International

CAIRO: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed on Thursday the United States and its allies would work diplomatically to expel all Iranian troops from Syria, urging Middle East nations to forge a common stand against Tehran. “It’s time for old rivalries to end, for the sake of the greater good of the region,” said Pompeo at a keynote address …

A German court on Thursday threw out a lawsuit by Pakistani plaintiffs against clothing retailer KiK over a deadly 2012 fire at a Karachi garment factory, saying the statute of limitations had expired. The blaze at the Ali Enterprises factory, which was started deliberately, killed 258 people in one of the worst industrial disasters. A survivor and three relatives of victims had …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan wants the Taliban to give up their refusal to talk to the Afghan government so that a political settlement of the 17-year-old conflict could be negotiated. “We want them to sit together. It is for Afghans to sort out their problems and as long as they do not sit down and talk to each other, outsiders can do …

KABUL: The Taliban launched a series of attacks on security checkpoints in four Afghan provinces early on Thursday, killing 32 members of the security forces and pro-government militias, provincial officials said. The latest Taliban attacks came in the northern provinces of Kunduz, Baghlan, Takhar and Badghis in the west. Ahmad Fahim Qarluq, the chief of the Qala-e-Zal district in Kunduz, …

WASHINGTON: “To be honest about differences, that’s important, to be honest,” said Bob Casey, a senior member of the US Senate while describing how he thinks relations between the United States and Pakistan can improve. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, pointed out that historically the United States and Pakistan “have been very good …

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday cancelled a planned visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this month amid a shutdown of the federal government, signalling he was prepared for the political showdown to stretch into late January. The president headed for the US-Mexico border in the evening to push his demand for the wall, a …

JERUSALEM: An Israeli former cabinet minister admitting to spying for Iran on Wednesday in a plea deal in exchange for an 11-year prison sentence, the Israeli Justice Ministry said. Gonen Segev, energy minister from 1995 to 1996, was indicted in June. The Shin Bet internal security service said at the time had been recruited by Iranian intelligence while living in …

RIYADH: Six suspects wanted over unrest in Saudi Arabia’s Shia minority stronghold of Qatif were killed in a police raid this week, the kingdom’s secret service said on Wednesday. One person was lightly wounded and arrested in the “preemptive” raid on “terrorists” holed up in a house in the eastern town of Jish on Monday, a statement carried by the …

An Australian man was charged on Thursday with sending dozens of packages believed to contain asbestos to embassies and consulates around the country. Savas Avan appeared in a Melbourne court after being arrested at his home in rural Victoria state on Wednesday, the same day several consulates in Melbourne received the suspicious packages, authorities said. Local media reported that Avan, 49, attended …

BEIJING: The United States and China on Wednesday concluded three days of extended talks to resolve their trade war, with a member of the American delegation saying negotiations “went just fine”. The US officials arrived in Beijing on Monday for the first sit-down talks since President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed on Dec 1 to a three-month …