International

Dr. Dawood Nasir will serve on the board of APPNA for next four years. According to the new changes approved by the membership, there will be four Board of trustees from four different regions of North America to serve on APPNA Board for four years. APPNA is the largest ex-patriot Pakistani physicians organization outside of Pakistan and represents over 18,000 …

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday, declaring a national emergency to bypass Congress and appropriate $8 billion he needs to build his long-desired wall along the US-Mexico border. Minutes after Trump’s long, rambling speech from the White House Rose Garden explaining why he must build the wall, his press secretary Sarah Sanders released a picture, with …

MUNICH: At least 100,000 babies die every year because of armed conflict and its impact, from hunger to denial of aid, Save the Children International said on Friday. In the 10 worst-hit countries, a conservative estimate of 550,000 infants died as a result of fighting between 2013 and 2017. They succumbed to war and its effects, among them hunger, damage …

MUNICH: The top Pentagon official said on Friday he foresees a “bigger and stronger” American-led international coalition combatting the militant Islamic State (IS) group globally as the US withdraws its troops from Syria. Pat Shanahan, on his first trip abroad as the acting secretary of defence, made his comment after meeting in Munich with representatives of the dozen or so …

MUSCAT: Even before any peace push-related drawdowns, the US military is expected to trim troop levels in Afghanistan as part of an efficiency drive by the new commander, a US general said on Friday, estimating the cuts may exceed 1,000 forces. US President Donald Trump told Congress this month he intended to reduce US forces from Afghanistan as negotiators make progress in …

LAHORE: After fulfilling its commitment of getting its various hydropower projects at the Chenab basin inspected by Pakistani experts from Jan 28 to Feb 1, India has shared the design data of its three planned run-of-the-river hydropower schemes with Pakistan under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT). A few days ago, the Indian authorities shared the data with its Pakistani counterparts …

MOSCOW: Hundreds of veterans of Moscow’s intervention in Afghanistan on Friday marked 30 years since the pullout of Soviet troops from the bloody conflict that remains an uncomfortable national memory. Marching with a brass band and dressed in olive-green fatigues, veterans of the decade-long war carried portraits of fallen comrades and a banner with the sign: “We have carried out …

ISLAMABAD: United States Chargé d’Affaires Ambassador Paul Jones on Friday called on Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua to convey “an important message” from the Trump administration, a Foreign Office source said. The meeting took place in the aftermath of a suicide attack in India-held Kashmir, which has raised tensions between Pakistan and India. “The US Embassy had sought the meeting,” said embassy’s spokesman …

India’s first semi-high speed train broke down on Saturday after colliding with a cow on the tracks, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new passenger service. The Vande Bharat Express touted as India’s fastest train and built under the Modi government’s flagship “Make in India” programme, made its first journey on Friday from New Delhi to the …

Junior foreign ministers from Britain and Russia met in Germany on Saturday in the highest-level contact between the two countries since an alleged nerve agent attack in Britain last March froze diplomatic relations. Britain’s Minister for Europe Alan Duncan held talks with Russia’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov on the margins of the Munich Security Conference, according to the …