House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke to the top US military commander on Friday about taking precautions to ensure that Republican President Donald Trump cannot initiate hostilities or order a nuclear strike in his remaining 12 days in office. Pelosi said in a letter to Democratic lawmakers that she spoke to Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of …

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Friday he would not attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan 20, undercutting his own message a day earlier that he would work to ensure a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power to his successor. Trump offered no clues for how he would spend his final hours in office, and would be the …

COPENHAGEN: The countries whose citizens were killed when Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jetliner said on Friday they want the country to deliver justice and make sure it makes full reparations to the families of the victims and affected countries. In a joint statement marking the one-year anniversary of the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crash, Ukraine, France, Canada, …

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for more advanced nuclear weapons and said the United States is “our biggest enemy,” state media said on Saturday, presenting a stark challenge to President-elect Joe Biden just days before he takes office. Washington’s hostile policies would not change regardless of who occupies the White House but dropping those policies would be key …

DUBAI: Iran’s Supreme Leader on Friday banned the government from importing Covid-19 vaccines from the United States and Britain, labelling the Western powers “untrustworthy”, as the infection spreads in the Middle East’s hardest-hit country. In a live televised speech, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei raised the prospect of the two Western countries possibly seeking to spread the infection to other countries. He …

BRUSSELS: Last year tied with 2016 as the world’s warmest on record, rounding off the hottest decade globally as the impacts of climate change intensified, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Friday. After an exceptionally warm autumn and winter in Europe, the continent experienced its hottest year on record in 2020, while the Arctic suffered extreme heat …

DUBAI: The UAE will reopen its borders to Qatar from Saturday (today), its official news agency said, making it the first of several boycotting countries to do so after a more than three-year blockade. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt in June 2017 cut air, land and sea links with Qatar over claims the gas-rich nation backed …

RAWALPINDI: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa was honoured with the Bahrain Order (first class) award by the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Prime Minister of Bahrain Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa for making significant contribution to defence cooperation betw­een Bahrain and Pakistan. The army chief visited Bahrain on an official trip from …

KARACHI: An antiterrorism court has recovered assets worth over Rs40.5 million owned by slain Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour using fake identities in Pakistan before his death in a US drone attack carried out in 2016. The recovered money has been deposited in the government treasury, the judicial sources and investigators disclosed before an antiterrorism court, which had ordered …

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday rejected a post-arrest bail application of a man charged with disseminating child pornographic content on social media. The decision was announced by Justice Tariq Mehood Jahangiri. The accused, Irfan Sarwar, had sought bail after his arrest under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca). As per the First Information Report (FIR), Irfan …