International

BRUSSELS: The European Commission wants to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035, under a massive plan to fight climate change unveiled on Wednesday. According to one of a dozen draft laws revealed in Brussels, emissions from motor vehicles must fall by 55 percent by 2030 and drop to zero by 2035. “As a result, all …

QUETTA: Pakistan sealed its border with Afghanistan on Wednesday after Taliban militants wrested control from Afghan forces of the border town of Wesh that sits opposite the Pakistani border town of Chaman. According to sources in Chaman, the Taliban seized control of Wesh after heavy fighting on Tuesday night even though Afghan government forces used helicopter gunships in an attempt …

The failure of China and India to resolve the standoff over their disputed border in the western Himalayas, despite an agreement last year, is not in the interest of either side, India’s foreign minister told his Chinese counterpart on Wednesday. In accordance with last year’s pact, military commanders on both sides completed a pullout of troops, tanks and artillery from the Pangong …

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia’s Amhara region said on Wednesday it will go on the offensive against forces from the neighbouring Tigray region, as advancing Tigrayans bear down on Amhara-held territory, potentially opening a major new phase in Ethiopia’s civil war. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has recaptured most of its home region in the past three weeks after an …

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday, on behalf of the government and the people of Pakistan, reaffirmed solidarity with Turkey as the country marked the fifth anniversary of a failed military coup in 2016. In a message to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the premier said history will remember how in 2016 the Turkish people displayed their characteristic resilience and …

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told his Chinese counterpart that preliminary investigation into the bus tragedy near Dasu hydropower project in the Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was not a consequence of a terrorist attack, according to a statement on China’s foreign ministry website. The statement, issued on Thursday, said Qureshi met Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the …

BERLIN: Storms caused heavy flooding across parts of western and central Europe overnight, and a man swept away by a raging stream in eastern Germany remained missing on Wednesday. Firefighters resumed their search for the man in the Saxony state town of Joehstadt on Wednesday morning. German news agency dpa reported that he had been trying to secure his property from rising …

BRISBANE: Australia, the United States and allies opened large-scale war games on Wednesday, as a Chinese surveillance vessel travelled south to monitor the exercises. More than 17,000 troops from the two allied nations will participate in Talisman Sabre, which is held every two years in Australia, from July 14 to 31. Defence Minister Peter Dutton said a Chinese naval intelligence …

PARIS: Scientists have used CRISPR gene-editing technology to successfully block the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in infected human cells, according to research released on Tuesday that could pave the way for Covid-19 treatments. Writing in the journal Nature Communications, researchers in Australia said the tool was effective against viral transmissions in lab tests, adding that they hoped to begin animal …

JOHANNESBURG: Stores in two South African provinces were ransacked on Tuesday for a fifth consecutive day, hours after President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed troops in a bid to quell unrest that has claimed 45 lives. The premier of Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, said 10 bodies were found late on Monday at a looted shopping centre in Soweto, on the city’s …