WASHINGTON: Presi­dent Joe Biden and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan agreed in a meeting this week that Turkey would take a lead role in securing Kabul airport as the United States withdraws troops from Afghanistan, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday. However, the two leaders were not able to resolve the long-standing issue of Turkey’s purchase of Russian …

MOSCOW: The Kremlin was guarded about future dialogue with Washington on Thursday, a day after the first face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Joe Biden. The two leaders met in Geneva on Wednesday to ease soaring tensions between Moscow and Washington, with relations at their lowest since the end of the Cold War. Putin said Russia …

WASHINGTON: The Democratic-led House, with the backing of President Joe Biden, passed legislation on Thursday to repeal the 2002 authorisation for use of military force in Iraq, a step supporters said was necessary for Congress to reassert its constitutional duty to weigh in on matters of war while detractors worried that it would embolden militia or terror groups operating in …

Police in India have summoned Twitter’s top official in the country to answer allegations that the US firm failed to stop the spread of a video that allegedly incited “hate and enmity” between Hindu and Muslim communities. An official police notice, seen by Reuters, showed a case had been registered in Ghaziabad in northern Uttar Pradesh state over a video of …

ISLAMABAD: As many as 46 people on Thursday were diagnosed with Covid-19 in the capital and a slight increase was seen in the positivity ratio as it climbed to 1.04pc whereas 113 people recovered from the disease. Officials of the capital administration said that during the last 24 hours 4,419 tests were conducted and there are 1,264 active cases in …

ISLAMABAD: The Communist Party of China (CPC) wants greater engagement with Pakistani political parties to strengthen bilateral ties and provide better environment for the development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong, while speaking at a webinar hosted by Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) in connection with the upcoming CPC centenary celebration, said: “The CPC attaches great importance to exchanges …

Federal Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan has said that the resignation of former special assistant to the prime minister on overseas Pakistanis, Zulfi Bukhari, had not been accepted, adding that he would rejoin the federal cabinet after the inquiry into the Rawalpindi Ring Road project concludes. Speaking on DawnNewsTV show ‘Live with Adil Shahzeb’, the minister said that Bukhari had nothing to …

ISLAMABAD: The number of active cases of Covid-19 in the country has declined by 65 per cent in about two months and positivity rate continues to hover around 3pc for the last two weeks, according to data shared by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). The number of patients admitted to hospitals, which was around 7,000 in April, was …

The budget session in the Balochistan Assembly commenced at least two hours after the scheduled time on Friday, amid protests by opposition lawmakers over what they claimed as unfair distribution of funds. Earlier, at least three lawmakers, identified as Shakeela Dahwar (BNP), Babu Raheem (BNP) and Wahid Siddiqui (JUI), were injured as opposition members and their supporters blocked access to …

As Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar began his speech in the National Assembly on Friday in response to the opposition’s severe criticism of the budget, Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif began making his way out of the assembly, prompting the minister to challenge him to stay and hear him out. Azhar was speaking after Bilawal delivered a stinging speech …