TEHRAN: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Sunday unveiled a new naval ballistic missile with a potential range of over 700 kilometres (430 miles), local media reported, following months of tensions with the arch-enemy United States. The missile, dubbed “Zolfaghar Basir”, is a naval variant of the surface-to-surface Zolfaghar ballistic missile, according to Tasnim news agency. Its range is more than twice that …

KHARTOUM: Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has said that normalising ties with Israel is a “complicated” issue needing wide debate within society, media reported on Sunday. Earlier this month, Israel signed US-brokered deals to normalise ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The administration of US President Donald Trump wants Sudan to follow suit, and Secretary of State Mike …

PORTLAND: Police clashed with anti-racism protesters and pushed back members of the press in downtown Portland, Oregon, into early Sunday morning, making more than 20 arrests. The violence followed a relatively peaceful rally by the right-wing Proud Boys group and counter protests by anti-fascist and Black Lives Matter activists on Saturday. Videos published online showed police pushing protesters and photographers …

PARIS: French investigators were on Sunday studying a video claiming responsibility for the meat cleaver attack in Paris that targeted satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo as the government condemned an act of “Islamist terrorism”. Eight people were still under arrest, including the suspected perpetrator of Friday’s attack that left two badly wounded outside Charlie Hebdo’s former offices in Paris. The man is 18 years old, born in …

NEW DELHI: Former Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh, who brought New Delhi and Islamabad tantalisingly close to a peace deal over Kashmir in Agra, died here on Sunday at the age of 82. Mr Singh had been in coma from a fall at his home in August 2014. That was a few months after losing the Lok Sabha election as …

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has reminded the international community that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ignored Kashmir and other major global issues in his address to the UN General Assembly. The Indian leader addressed the 75th UNGA on Saturday and deman­ded a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, but purposely ignored key global issues. Pakistan opposed the Indian demand, saying that there’s …

SEOUL: North Korea on Sunday warned the South Korean navy to stop crossing into its territorial waters as ships search for the body of a Seoul official shot dead at sea by Pyongyang’s soldiers. State media said the North will begin its own search for the body and warned that the South’s naval operations threatened to raise tensions. The fisheries …

TAIPEI: The dispute over international organisations referring to Taiwan as Chinese has moved from wild bird conservation to climate change, after a global alliance of mayors began listing Taiwanese cities as belonging to China on its website. China has ramped up pressure on international groups and companies to refer to democratic, self-ruled Taiwan as being part of China, to the …

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) has yet to technically become functional, but its recent steps like stopping universities from taking Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) and suspending the National Examination Board (NEB) exam have left many in the health profession surprised. Besides, the PMC, formerly called the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), has mentioned on its …

China’s capital Beijing will protect whistleblowers who disclose information about public health emergencies, it said on Sunday, part of the country’s efforts to fix some of the systemic faults that hindered its initial response to the Covid-19 outbreak. The Beijing city government said it would offer rewards to health workers who disclose vital information about any imminent health emergency, and …