c SHANGLA: The police on Wednesday arrested a man for assaulting a 13-year-old physically-challenged girl in Kunshi area of Butyal in Bisham tehsil. An official of Bisham police station told Dawn that the victim lodged an FIR, stating that her neighbour identified as Arshad Ali had assaulted her the other day. She said the accused also threatened her father of consequences if …

SINGAPORE: Singapore on Wednesday unveiled one of the world’s biggest floating solar power farms, covering an area the size of 45 football pitches, as part of the city-state’s push to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The project is the country’s most ambitious yet, comprising 122,000 panels on Tengeh Reservoir that will produce enough electricity to run its five water treatment plants. …

BRUSSELS: The European Commission wants to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035, under a massive plan to fight climate change unveiled on Wednesday. According to one of a dozen draft laws revealed in Brussels, emissions from motor vehicles must fall by 55 percent by 2030 and drop to zero by 2035. “As a result, all …

QUETTA: Pakistan sealed its border with Afghanistan on Wednesday after Taliban militants wrested control from Afghan forces of the border town of Wesh that sits opposite the Pakistani border town of Chaman. According to sources in Chaman, the Taliban seized control of Wesh after heavy fighting on Tuesday night even though Afghan government forces used helicopter gunships in an attempt …

LOWER DIR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Wednesday removed the controller of examinations, Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Malakand, for allowing his son to attempt paper in a separate room during the ongoing secondary school certificate examinations. A video showing the official’s son solving paper sitting in a room locked from outside went viral on social media. The video …

ISLAMABAD: An officer of Establishment Division was arrested on charges of rape, police said on Wednesday. SSP (Operation) Dr Syed Mustafa Tanweer told Dawn that the officer was arrested in connection with a case registered with Shahzad Town police station under PPC 376 and 342 in response to a complaint lodged by a woman. The victim alleged that she was raped by …

The failure of China and India to resolve the standoff over their disputed border in the western Himalayas, despite an agreement last year, is not in the interest of either side, India’s foreign minister told his Chinese counterpart on Wednesday. In accordance with last year’s pact, military commanders on both sides completed a pullout of troops, tanks and artillery from the Pangong …

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia’s Amhara region said on Wednesday it will go on the offensive against forces from the neighbouring Tigray region, as advancing Tigrayans bear down on Amhara-held territory, potentially opening a major new phase in Ethiopia’s civil war. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has recaptured most of its home region in the past three weeks after an …

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday, on behalf of the government and the people of Pakistan, reaffirmed solidarity with Turkey as the country marked the fifth anniversary of a failed military coup in 2016. In a message to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the premier said history will remember how in 2016 the Turkish people displayed their characteristic resilience and …

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told his Chinese counterpart that preliminary investigation into the bus tragedy near Dasu hydropower project in the Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was not a consequence of a terrorist attack, according to a statement on China’s foreign ministry website. The statement, issued on Thursday, said Qureshi met Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the …