MOSCOW: Russia urged Tajikistan and Afghanistan to resolve any dispute in a mutually acceptable manner, saying it had heard reports they were sending troops to their common border, TASS quoted the Russian foreign ministry as saying. “We observe with concern the growing tensions in Tajik-Afghan relations amid mutually strong statements by the leadership of the two countries,” TASS quoted ministry …

JERUSALEM: Three Palestinians were killed on Thursday by Israeli fire, including a woman who tried to stab officers in Jerusalem, a militant shot during West Bank clashes and a Gazan who approached the border fence. The violence comes days after an Israeli raid on militants in the occupied West Bank left five Palestinians dead. At dawn in Jerusalem, the sound of gunshots …

JERUSALEM: Israel and Bahrain cemented their year-old agreement to establish diplomatic ties on Thursday, with the king of the small Gulf Arab state hosting Israel’s foreign minister who for the first time opened an embassy in the capital of Manama. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa on the same day as the first direct flight from …

WASHINGTON: The US military chief has informed American lawmakers that the loss in Afghanistan was a cumulative effect of 20 years of wrong decisions and bad planning and was not caused by any single factor, such as the Taliban’s alleged sanctuary in Pakistan. In their latest testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, top US generals also blamed …

Japanese Princess Mako will marry her fiance, a former college classmate, on October 26, authorities said on Friday, after years of intense scrutiny and criticism that cast her engagement in an unflattering light. The 29-year-old niece of Emperor Naruhito became engaged to Kei Komuro, 29, in 2017, and the two initially captivated the public with their smiles at each other in a …

KABUL: Afghanistan’s health system is on the verge of collapse, a top Red Cross official warned on Thursday, saying more than 2,000 health facilities had been shuttered across the conflict-ravaged country. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned that a dire lack of funding was pushing Afghanistan’s health system to the brink. “People might agree …

ISLAMABAD: While the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) concluded after one month on Thursday, a large number of students have been protesting against the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) across the country, demanding retake of the exam on a single day to ensure transparency and merit. A delegation of students met with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) …

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa directorate of archaeology and museums has formally begun the conservation of the ancestral homes of Bollywood legends Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor located inside the walled city of the provincial capital by documenting their details. The government had taken the possession of the two properties, including Dilip Kumar’s in Mohallah Khudadad area and Kapoor Haveli in Dhaki …

PESHAWAR: Unknown assailants gunned down a Sikh hakeem near Charsadda Bus Stand here on Thursday, police said. The police identified the victim as hakeem Satnam Singh who was attacked in his clinic here in the limits of Faqirabad police station. A police official told that unknown assailants, whose number could not be ascertained, opened fire on Satnam Singh and managed …

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has said that by questioning the transparency of highway and motorway projects undertaken during the party’s previous term in government, Prime Minister Imran Khan has in fact accused China or Pakistan Army of doing corruption as most of these projects were completed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corri­dor (CPEC) and by the Frontier Works Organisation …