trump proclaimed, “and now we’re just going to keep expanding. … We did a great job.” Not really, says CNN. As …

BEIRUT: More than 40 Syrians were among those killed in the massive blast that devastated the Lebanese capital this week, the Syrian embassy said on Saturday. The embassy did not specify if the Syrian fatalities were included in the 154 death toll announced by Lebanese authorities. “The confirmed number we have of Syrian martyrs so far is 43,” it said. “The embassy …

KHABAROVSK: Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Russia’s Far East for a fifth consecutive weekend as anti-Kremlin rallies showed little sign of dying down on Saturday. The rallies in the city of some 600,000 people on the border with China is a major show of defiance against Moscow’s policies and present a headache for President Vladimir …

HONG KONG: China on Saturday slammed the United States for imposing “barbarous” sanctions in response to Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong, capping a dramatic week of deteriorating relations between the world’s two biggest economies. In the toughest US action on Hong Kong since China imposed a sweeping new security law on the territory, Washington on Friday sanctioned a group of …

KOZHIKODE: Investigators have recovered the “black box” flight recorders from an Air India Express plane that crashed in southern India killing at least 18 people, the aviation minister said on Saturday. The plane carrying 190 people crash-landed during bad weather on Friday night and tore into two, injuring scores of passengers. The Boeing 737, on a special flight from Dubai to bring …

ISLAMABAD: Amid an ongoing debate in the country over lack of support by Muslim countries and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for the Kashmir cause, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday expressed his gratitude to former prime minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad for speaking in support of the people of India-held Kashmir. “I want to thank Dr …

Thousands of Israelis rallied outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem on Saturday as anger mounted over corruption allegations and his handling of the coronavirus crisis. “Your time is up”, read the giant letters projected on to a building at the protest site, as demonstrators waved Israeli flags and called on Netanyahu to resign over what they say is …