WASHINGTON: A declassified version of a US intelligence report, expected to be released soon, has observed that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, four US officials familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The officials said the report, for which the CIA was the main contributor, assessed that the crown prince approved …

DUBAI: Bahrain’s crown prince spoke with the Israeli prime minister on Thursday about the return to nuclear talks with Iran, Bahrain’s state-run news agency reported, as the US administration tries to revive the tattered 2015 nuclear accord. Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, also the country’s prime minister, stressed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the importance of …

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday declared his country had achieved the “human miracle” of eliminating extreme poverty, though questions continue to surround the Communist Party’s criteria for making the claim. In a glitzy ceremony in Beijing, Xi bestowed medals on officials from rural communities, some wearing traditional ethnic-minority attire, and promised to share this “Chinese example” with other …

In its first statement on occupied Kashmir, the Biden administration has urged India and Pakistan to hold direct talks on the issue, and welcomed an agreement between the two neighbours to de-escalate tensions along the Line of Control (LoC). Both India and Pakistan announced on Thursday that their senior military commanders have agreed to strictly observe all agreements, understandings and ceasefire along …

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday welcomed the Sri Lankan government’s decision to allow the burial of Covid-19 victims, days after the premier’s visit to Colombo. On February 10, Prime Minister Imran had lauded his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa’s announcement that burials would be allowed. A day later, however, Rajapaksa backtracked and said there would be no change in …

The United States military struck facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran-backed armed groups on Thursday, saying President Joe Biden’s new administration was sending Tehran a message after recent rocket attacks on US troop locations in Iraq. In its first military action against Iran-backed groups since Biden became president five weeks ago, the US Defence Department said it had carried out airstrikes …

ISLAMABAD: As the Supreme Court is all set to commence hearing of review petitions in the Justice Qazi Faez Isa case from March 1, the judge on Thursday filed an application seeking a directive that the Pakistan Television Corporation be directed to broadcast live proceedings of the hearings. A 10-judge bench comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice …

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Thursday gave one month deadline to the government to commence construction work of district courts complex and also sought update on lawyers’ complex. Justice Minallah was hearing the case related to lawyers storming of IHC on Feb 8. During the hearing, IHC chief justice inquired about the progress on …

PESHAWAR: The prime minister’s special assistant, Shahzad Akbar, on Thursday tendered an unconditional verbal apology to the Peshawar High Court expressing regret for his remarks against the head of a special court, which awarded death sentence to former military ruler retired General Pervez Musharraf for high treason in 2019. A bench consisting of Justice Roohul Amin Khan and Justice Syed …

LAHORE: Prime Minister Imran Khan has been briefed that it has become imperative to shift the flying club operating at Walton airport for training flights as it is now within the thickly populated location of Lahore. The Walton airport has become unsafe as already a couple of training planes crashed in Lahore streets. However, the accidents did not claim any …