ISLAMABAD: The Italian government has reopened sea­sonal and non-seasonal work visas for Pakistani nationals under its annual schedule of work visa called ‘Decreto Flussi’ for the year 2020-21. Over 30,000 work visas would be issued by the Italian government to the nationals from a few non-EU countries, including Pakis­tan. Pakis­tani workers in agriculture, tourism, construction and freight forwarding sectors can …

NEW DELHI: India and China are engaged in talks to resolve the border standoff and what is going on is “something confidential” between the two sides, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Thursday. The Press Trust of India said the minister was asked specifically about the outcome of the ongoing talks during an online conclave. Mr. Jaishankar replied that the “discussions …

GENEVA: Sentencing rapists to death, as Bangladesh did on Thursday, is not an appropriate punishment even for such a heinous crime, the UN rights chief said. “Tempting as it may be to impose draconian punishments on those who carry out such monstrous acts, we must not allow ourselves to commit further violations,” Michelle Bachelet said in a statement. Her comment …

BERLIN: Fears rose on Thursday that Europe is running out of time to control a resurgence of the coronavirus, as infections hit record daily highs in Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy and Poland. France slapped a 9pm curfew on many of its biggest cities and Londoners faced fresh travel restrictions as governments imposed increasingly tough measures. Newly confirmed cases have …

New Delhi: Two days after the Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on national security revealed Indian feelers for bilateral talks, New Delhi described the claim as fictitious on Thursday. In an interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire on Tuesday, Moeed Yusuf, the prime minister’s Special Assistant, had claimed that Pakistan had got messages in the “past year” about a “desire of …

HYDERABAD: An interesting situation emerged in Sindh University on Thursday when tainted Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Fateh Mohammad Burfat arrived at the campus to resume his duties after expiry of his one month’s forced leave in the wake of probe into graft charges against him. He submitted his joining report to acting Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Siddique Kalhoro, stating that …

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday granted interim pre-arrest bail to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader retired Captain Mohammad Safdar over an ongoing inquiry of the National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, against him for allegedly holding assets beyond means. A bench consisting of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Mohammad Nasir Mehfooz issued the order over a pre-arrest bail …

ISLAMABAD: Four more educational institutes in the capital were sealed on Thursday after detection of coronavirus among staff and students. Officials said seven positive cases were reported from these four educational institutes. Three private schools, one each at H-8, G-15 and DHA and a college G-10 were sealed on the directions of the deputy commissioner Islamabad till further orders. The …

MUZAFFARGARH: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MPA Khurram Sohail Leghari claims that he has resigned as adviser to chief minister and member of price control committee because of the alleged non-cooperation of the bureaucracy. However, a reliable source said the Punjab government had asked him for resignation because he always [allegedly] violated party decorum and met with Jahangir Khan Tareen when the latter …

KARACHI: Soon after the Sindh cabinet decided to not hold any talks with the federal government over the issue of twin islands off Karachi’s coast till the presidential ordinance was withdrawn, a conciliatory gesture was adopted by Islamabad when Sindh Governor Imran Ismail ruled out any further development on the proposed project until consent was attained by the provincial government …