International

Thailand will use AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine as a second dose for those who received Sinovac’s shot as their first dose in a bid to increase protection, it said on Monday. The move is the first publicly announced mix-and-match of a Chinese vaccine and a Western-developed shot, as a new preliminary Thai study raised doubts about the longer-term protection of …

LOS ANGELES: Millions of people across the western United States and Canada were hit on Sunday by a new round of scorching hot temperatures, with some roads closed, train traffic limited and new evacuations ordered. In Canada, with wildfires continuing to spread — including 50 more blazes erupting in the past two days — the government announced new emergency measures …

SREBRENICA: Ninet­een newly identified victims were honoured and buried on Sunday in Bosnia as thousands gathered to commemorate the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, Europe’s only acknowledged genocide since World War II. The slaughter of more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniaks, most of them men and boys, by Bosnian Serb forces was commemorated in speeches, prayers and song, followed by the reburial of …

Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab’s music has left quite an impression on former US president Barack Obama. Her song ‘Mohabbat’ from the album Vulture Prince has been featured in Obama’s 2021 summer playlist. Obama has been sharing playlists of music he has enjoyed listening to during the summer for the past couple of years. This year’s playlist is titled Barack Obama’s Summer Playlist. …

Lightning has killed at least 38 people across two Indian states over the past 24 hours, officials said on Monday. A majority of the deaths occurred in the western state of Rajasthan, where 11 people died after being struck by lightning near a watchtower at the 12th century Amber Fort, police said. Senior police officer Anand Srivastava said some of …

ANKARA: A bus carrying Afghan, Pakistani and Bangladeshi migrants crashed in eastern Turkey early on Sun­day, killing at least 12 people and injuring 26 others, local authorities said. The crash occurred in Van province’s Muradiye district near the Turkish border with Iran, where the vehicle caught fire after tumbling into a ditch, two local sources with information on the matter …

Taliban fighters have surrounded the city of Ghazni in central Afghanistan, taking over civilians’ homes to fight security forces, officials said on Monday, the latest urban centre under threat from the insurgents. The offensive was the latest on a provincial capital as the Taliban make a fresh push to surround cities and gain territory, emboldened by the departure of foreign forces. …

Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Monday that even if Afganistan descended into a civil war, the government would not let the fallout affect Pakistan. In a message on Twitter, Chaudhry said the government’s policy on Afghanistan was “in Pakistan’s interest”. “[We] are monitoring the changing situation in Afghanistan. [We are] trying our best for a way …

KABUL: Afghan authorities prepared on Saturday to try to retake a key border crossing seized by the Taliban in their sweeping offensive to capture new territory that led a veteran warlord to deploy his militiamen in the western city of Herat. As US troops continued their withdrawal, the Taliban said its fighters had seized two crossings in western Afghanistan — …

India said on Sunday it had temporarily brought back officials from its consulate in Kandahar, a major city in southern Afghanistan, as Taliban fighters continue to gain control amid the withdrawal of international forces. “Due to the intense fighting near Kandahar city, India-based personnel have been brought back for the time being,” Arindam Bagchi, chief spokesperson at India’s foreign ministry, …