International

The International Space Station (ISS) was thrown briefly out of control on Thursday when jet thrusters of a newly arrived Russian research module inadvertently fired a few hours after it was docked to the orbiting outpost, Nasa officials said. The seven crew members aboard — two Russian cosmonauts, three Nasa astronauts, a Japanese astronaut and a European space agency astronaut …

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s king on Thursday rebuked Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government for misleading parliament over the status of coronavirus emergency measures, sparking renewed calls for the embattled leader to resign. Muhyiddin obtained royal consent to declare the emergency in January, allowing him to halt parliament and rule by ordinance without legislative approval. Critics have slammed the emergency as a …

They spit. They wait. They hope. About 30,000 people from scores of nations are spitting into tiny plastic vials at the Olympics in a daily routine that’s grown crucial in going ahead with the pandemic-era Games, according to organisers. If you do the math for the two-week duration of the Olympics, that adds up to a half million saliva samples …

The national security advisers (NSA) of Pakistan and the United States met in the US capital on Thursday, where they discussed the “urgent need for reduction in violence and a negotiated political settlement in Afghanistan”. NSA Moeed Yusuf and his American counterpart Jake Sullivan waited till Thursday evening to confirm their meeting, posting brief tweets stating that their talks also …

Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan cannot be held “responsible” for the actions of the Taliban in the aftermath of US and its allies’ ongoing withdrawal from Afghanistan, adding that his government is not a spokesperson for the militant group. “What the Taliban are doing or aren’t doing has nothing to do with us. We are not responsible, …

MOSCOW: Russia said on Wednesday it was beefing up the combat capabilities of its military base in Tajikistan and training local soldiers, as Moscow warned that fighters of the militant Islamic State group were moving into neighbouring Afghanistan. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who was in Tajikistan on Wednesday for talks, said the security situation had rapidly deteriorated in Afghanistan …

NEW DELHI: Afgha­nistan would become a “pariah state” if the Taliban take control by force, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, as a top-level delegation from the insurgent group visited China to assure officials of their international obligations. “An Afghanistan that does not respect the rights of its people, an Afgh­anistan that commits atro­cities against its own …

The top diplomats of India and the United States pledged on Wednesday to expand their multilateral security partnership, underscoring the deepening of ties between the two countries concerned over China’s growing influence in the region. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met in New Delhi and sought to strengthen a regional front against Beijing’s …

Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday called the US “stubborn” in stalled nuclear talks in Vienna for discussing Tehran’s missiles and regional influence, likely signalling challenges ahead in efforts to revive its tattered atomic accord with world powers. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks come as his hard-line protege, President-elect Ebrahim Raisi, is poised to be sworn in next week as the head of …

KABUL: Like thousands of his compatriots, Abdel Khalid Nabyar waited outside Afghanistan’s main passport office to apply for the precious travel document that would allow him to leave the war-torn nation. With the Taliban making huge advances in the countryside as foreign forces wind up their withdrawal, many Afghans — those with the means, at least — are looking for …