LONDON: Financial firms in Britain should be ready in case no trade agreement is struck with the European Union by December, a senior UK regulator said on Thursday. Britain leaves the EU next week, followed by a “business as usual” transition that ends in December. Britain and the EU will formally begin trade talks in coming weeks. “Firms still need …

NEW DELHI: India on Thursday rejected US President Donald Trump’s offer to help resolve the Kashmir dispute, saying the matter had to be addressed between New Delhi and Islamabad. “There is no role for any third party in the Kashmir issue,” Indian ministry of external affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. He was quoted by The Hindu as making the comments in response …

LISBON: Angola could issue an international arrest warrant for billionaire Isabel dos Santos if she fails to cooperate with a fraud investigation in which she has been named as a suspect, its chief prosecutor was quoted as saying. Angola has named dos Santos, the daughter of former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos and reputedly Africa’s richest woman, as a suspect …

CIUDAD HIDALGO: Hundreds of Central American migrants surged into Mexico on Thursday, wading unopposed across a river on the Guatemalan border where Mexican troops had used tear gas earlier in the week to keep them back, journalists at the scene reported. Once on the other side of the Suchiate river, the migrants quickly formed a column and began a trek …

JERUSALEM: Israel and the United States on Thursday called for action against Iran in front of world leaders marking 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, comparing the Iranian threat to that once posed by Nazi Germany. “There will not be another Holocaust,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Jerusalem gathering of more than 40 heads of state and …

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration on Thursday published new visa rules aimed at restricting birth tourism, in which women travel to the United States to give birth so their children can have US citizenship. Applicants will be denied tourist visas if they are determined by consular officers to be coming to the US primarily to give birth, according to the rules …

A psychologist who helped design the Central Intelligence Agency’s “war on terror” torture programme after the September 11, 2001 attacks defended it this week before its victims at the US military prison in Guantanamo, Cuba. James Mitchell was unapologetic on Tuesday when he appeared at a hearing to answer questions about the waterboarding, stress position and sleep deprivation techniques applied …

China stepped up measures to contain a virus which has killed 25 people and infected more than 800, with public transport suspensions in 10 cities, temples shutting, and the rapid construction of a new hospital to treat those infected. The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday declared the new coronavirus an emergency for China but stopped short of declaring the …

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thursday confirmed that US President Donald Trump’s visit to India next month would not include Pakistan. President Trump “wants an exclusive visit to Pakistan which is not linked to any other visit in the region because Pakistan has its own distinct place,” FO Spokesperson Aisha Farooqi said at the weekly media briefing. Mr Trump is …

ISLAMABAD: Diplomatic channels need to be open for ‘hydro diplomacy’ that can address water management issues between India, Afghanistan and Pakistan, conference participants said on Thursday. The conference, titled ‘Water Beyond Borders’, was organised by Lead Pakistan. Parliamentarians, diplomats and water experts were among the participants. Water is a basic human right, Leader of the House in the Senate Shibli …