WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday for the first time accused Iran of direct involvement in the “probable death” of former FBI agent Bob Levinson, who vanished 13 years ago, and imposed sanctions on two intelligence agents. Releasing the finding a month before President-elect Joe Biden takes office, Donald Trump’s administration urged his successor to prioritise the release of at …

The United States imposed long-anticipated sanctions on Turkey on Monday over Ankara’s acquisition of Russian S-400 air defence systems, further complicating already strained ties between the two Nato allies. Turkey condemned the sanctions as a “grave mistake” and urged Washington to revise its “unjust decision”. It said sanctions would inevitably harm mutual relations and threatened unspecified retaliatory steps. Senior US …

A deputy governor of Kabul province and his aide were killed on Tuesday by a bomb in the Afghan capital, officials said, the latest in a wave of targeted killings in the country. Mahbobullah Mohebi was killed when a bomb attached to his vehicle detonated while he was on his way to his office, the interior ministry said. Mohebi’s secretary, …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, who surprisingly resigned as official spokesperson for party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari last week, is expected to have a meeting with the latter on Tuesday (today) has learnt. Sources said Mr Bhutto-Zardari had personally approached Mr Khokhar and invited him for the meeting in an effort to sort out “differences” between the two on …

PESHAWAR: A girl’s suspected killer on Monday formally confessed to sexually assaulting the seven-year-old before killing her and torching body in Badabher area last month. He made the confession as the police produced him in the court of judicial magistrate Sanaullah here after the completion of three-day physical remand. A police official that the suspect, a neighbour of the deceased, sexually …

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was informed on Monday that the national flag carrier had cleared 110 pilots out of the 141 whose licences to fly had been suspended against the backdrop of the fake degrees controversy. Senior advocate Salman Akram Raja, representing the Pakistan International Air­lines, informed a three-judge SC bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed that PIA had …

ISLAMABAD: The federal capital is well ahead of other federating units when it comes to conducting Covid-19 tests. While the countrywide tests per million population (PMP) have been recorded at 28,428, Islamabad has conducted 370,266 tests. On the other hand, 2,362 new cases and 36 deaths were reported on Monday with 346 ventilators in use across the country. According to …

LAHORE: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will visit Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Shahbaz Sharif in Kot Lakhpat jail on Tuesday (today) as the Punjab home department gave him permission for the purpose. During his visit, the PPP chairman will offer his condolences to the N-League president over the sad demise of the latter’s mother, said a spokesperson for Mr Bhutto-Zardari, adding …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday vowed to provide all resources to Pakistan Navy for dealing with imminent challenges as he expressed confidence in its ability to defend the country’s maritime frontiers. Mr Khan said this during his visit to the Naval Headquar­ters where he was briefed on maritime security challenges and Pakistan Navy’s perspective on development of the …

LAHORE: A day after the public meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) at Minar-i-Pakistan, the Lahore police launched a crackdown on service providers for the event. The police high-ups assigned a task to the divisional SPs to identify and arrest those who managed chairs and other goods for the public meeting of the PDM and take legal action against …