VIENNA: Diplomats said on Thursday that the latest talks in Vienna to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal were positive despite fresh tensions over Tehran’s announcement that it was preparing to ramp up uranium enrichment in response to an attack on a facility it blamed on arch-foe Israel. The latest round of diplomatic negotiations aimed at ensuring the US’s return …

Prince William and Prince Harry won’t walk side-by-side Saturday as they follow their grandfather’s coffin into the church ahead of Prince Philip’s funeral, minimising the chances of any awkward moments between the brothers who are grappling with strained relations since Harry’s decision to step away from royal duties last year. Buckingham Palace on Thursday released the broad outlines of the …

KABUL: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed on Thursday that the United States will have a lasting partnership with Afghanistan even after it withdraws all forces from the country before this year’s 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The unconditional withdrawal — four months later than a deadline agreed with the Taliban last year — comes despite a …

ISLAMABAD: Struggling to fulfil a constitutional requirement of keeping the National Assembly in session for a minimum of 130 days in a parliamentary year, the government on Thursday convened a new session of the lower house of parliament on Friday (today) on a notice of less than 24 hours, amid an unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases all over the country, …

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar police on Thursday booked organisers and participants of the Aurat March in Islamabad on the orders of a local court on the charge of committing blasphemy. They, however, made no arrests immediately. The FIR was registered at the East Cantonment police station, under sections 295-A and C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which deals with ‘malicious acts …

LAHORE: Life returned to normal in Punjab after the police and the paramilitary forces early on Thursday uprooted another mega protest camp of the recently proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) at Shangi Chowk of Ferozepur Road, the stronghold of the organisation. The operation was professionally handled and the security forces not only had both sides of the road of the city …

KARACHI: The United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil variants of the coronavirus might be responsible for the current severe third wave of Covid-19 in Pakistan, says a recent study. The study, which analysed 3,501 positive samples, found that these variants were responsible for causing 54 per cent of new Covid-19 infections reported from December 2020 to February 2021 in Karachi. …

KARACHI: As the federal government on Thursday formally announced banning the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a parliamentary challenge emerged in Sindh where the party’s three leaders are members of the provincial assembly (MPA) and one is poised to contest the upcoming NA-249 by-election, leaving both the government and the electoral officials in a quandary about the procedure ahead. The Sindh Assembly …

ISLAMABAD: While a record number of Covid-19 tests were conducted in a day since the beginning of the pandemic, the country reported another highest number of coronavirus cases in the last 10 months. All federating units have issued different schedules for vaccination, bifurcating timings in morning and evening shifts. Moreover, after confirmation of a number of Covid-19 cases, the Senate …

The Ministry of Interior on Friday directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to temporarily block access to social media platforms — Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and Telegram — from 11am to 3pm. “It is requested that immediate action may be taken on the subject matter,” the ministry directed the PTA chairman. Shortly after, the PTA released an official statement saying: …