WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett are set to hold their first face-to-face meeting on Friday, and Israel’s new leader intends to press Biden to give up his pursuit of reviving the Iran nuclear deal. Before arriving in Washington, Bennett made it clear the top priority of the visit to the White House was to persuade …

TOKYO: Japan has decided to halt the use of 1.63 million doses of Moderna’s Covid vaccine after reports of contamination in several vials, drugmaker Takeda and the health ministry said on Thursday. Takeda, which is in charge of sales and distribution of the Moderna shot in Japan, said it had “received reports from several vaccination centres that foreign substances have …

ASHGABAT (Turkmenistan): Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday said that Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) gas pipeline (TAPI) project was beneficial for the entire region and Afghanistan alone would get $1 billion in transit fee and royalty after completion of the project. Talking to the media following his meeting with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the foreign minister said the project was expected …

ADDIS ABABA: More than 210 people were killed over several days of ethnic violence in Ethiopia’s tense Oromia region last week, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said on Thursday. The state-affiliated but independent commission said witnesses described gunmen affiliated with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a rebel group, arriving on August 18 after security forces withdrew from Gida-Kirimu in …

WASHINGTON: The United States and Pakistan have a shared interest in working together in Afghanistan, National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf said in a phone interview with The Washington Post on Thursday. But the NSA pointed out that cooperation would require fixing the bilateral relationship by “moving past problems”. “Afghan instability could lead to more terrorism, refugees and economic hardship for Pakistan,” Moeed Yusuf said …

ISLAMABAD: European Council President Charles Michael on Thursday telephoned Prime Minister Imran Khan and discussed the situation unfolding in Afghanistan and thanked him for evacuating European nationals working for different international organisations in the war-torn country. The prime minister told the EC president that a stable and peaceful Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan and the region. The prime …

WASHINGTON: A Taliban spokesman has said that there was no justification for the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 as Osama bin Laden’s involvement in the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were never proven. Zabihullah Mujahid made the claim during an interview with NBC Nightly News on Wednesday, less than two weeks after the Taliban captured Kabul. The Taliban, however, have pledged …

WASHINGTON: US Capitol Police officers who were attacked and beaten during the Capitol riot filed a lawsuit on Thursday against former President Donald Trump, his allies and members of far-right extremist groups, accusing them of intentionally sending a violent mob on Jan 6 to disrupt the congressional certification of the election. The suit in federal court in Washington alleges Trump …

US President Joe Biden ordered American military commanders to develop operational plans to strike ISIS-Khorasan assets, leadership and facilities as the death toll of suicide blasts at Kabul airport rose to 85. Two blasts and gunfire rocked the area outside the airport on Thursday evening, witnesses said. Videos shot by Afghan journalists showed dozens of bodies strewn around a canal …

ISLAMABAD : Clerics belonging to all the four mainstream schools of thought on Thursday rejected the draft Anti-Forced Conversion Bill, calling it a conspiracy and suggested that the government should not fall into the trap of the West by taking the draft bill to parliament. At a meeting, chaired by Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz, they …