LONDON: Europe’s new Covid-19 cases have doubled in five weeks as the United Kingdom, France and Germany have announced nationwide lockdowns for at least the next month that are almost as strict as the restrictions in March and April. Portugal has imposed a partial lockdown and Spain and Italy are tightening restrictions. A new national lockdown in England may have …

MINSK: Police in Belarus on Sunday dispersed protesters marching from central Minsk to a Stalin-era execution site in the latest of weeks of demonstrations against strongman Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed re-election. A journalist heard loud bangs and the sound of shots being fired and saw police chasing protesters in a field not far from the Kuropaty site, a wooded area on …

SRINAGAR: Indian government forces shot dead the leader of held Kashmir’s largest militant group on Sunday, authorities said. Hizbul Mujahideen leader Saifullah Mir — also known as Musaib and Doctor Saif, as he treated militants injured in encounters with Indian forces — was killed in a gunbattle in the Rangreth area of Srinagar near the main airport, police said. One …

MANILA: At least 10 people were killed as Typhoon Goni pounded the Philippines on Sunday, ripping off roofs, toppling power lines and causing flooding in the hardest-hit areas where hundreds of thousands had fled their homes. The strongest typhoon of the year also triggered deadly landslides that buried a number of houses in the southern part of the most populous …

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri has said the Pakistani diaspora in France is law abiding and positively contributing to the French economy and there are no complaints from them of difficulties in the aftermath of the recent developments. In a statement issued here on Sunday, the FO spokesman said the Indian media outlets were spreading “fake news” regarding …

US President Donald Trump will hunt for support in four battleground states on Monday while Democratic rival Joe Biden focuses on Pennsylvania and Ohio during the final day of campaigning in their long, bitter race for the White House. The Republican Trump trails Biden in national opinion polls ahead of Tuesday’s Election Day. But the race is seen as close in enough swing …

US President Donald Trump has suggested that he will fire Dr Anthony Fauci after Tuesday’s election, as his rift with the nation’s top infectious disease expert widens while the nation sees its most alarming outbreak of the coronavirus since the spring. Speaking at a campaign rally in Opa-locka, Florida, Trump expressed frustration that the surging cases of the virus — …

Veteran British journalist Robert Fisk has died at the age of 74, The Guardian reported late on Sunday. Fisk was admitted to St Vincent’s hospital in Dublin on Friday after suffering a suspected stroke and died shortly afterwards, according to a report on the BBC. Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar expressed sadness on the journalist’s death. “A fearless journalist who understood the Middle East better …

Gunmen traded fire with Afghan security forces in Kabul University’s campus following a blast in the area, and at least six people were wounded, Afghan government officials said. The Taliban denied their fighters were involved in the assault, and the identity of the attackers was unknown. “Gunshots still can be heard in the area but security forces have blocked it …

TAXILA: PML-N leaders of Attock district have distanced themselves from the recent “anti-state” remarks of the party leadership, particularly the stance of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former speaker of the National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq. At separate press conferences in different towns of the district on Sunday, PML-N member of the Punjab Assembly Jehangir Khan­zada, former member of the National …