Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are not returning to UK ‘anytime soon’, however, the plan can change depending on circumstances. The ET Online, citing sources, reported that Duke of Sussex Prince Harry and his wife Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle have no plans to return to Britain ‘anytime soon’. The source further says, “Things can obviously change, if there’s a concern …

BISHKEK: Kyrgyz Presi­dent Sooronbai Jeenbekov resigned on Thursday, leaving power in the hands of a nationalist rival whose supporters freed him from jail last week. The swift transition appears to put an end to more than a week of turmoil and unrest that followed a disputed election. Sadyr Japarov, 51, who was named prime minister this week, told cheering supporters …

DHAKA: A Bangladesh court sentenced five men to death on Thursday for the 2012 gang-rape of a 15-year-old girl, amid growing public anger over rampant sexual violence. The sentence was handed down in the northern district of Tangail by a special tribunal set up to deal with cases of abuse against women and children. Prosecutor Nasim Ahmed said the victim’s …

ISLAMABAD: In response to a question about a reported offer by India for resumption of dialogue, Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez said on Thursday the onus was on New Delhi to create an enabling environment for the purpose. Addressing the weekly press briefing here, he said that in order to create an enabling environment India should rescind its illegal and …

WASHINGTON: The Taliban have promised US forces to reduce casualties in Afghanistan after a wave of violence raised questions about peace talks, a US envoy said on Thursday. “At present too many Afghans are dying. With the re-set, we expect that number to drop significantly,” Zalmay Khalilzad, who negotiated a February 29 deal with the Taliban to pull out US …

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 …