CAPE CANAVERAL: Jupiter and Saturn will merge in the night sky on Monday, appearing closer to one another than they have since Galileos time in the 17th century. Astronomers say so-called conjunctions between the two largest planets in our solar system aren’t particularly rare. Jupiter passes its neighbor Saturn in their respective laps around the sun every 20 years. But …

GHAZNI: At least 15 children were killed when a motorbike laden with explosives blew up near a religious gathering in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, officials said. The children had gathered at a home in Ghazni province to recite verses of the Holy Quran, a regular activity on Friday, when the blast took place. Violence has surged in Afghanistan in recent …

ROME: After decades of neglect, one of ancient Rome’s most important monuments, the mausoleum of the first emperor Augustus, has been restored and will reopen early next year, city officials announced on Friday. The mausoleum is the largest circular tomb in the world and was constructed in 28 BC near the banks of the river Tiber to house the remains …

WASHINGTON: US President-elect Joe Biden unveiled his environment team on Thursday, choosing congresswoman Deb Haaland to serve as the first Native American interior secretary and Jennifer Granholm, a former Michigan governor, as energy secretary. He also nominated Michael Regan, a North Carolina environmental regulator who is Black and brokered the nation’s largest coal ash cleanup, to be administrator of the …

WASHINGTON: A devastating cyberattack on US government agencies has also hit targets worldwide with the list of victims still growing, according to researchers, heightening fears over computer security and espionage. Microsoft said late on Thursday that it had notified more than 40 customers hit by the malware which security experts say came from hackers linked to the Russian government and …

NEW DELHI: Indian and Chinese foreign ministry officials held another round of talks on Friday but didn’t report any breakthrough in ending a months-long military standoff along their disputed border in eastern Ladakh. The two sides agreed to continue to work towards a complete disengagement of troops at all friction points along the Line of Actual Control, Indian External Affairs …

WASHINGTON: The United States is perhaps the only country which can persuade India to stop its subversive activities in Pakistan, says the country’s envoy as a US scholar sees merit in Islamabad’s claim that India is supporting separatists in Balochistan. Asad Majeed Khan, Islam­abad’s envoy in Washington, and James Dobbins, a former US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, raised …

Moderna Inc’s coronavirus vaccine on Friday became the second to receive emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), welcome news to a nation with a staggering Covid-19 death toll of over 307,000 lives lost. Millions of doses of the Moderna vaccine are expected to be added to the US rollout, which began this week with healthcare …

It’s only natural to be reflecting on the year gone by as we inch towards 31 December and in his latest post, Sheheryar Munawar took us through his 2020. The actor, who will be making a comeback to our television screens with upcoming drama, Pehli Si Mohabbat, wrote on Instagram, “Sharing a shot from a commercial I shot for last week …

KARACHI: The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement’s Member of National Assembly, Ali Wazir, who was recently arrested in Peshawar over a host of charges including using provocative language against state institutions during a rally in Karachi, was brought to the metropolis on Friday night. Police sources said that the MNA was brought to Karachi by air and police personnel took him into …