LAHORE: Prime Minister Imran Khan has been informed that foreign investors, who have bought land in the nine special economic zones (SEZs) in Punjab, are getting jittery as they are unable to execute their plans of industrial development in the absence of power and gas supplies. Sources told Dawn that the prime minister guaranteed provision of the facilities to the SEZs as …

ISLAMABAD: The defence counsel in Noor Mukadam murder case claimed that his client Zakir Jaffer, father of Zahir Jaffer, was taken into custody despite the fact that he was not nominated as accused in the FIR registered on July 20 and even he was not present in the city on that day. Khawja Haris, counsel for Zakir Jaffer, on Wednesday …

FONTAINEBLEAU: French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday held talks with the crown prince of the UAE’s Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed, one of Paris’ closest allies in the Middle East region. The two met for a working lunch at the historic Fontainebleau Chateau outside Paris, where the United Arab Emirates has played a key role in restoration works, correspondents said. …

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday appointed a new-look cabinet to revamp his Brexiteer government after controversies over Covid, Afghanistan and taxes, demoting his under-fire foreign secretary. Dominic Raab was moved to the lesser role of justice secretary but will retain the title of deputy prime minister, Downing Street confirmed. The former lawyer, who deputised for Johnson when …

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden expressed “complete confidence” in the United States’ top general after revelations that he spoke to his Chinese counterpart twice amid concerns about then-president Donald Trump’s mental state. Biden pushed back against Republican calls to fire Joint Chiefs Chair General Mark Milley for allegedly undermining civilian control of the military in the calls last October and January as …

SEOUL: South Korea successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile on Wednesday, becoming only the seventh country in the world with the advanced technology and raising the prospect of a regional arms race. The test, supervised by President Moon Jae-in, came hours after nuclear-armed North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea, according to the South’s military — prompting Washington …

WASHINGTON: Former president Ashraf Ghani’s abrupt exit last month scuttled a deal under which the Taliban would hold off entering Kabul and negotiate a political transition, the US negotiator on Afghanistan said on Wednesday. In his first interview since the collapse of the 20-year Western-backed government, Zalmay Khalilzad, who brokered a deal with the Taliban last year to withdraw US …

US Senator Chris Van Hollen said on Tuesday that the Trump administration had enabled the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, as he vindicated Pakistan, which he said had released three top Taliban commanders on the then US government’s request to push forward the Afghan peace process. The senator, a Maryland Democrat who was born in Karachi, argued at the first senate …

Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban co-founder and now deputy prime minister of Afghanistan, has been named among the “100 Most Influential People” of 2021 by Time magazine. Baradar’s profile for Time’s list, written by veteran journalist Ahmed Rashid, noted that he “is revered” among the Afghan Taliban as a founding member, “a charismatic military leader and a deeply pious figure”. It said that when …

France’s president announced the death of the leader of the militant Islamic State (IS) in the Greater Sahara late on Wednesday, calling Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi’s killing “a major success” for the French military after more than eight years fighting extremists in the Sahel. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that al-Sahrawi “was neutralised by French forces” but gave no further …