International

ANKARA: Three years after accusing Saudi Arabia’s leadership of murder and running a sham trial over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Riyadh on Thursday to mend ties. Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government, was killed by a hit squad at the country’s Istanbul consulate in 2018. At the time, Erdogan accused the …

KABUL: Two bomb blasts aboard separate minibuses killed at least nine people on Thursday in Afghanistan’s Mazar-i-Sharif, police said, a week after a deadly explosion rocked a Shia mosque in the northern city. The number of violent public attacks across Afghanistan has fallen since the Taliban returned to power last August, but the militant Islamic State group has continued to …

NEW DELHI: Kashmir’s All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Thursday appealed to the Indian government to let Muslim worshippers offer the important last Friday prayers of Ramazan — Jummat ul Vida — at Srinagar’s central Jama Masjid as per tradition, but there was no sign of New Delhi yielding. India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s watch has come under severe criticism …

A group of Pakistani pilgrims have accosted, heckled and chanted slogans at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his entourage at the Masjid-i-Nabwi in Madina during their three-day visit — their first foreign trip since assuming office — to Saudi Arabia. The premier along with his delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia yesterday at the invitation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He …

At least 42 people were injured by Israeli police’s actions against Palestinians at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, following weeks of violence at the flashpoint site. The unrest came on the final Friday in the Muslim holy month of Ramazan. None of the injuries were serious, the Red Crescent said, adding that 22 people …

LAHORE: The Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed to have arrested the mastermind as well as the facilitator of the Johar Town bomb blast from Balochistan. The arrests came during an intelligence-based operation carried out by the CTD with the coordination of the top intelligence agencies. Talking to the media at the Central Police Office on Thursday, Punjab CTD DIG …

PESHAWAR: Former interior minister and Awami Muslim League president Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has criticised Shehbaz Sharif for taking oath as the country’s prime minister ahead of his indictment in corruption cases. He demanded the announcement of general election schedule before May 31 to ‘prevent anarchy’ in the country. “This is an irony that a sitting prime minister is pleading the …

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday acquitted the accused persons in a corruption reference prepared by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for the construction of illegal storeys of Safa Gold Mall at F-7. A division bench headed by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani ordered the acquittal of the mall owner and four officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) …

PARIS: Measles cases have surged by nearly 80 percent worldwide this year, the UN said on Wednesday, warning that the rise of the “canary in a coal mine” illness indicates that outbreaks of other diseases are likely on the way. The coronavirus pandemic has interrupted vaccination campaigns for non-Covid diseases around the world, creating a “perfect storm” that could put …

ISLAMABAD: The Global Edu­cation Monitoring Report, 2022, released by Unesco on Wednesday estimates that globally 771 million adults lacked basic literacy skills in 2020, among which 98 million were aged 15 to 24. The annual gender report of the UN’s specialised agency says females accounted for 63 per cent of all adult illiterates and 55 per cent of young illiterates. …