International

BEIJING: A Chinese court sentenced a Canadian man to death on Monday in a sudden retrial in a drug smuggling case that is likely to escalate tensions between the countries over the arrest of a top Chinese technology executive. The court in Liaoning province announced that it had given Robert Lloyd Schellenberg the death penalty after rejecting his plea of innocence and …

WASHINGTON: Two key US officials — special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Deputy Assistant to the US president Lisa Curtis — are expected in Islamabad on Tuesday for talks aimed at ensuring the success of a US-backed peace initiative for Afghanistan. The US Department of State announced last week that Mr Khalilzad is visiting India, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan from Jan 8 for …

A high-ranking Yemeni intelligence official injured in a Houthi rebel drone attack on the country’s largest air base died of his wounds on Sunday, medical sources said. Intelligence Brigadier General Saleh Tamah was wounded on Thursday in a strike on a military parade in Al-Anad air base, in government-held Lahij province some 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Yemen’s second …

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday he will ask Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to ensure the killers of journalist Jamal Khashoggi are held accountable for their crime. The top US diplomat, on an extensive Middle East tour, spoke ahead of a politically sensitive visit to Saudi Arabia, which has faced intense international scrutiny over Khashoggi’s …

CAIRO: Hundreds of protesters marched in and around Sudan’s capital Kha­r­toum on Sunday, the fourth week of unrest that began over skyrocketing prices and a failing economy but which now calls for the ouster of autocratic Presi­dent Omar al-Bashir. Images circulated by acti­vists online showed marches taking place in Khartoum and its northern twin cities of Omdurman and Bahary, despite …

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras on Sunday called for an “immediate” confidence vote in parliament over the resignation of a top minister, after his coalition government collapsed in a row over a name change deal with Macedonia. The move raises the possibility of snap elections and came after Defence Minister Panos Kammenos resigned in protest over an agreement to …

DUBAI: Iran’s foreign ministry summoned a senior Polish diplomat to protest at Poland jointly hosting a global summit with the United States focused on the Middle East, particularly Iran, state news agency IRNAreported on Sunday. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday said the summit — to be held in Warsaw on Feb 13-14 — would focus on stability and …

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump avoided directly answering when asked whether he currently is or has ever worked for Russia after a published report said law enforcement officials, concerned about his behaviour after he fired FBI Director James Comey in 2017, had begun investigating that possibility. Trump said it was the “most insulting” question he’d ever been asked. The New York Times report on Friday cited …

KABUL: International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged major donors to impose sanctions on Afghanistan’s newly appointed acting defence minister over alleged war crimes and human rights abuses. President Ashraf Ghani’s decision last month to appoint the fiercely anti-Taliban Asadullah Khalid prompted an outcry from human rights organisations which accuse him of being involved in assassinations, torture and …

NEW DELHI: India and five Central Asian countries along with Afghanistan on Sunday condemned terrorism in all its manifestations and agreed to cooperate in countering the menace to global peace, Press Trust of Indiasaid. This was part of a joint statement issued at the end of the first-ever meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue which also saw the participation of Afghanistan …