International

Frustration simmered in China among residents and business groups navigating stricter Covid-19 control curbs as the country reported on Friday another historic high of daily infections just weeks after hopes were raised of easing measures. The resurgence of Covid cases in China, with 32,695 new local infections recorded for Thursday as numerous cities report outbreaks, has prompted widespread lockdowns and …

A seven-year-old Indonesian girl who was the subject of a day-long rescue effort after an earthquake killed hundreds in West Java has been found dead, rescuers told AFP on Friday. Emergency workers found the body of Ashika Nur Fauziah, also known as Cika, under rubble in the worst-hit district of Cianjur town — the epicentre of the quake that triggered landslides, collapsed …

NANCY: A team of researchers has cracked a five century-old code which reveals a rumoured French plot to kill the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain Charles V. Charles was one of the most powerful men of the 16th century, presiding over a vast empire that took in much of western Europe and the Americas during a reign of …

LONDON: UK government departments were ordered on Thursday to stop installing Chinese-made surveillance cameras at “sensitive sites”. The move comes with the government moving more forcefully against China and its companies on security grounds. Last week it ordered a Chinese-owned firm to divest most of Newport Wafer Fab, Britain’s biggest semiconductor maker. According to the campaign group Big Brother Watch, …

RIYADH: At least two people died on Thursday as heavy rains hit western Saudi Arabia, including the coastal city of Jeddah, delaying flights and forcing schools to close, officials said. “Two deaths have been recorded so far, and we call on everyone not to go out unless necessary,” the Makkah regi­o­nal government said on its Twitter page. The Makkah region …

BEIJING: China reported record high Covid-19 infections on Thursday, with cities nationwide imposing localised lockdowns, mass testing and other curbs that are fuelling frustration and darkening the outlook for the world’s second largest economy. The resurgence of infections, nearly three years after the pandemic emerged in the central city of Wuhan, casts doubt on investor hopes for China to ease …

ISLAMABAD: As the number of cross-border attacks targeting security forces from Afghanistan increases, Foreign Office on Thursday said Pakistan was holding discussions to sort out the issues. Addressing the weekly press briefing, FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch agreed that there were issues at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. “The two sides are holding regular border flag meetings and are engaged in discussion …

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday arrived in Istanbul on a two-day official visit at the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. PM Shehbaz was received by the Istanbul deputy governor and other senior officials of the Turkish government upon arriving at Istanbul airport.     In a tweet shortly after the premier landed, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said …

WASHINGTON: The new army chief could broker a compromise agreement in Pakistan, setting a date for holding national elections, says Marvin Weinbaum, a senior US scholar who has written several books on Pakistan and Afghanistan. In a piece published by the US Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), another US scholar, Andrew Gordan, urges the Biden administration to increase aid to Pakistan. “Under …

BRUSSELS: The Euro­pean Parliament on Wed­nesday designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, arguing Moscow’s military strikes on civilian targets such as energy infrastructure, hospitals, schools and shelters violated international law. European lawmakers voted in favour of a resolution calling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. The move is largely symbolic, as the European Union does not have a …