International

MOSCOW: Russian Presi­dent Vladimir Putin on Friday said hundreds of fighters loyal to the militant Islamic State (IS) group were massing in northern Afghanistan, as Moscow prepares to host international talks on the country next week. The United States, China and Pakistan will join talks on the Taliban takeover on Tuesday, the Kremlin’s envoy to Afghanistan said. A day later, …

WASHINGTON: The White House said on Friday it would lift Covid-19 travel restrictions for fully vaccinated foreign nationals effective Nov 8, ending historic restrictions that had barred much of the world from entering the United States. Announcing the starting date for the new rules on travel into and out of the country, White House spokesman Kevin Munoz posted on Twitter …

JERUSALEM: Israel is quietly advancing controversial settlement projects in and around Jerusalem without making major announcements that could anger the Biden administration. Critics say the latest moves, while incremental, pave the way for rapid growth once the political climate changes. On Wednesday, as Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met with US officials in Washington, a local planning committee in Jerusalem approved …

DHAKA: Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at thousands of protesters in Bangladesh’s two main cities on Friday as disturbances lingered on for a third day. And amid concern over the “disturbing” violence from India, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met leaders of the Hindu community on Thursday and promised stern action. The protests began on Wednesday after footage …

An Apple employee who led fellow workers in publicly sharing instances of what they called harassment and discrimination at the company said on Thursday that she had been fired. Janneke Parrish, an Apple programme manager, said the iPhone maker informed her on Thursday that she had been terminated for deleting material on company equipment while she was under investigation over …

The United States said on Friday it has offered to pay unspecified compensation to relatives of 10 people in Afghanistan including seven children who were killed by mistake in a US drone strike as American forces were completing their withdrawal. In a statement, the Pentagon also said it was working with the US State Department to relocate to the US any of …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday visited the church where lawmaker David Amess was stabbed to death a day earlier in what police say they are treating as a terrorist attack. Amess, 69, from Johnson’s Conservative Party, was knifed repeatedly in the attack at about midday on Friday in Leigh-on-Sea, east of London, during a meeting with constituents. Johnson, interior minister …

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi set out his Taliban worries to world leaders this week, Indian forces staged raids and battled rebels in occupied Kashmir, who the premier fears could be emboldened by the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan. Shootings of civilians and police in occupied Kashmir and raids by the security forces on rebels’ hideouts have increased in the Muslim-majority …

The militant Islamic State group on Saturday claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on a Shia mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar that killed at least 41 people and injured scores more. The Friday assault came just a week after another IS-claimed attack on Shia worshippers at a mosque in the northern city of Kunduz that killed more than 60 people. …

A senior UN official said on Friday the Taliban told him they will announce “very soon” that all Afghan girls will be allowed to attend secondary schools. Unicef Deputy Executive Director Omar Abdi, who visited Kabul last week, told reporters at UN headquarters that five of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces — Balkh, Jawzjan and Samangan in the northwest, Kunduz in the northeast and Urozgan …