Britain and Turkey are set to sign a free trade deal on Tuesday, the UK trade ministry said on Sunday, the first since Prime Minister Boris Johnson secured a new trade agreement with the European Union. The two nations will sign a deal that replicates the existing trading terms between Ankara and London, but British trade minister Liz Truss said that she …

Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry on Monday extended a ban on entry to the kingdom by air, land and sea for another week amid concerns over a fast-spreading variant of the new coronavirus, the state news agency SPA reported. Saudi Arabia shut its borders on Monday Dec 21 and suspended international commercial flights on a rolling weekly basis although foreign flights already in the country were allowed …

b ISLAMABAD: With the capital reporting 136 positive cases on Sunday, the district administration is hoping the positivity rate will fall further by up to 1pc in a week. As many as 137 people were infected on Saturday and 123 on Friday. The maximum positivity ratio recorded in November was 10pc, however, the weekly data of that month showed it …

RAWALPINDI: PPP supporters on Sunday gathered at Liaquat Bagh to observe the 13th death anniversary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. She was assassinated at the same spot in a gun-and-bomb attack on Dec 27, 2007. Despite the harsh cold weather, PPP supporters continued to turn up at the spot to offer Fateha all the day. Two separate functions were …

KARACHI: An antiterrorism court has declared 15 absconding suspects as proclaimed offenders for allegedly masterminding and facilitating an armed attack on the Chinese consulate general in Karachi. The Counter-Terrorism Department booked and arrested Mohammad Aslam, Ahmed Hasnain, Ali Ahmed alias Hashim, Nadir Khan alias Arif Buledi and Abdul Latif — all said to be associated with the banned separatist Baloch …

ISLAMABAD: Election on the vacant seat of Islamabad’s mayor will be held today (Monday) with both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) vying for the slot. In the 73-member electoral college, the PML-N has 47 votes against 25 of the PTI. The PML-N has fielded Pir Adil Gillani, who is chairman of Bari Imam Union Council while …

ISLAMABAD: Four people lost their lives and 25 others were injured in a traffic accident in the capital on Sunday. The incident took place on Srinagar Highway. According to a police official, a coaster carrying staff of Islamabad International Airport (IIA) was going to the airport from Zero Point when all of a sudden a car emerged from G-12. As …

KHYBER: Pashtun Tahafuz Movement chief Manzoor Pashteen has demanded an immediate release of party MNA Ali Wazir and several other PTM workers arrested by the police in different parts of the country. Police arrested Mr Wazir on Dec 17 in connection with a case registered against him and several leaders of the PTM in Karachi after a recent public meeting. …

ISLAMABAD: As another 1,800 Covid-19 infections surfaced on Sunday, Abbottabad once again reported the highest positivity ratio in the country. According to data provided by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 1,853 people contracted the virus while 57 lost their lives. The total number of active cases throughout the country stood at 39,329 with 9,874 deaths having been reported …

Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Monday emphasised that the Pakistan Army was “not involved” in the country’s politics in the past nor would it be in the future. Speaking to the media in Islamabad, he questioned why the leaders of the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) did not take the name of Gen Ziaul Haq when they talked …