DUBAI: Sixty-five combatants have been killed in fighting after Yemen’s Houthi rebels renewed an offensive on Marib, the last government stronghold in the country’s oil-rich north, a military official said on Thursday. The Iran-backed rebels attacked pro-government positions south of the strategic city, making progress despite losing dozens of fighters in coalition air strikes. It was the Houthis’ first major …

COPENHAGEN: A former Danish immigration minister insisted she was innocent on Thursday at the opening of her impeachment trial on charges of illegally separating couples who arrived in the country to claim asylum. The 26 judges of the special court, which only convenes to try former or current members of government, will determine whether Inger Stojberg violated the European Convention …

BANGKOK: Thousands of people protested in central Bangkok on Thursday to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and said they would return every day until he leaves office. The demonstration at the Asoke intersection in central Bangkok was one of the biggest such gatherings this year despite a warning from the police earlier in the day that …

NEW YORK: Flooding killed at least 25 people, swept away cars, submerged subway lines and temporarily grounded flights in New York and New Jersey as the remnants of Hurricane Ida brought torrential rains to the area. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio described the flooding and weather on Wednesday night as a “historic weather event”, and the National Weather …

New Zealand police on Friday shot and killed a “violent extremist” who was known to authorities, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, after he stabbed and wounded at least six people in a supermarket. Ardern described the incident as a “terror attack”. She said the man was a Sri Lankan national who was inspired by the Islamic State group. She said …

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday said that Pakistan needed to coexist with the Taliban and have a “realistic” approach towards the group. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab during the latter’s two-day visit to Pakistan, the foreign minister was questioned on whether Pakistan’s relationship with the Taliban would be “conditions-based”. Responding to this, …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Raza Rabbani has warned the government against taking any decision without national consensus about electoral reforms, stating that it can put the democratic system at stake. “Any step taken, major issues decided or legislation done, in connection with electoral reforms, without a consensus among all stakeholders will not be accepted and will put the entire …

ISLAMABAD: Members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting on Thursday observed that not only the opposition parties but also media organisations and journalists were against the proposed Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA). Information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain faced a hard time in the committee as members demanded to see the draft law of the PMDA. Maryam …

KHYBER: As many as 100 Afghan nationals arrived in Pakistan via Torkham border here on Thursday. Officials at the border point said that these Afghans were issued visas by the Pakistan embassy in Kabul and their names were furnished to them by the interior ministry, Islamabad. They said that hundreds of such Afghans, mostly men, had already come to Pakistan …

KARACHI: Renowned gastroenterologist Dr Saad Khalid Niaz returned his Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, which he was awarded in 2013, to President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday. The disappointed doctor did it in protest over the government’s “ignorant attitude” towards healthcare workers and professionals who laid down their lives to save hundreds of thousands of patients during the coronavirus pandemic, but were denied their …