LONDON: The British Broadcasting Corporation said on Monday it would hold an inquiry into how the broadcaster secured a famous 1995 interview with the late Princess Diana, amid accusations from her brother she had been tricked into taking part. During the interview, which was watched by more than 20 million viewers in Britain, Diana shocked the nation by admitting to an affair …

MOSCOW: A Russian military helicopter was shot down in Armenia near the border with Azerbaijan on Monday, the defence ministry in Moscow said, killing two crew members. The ministry said that the Mi-24 helicopter was hit by a man-portable air defence system close to the border with Azerbaijan, whose forces are fighting Armenian-backed separatists in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. …

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had “terminated” Defence Secretary Mark Esper, appearing to use his final months in office after his election defeat to settle scores within his administration. Trump split with Esper over a range of issues and was particularly angered by his public opposition to Trump’s threats to use active duty military forces this …

President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team is considering legal action over a federal agency’s delay in recognising the Democrat’s victory over US President Donald Trump in last week’s election, a Biden official said on Monday. The General Services Administration (GSA) normally recognises a presidential candidate when it becomes clear who has won an election so that a transition of power can …

Many Covid-19 survivors are likely to be at greater risk of developing mental illness, psychiatrists said on Monday, after a large study found 20 per cent of those infected with the coronavirus are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder within 90 days. Anxiety, depression and insomnia were most common among recovered Covid-19 patients in the study who developed mental health problems, …

ISLAMABAD: With polio cases are on the rise within the country, a large number of union council polio officers (UCPO) protested outside the World Health Organisation (WHO) office, demanding an extension in the contracts of 1,800 officers. WHO Country Head Dr Palitha Mahipala rushed back to Islamabad from Peshawar to assure the protesters he will take up their case, and …

Armenia and Azerbaijan announced an agreement early Tuesday to halt fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan under a pact signed with Russia that calls for deployment of nearly 2,000 Russian peacekeepers and territorial concessions. Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a 1994 truce ended a separatist war in which an estimated …

HARIPUR: District police officer, Haripur, Kashif Zulfiqar has claimed that the killers of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Malik Tahir Iqbal would soon be arrested as the police had closed in on suspects identified during investigations conducted in the case on scientific lines. He was speaking during an open kutcheri held in Ghazi here the other day. Some of the participants had questioned the …

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police department has claimed a ‘significant’ decrease in the incidents of extortion, targeted killing and kidnapping for ransom across the province during the last 10 months. It also insisted that kidnapping for ransom had been eliminated from the province, said a statement issued here on Monday. The statement said inspector general of police Dr Sanaullah Abbasi …

ISLAMABAD: A college student was booked by the capital police for allegedly using derogatory remarks about a companion of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), it is learnt on Monday. The case was registered at the Shalimar police station on the complaint of a member of the teaching staff on charges of the PPC’s section 295-A (Deliberate and malicious acts …