International

BEIJING: Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived here on Thursday on a four-day official visit during which he will join other world leaders attending the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics scheduled to be held on Friday (today). Accompanied by a high-level delegation, including federal cabinet members, the prime minister will also meet the Chinese leadership. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood …

DETROIT: Tesla is recalling more than 817,000 vehicles in the US because the seat belt reminder chimes may not sound when the vehicles are started and the driver hasn’t buckled up. The recall covers the 2021 and 2022 Model S sedan and Model X SUV, as well as the 2017 through 2022 Model 3 sedan and 2020 through 2022 Model …

LONDON: The Kingston-upon-Thames crown court on Thursday heard the prosecution’s opening statement in the incitement to violence trial involving Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) supremo Altaf Hussain. Mr Hussain was present in the court when the jury was informed of the prosecution’s case and taken through the evidence as well as the charge against the MQM leader. The prosecution’s statement rested …

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered four staff defections on Thursday as pressure intensified on the embattled leader over lockdown parties and his loose-lipped style of politics. One of the departures was linked to an inflammatory remark made by Johnson, attacking opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer over a notorious paedophile. “Being honest, I wouldn’t have said it and I’m …

KIEV: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered on Thursday on a visit to Kiev to hold a Ukraine-Russia summit, as EU leaders stepped up outreach to the Kremlin to defuse fears Moscow could invade. The diplomatic offensive came as Russia accused the United States of ratcheting up “tensions” by sending 1,000 soldiers to Romania and 2,000 to Poland to bolster …

WASHINGTON: For the first time in years, the United States emphasised its strategic partnership with Pakistan, clarifying that Islamabad does not need to strain its relations with China to maintain ties with Washington. The US-Pakistan relationship came up for discussion at a State Department briefing on Wednesday afternoon when a journalist referred to a recent statement by Indian opposition leader …

KIEV: Russia accused the United States on Thursday of ramping up tensions and ignoring Moscow’s calls to ease a standoff over Ukraine, a day after Washington announced it would send nearly 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania. Nato meanwhile said Russia had stepped up deployments to Ukraine’s northern neighbour Belarus in recent days and was expected to have 30,000 …

JERUSALEM: Israel and Bahrain signed a defence agreement on Thursday as part of a show of cooperation aimed at sending a message towards archenemy Iran. Defence Minister Benny Gantz signed the memorandum of understanding with his Bahraini counterpart in the capital of Manama, a key step after the two nations normalised ties in 2020. He called the agreement “a new …

ISLAMABAD: At least five people were killed in armed clashes among groups of people in two separate incidents in the rural area of the capital on Thursday. According to police, the fights took place in Bhara Kahu and both were related to land disputes. In the first incident, a group of people, armed with modern weapons, opened fire on their …

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar on Friday rejected Indian Army Chief Manoj Mukund Naravane’s claim that the ceasefire arrangement on the Line of Control (LoC) was holding because India had negotiated from a “position of strength”. The 740-km LoC had seen unprovoked artillery shelling and firing from across the dividing line until February last year …