International

FRANKFURT: Two German police officers were shot dead on Monday after pulling over a car during a routine traffic stop, prompting police to launch a major manhunt. The shooting happened at around 4:20am in the Kusel district of western Rhineland-Palatinate state during a routine patrol. A 24-year-old female police officer and her 29-year-old male colleague were killed. The young woman …

SEOUL: North Korea confirmed on Monday it test-launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the US territory of Guam, the Norths most significant weapon launch in years, as Washington plans steps to show its commitment to its Asian allies. Sundays launch could be a prelude to bigger provocations by North Korea such as nuclear and long-range missile tests that …

OTTAWA: Police and officials in the Canadian capital Ottawa say some of the trucks blocking the city centre as part of an anti-vaccine demonstration should start leaving this week, even as some protesters insist they will stay. Dozens of trucks and other vehicles have been jamming up central Ottawa since Friday and thousands descended upon Parliament Hill to complain about …

LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) supremo Altaf Hussain appeared at the Kingston-upon-Thames crown court on Monday to mark the first day of his trial centering on a terrorism offence. Mr Hussain was charged with inciting violence in an incendiary speech relayed from the United Kingdom to his followers in Pakistan on Aug 22, 2016. He was arrested and released on …

WASHINGTON: The United States, Britain and Canada hit top Myanmar justice officials with sanctions on Monday on the one-year anniversary of a military coup. The US Treasury Department placed sanctions on Attorney General Thida Oo, Supreme Court Chief Justice Tun Tun Oo and Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman U Tin Oo, whom it said were closely involved in the “politically motivated” prosecution …

ISLAMABAD: With Islamabad vying for price cut, the energy ministers of Pakistan and Turkmenistan met on Monday for discussions on two major energy import projects, including the way forward on execution of multi-billion dollar Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project. Pakistan had already taken up with Turkmenistan the issue of gas price review and delivery point of gas under TAPI pipeline …

ISLAMABAD: The State Department has been taking unusually long to process the agrément of Pakistan’s ambassador-designate to the United States, Masood Khan. The delay has triggered an impression of a pause in the process. Mr Khan, who served as Azad Kashmir’s president till last August, was nominated as ambassador to the US in November. He had previously served as Pakistan’s …

DAMASCUS: Syrian air defences confronted Israeli missiles targeting an area near the capital, Damascus, downing some of them, Syria’s state news agency reported on Monday. SANA cited a military source as saying the missiles came from the skies over eastern Lebanon, and targeted outposts in the vicinity of Damascus, resulting in material losses. No other details were immediately available, and there …

A pregnant New Zealand journalist who was stranded in Afghanistan by her home country’s Covid-19 border policy said on Tuesday she will return home after her government finally offered her a pathway back. The government offer amounted to a backdown by New Zealand after officials had earlier insisted that Charlotte Bellis needed to reapply for a spot in the country’s …

BAGHDAD: Iraqi air strikes killed nine suspected fighters of the militant Islamic State group, including four Lebanese, in retaliation for an IS attack on Iraqi army barracks earlier this month, officials said on Sunday. IS gunmen in Iraq broke into a barracks in the mountainous al-Azim district outside the town of Baqouba on Jan 21, killed a guard and shot …