LOS ANGELES: After exceeding all expectations with its initial four test flights, the first ever by an aircraft over the surface of another planet, NASA’s tiny Mars robot helicopter Ingenuity is ready for graduation. The US space agency announced on Friday that Ingenuity is shifting from a pure proof-of-concept, technology demonstration mode to a more ambitious mission gauging how aerial …

VIENNA: High-ranking diplomats from China, Germany, France, Russia and Britain made progress at talks on Saturday focused on bringing the United States back into their landmark nuclear deal with Iran, but said they need more work and time to bring about a future agreement. After the meeting, Russia’s top representative, Mikhail Ulyanov, tweeted that members of the Joint Comprehensive Plan …

YANGON: Protesters against military rule mar­ched in Myanmar on Saturday three months after a coup ended a democratic transition, with several small blasts compounding a sense of crisis that a UN envoy warned could bring state administration to a halt. The military has tried to end dissent and impose its authority on a people largely opposed to the return of …

A forum of scientific advisers set up by the Indian government has told authorities about minor mutations in some samples of the coronavirus that could “possibly evade immune response” and require more study, a leader of the forum has told Reuters. However, the advisers said while they were flagging the mutations, there was no reason currently to believe they were expanding or could …

Iran’s foreign minister apologised on Sunday for recorded comments that were leaked to the public last week, creating a firestorm in Iran less than two months before presidential elections. The recordings of Mohammad Javad Zarif included frank comments on powerful late Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in 2020. The attack at the time brought the US and …

PARIS: Workers and union leaders dusted off bullhorns and flags that had stayed furled during coronavirus lockdowns for slimmed down but still boisterous and at times violent May Day marches on Saturday, demanding more labor protections amid a pandemic that has turned economies and workplaces upside down. In countries that mark May 1 as International Labor Day, the annual celebration …

ISLAMABAD : For the first time since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the business community of the federal capital has joined hands with the city administration to enforce official restrictions. Senior leaders of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and Deputy Commissioner (DC) Hamza Shafqaatvisited markets in various sectors, including G-10, G-11 and F-10 Markaz, …

ISLAMABAD: The government has recommended devising a mechanism under which all labourers in the informal sector – including those in the agriculture sector – are registered and provided socio-economic protection. The proposal came in its ‘Sympathy for Workers Report’ launched under social welfare Ehsaas Programme on May Day. To this end, Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD) is setting …

ISLAMABAD: Establishment of special courts to conduct fast-track trials in rape cases as provided in the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Ordinance 2020 has been delayed. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government in December last year introduced the anti-rape law. Prime Minister Imran Khan and his cabinet approved the legal measure in Nov 2020 and President Arif Alvi signed it into law on …

PML-N President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday rejected Prime Minister Imran Khan’s proposal to use Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in general elections, saying the system had been rejected by the whole world. In a statement posted on Twitter, Shehbaz said: “The system of electronic voting is rejected by the whole world. The …