International

LAHORE: Pilgrimage-related activities resumed at the Gurdawara Darbar Sahib on Tuesday after Indian authorities reopened their side of the Kartarpur corridor. The Indian government had closed the corridor on July 20 after floodwaters entered fields of crops near the corridor. According to a senior official of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), Indian authorities opened the gate of their side …

JAKARTA: Represe­ntatives of Afghanistan’s Taliban government travelled to Indonesia this month on an unofficial visit, the foreign ministry in Jakarta said on Tuesday, despite Kabul saying they held meetings with politicians in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. “My understanding is that they were in Jakarta informally for internal matters with the Afgha­nistan mission here,” said Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman …

China offered no explanation for the sacking of foreign minister Qin Gang on Wednesday while scrubbing mentions of him from a government website. Qin — who has not been seen in public for over a month — was removed from office by Beijing’s top lawmaking body on Tuesday after just 207 days in the job. That followed weeks of speculation that the …

NEW YORK: A former New York gynaecologist accused of assaulting dozens of women, including the wife of a onetime US presidential candidate, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday for sexual abuse. Robert Hadden, 64, was convicted in January of enticing patients to travel across state lines for examinations in Manhattan where he would sexually assault them. Federal …

SAN FRANCISCO: OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman on Monday launched the Worldcoin crypto project that relies on an eye scan to verify a user’s identity. Worldcoin comes as the cryptocurrency industry is suffering hard times after the spectacular collapse of FTX and various legal cases against the sector’s biggest players. “The Worldcoin Foundation today announced that Worldcoin, a project co-founded by Sam …

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s top court has ordered Nobel laureate and microfinance pioneer Muham­mad Yunus to pay more than $1 million in taxes on a $7m donation made to three charitable trusts, lawyers said Monday. Yunus, 83, is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering micro-credit bank, but he has fallen out with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has …

BARCELONA: Most pollsters saw Spain’s far-right Vox in the role, but none imagined it would be exiled Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont emerging as kingmaker from Sunday’s inconclusive snap election. Although the right-wing Popular Party (PP) is demanding the right to rule after winning the vote, it seems a remote possibility given that it didn’t manage to secure an absolute majority, …

BEIJING: Eleven people died after the roof of a school gym collapsed in north-eastern China, state media reported on Monday. The collapse in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province was caused by construction workers illegally placing perlite — a form of volcanic glass — on the building’s roof, state news agency Xinhua said. Heavy rain then led the perlite to expand and increase in weight, …

PROCEEDINGS of both houses of Indian parliament were adjourned on Monday after a ruckus over violence in the north-eastern state of Manipur, Indian media reported. Opposition members in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha demanded a debate on the issue and disrupted proceedings by shouting slogans and holding placards, BBC News reported. Home Minister Amit Shah said the government was ready for …

US State Secretary Antony Blinken discussed the United States’ support for Pakistan’s economic recovery and “shared regional concerns including Afghanistan” in a phone call with Foreign Minister Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari, it emerged on Tuesday. In a tweet late on Monday night, Blinken said, “The US supports a productive, democratic and prosperous partnership with Pakistan.”     The Foreign Office (FO) said …