LAHORE: In a bid to check the rising value of US dollar, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided to investigate about 100 individuals for allegedly buying over $63 million from different exchange companies in Lahore that are believed to have been either smuggled to Afghanistan or hoarded during the last 45 days. “The FIA Lahore on Tuesday served notices …

KARACHI: The US dollar kept going high against the rupee hitting a fresh peak despite a number of measures taken by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to cool down the demand for the greenback. Currency dealers in the interbank market said the dollar was traded as high as Rs171.13 during the session on Tuesday. However, it closed at Rs171.04, …

WASHINGTON: Vice President Kamala Harris said on Tuesday that the European explorers who first landed on US shores had “ushered in a wave of devastation for tribal nations, perpetrating violence, stealing land and spreading disease”. “We must not shy away from this shameful past, and we must shed light on it and do everything we can to address the impact …

LONDON: UK lawmakers said on Tuesday the government’s response when Covid-19 swept into Europe cost thousands of lives and was “one of the most important public health failures” in the country’s history. In a damning assessment, a cross-party group of MPs found that official pandemic planning was “too narrowly and inflexibly based” on curbing influenza, and had failed to learn …

JERUSALEM: Israel formally agreed on Tuesday to double the amount of fresh water it provides to neighbouring Jordan, one of the world’s most water-deficient nations. The two countries announced in July that Israel would sell 50 million cubic metres of water a year to Jordan, doubling what it already supplies, according to the terms of a peace deal from the …

PARIS: Even if humanity beats the odds and caps global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, seas will rise for centuries to come and swamp cities currently home to half-a-billion people, researchers warned on Tuesday. In a world that heats up another half-degree above that benchmark, an additional 200 million of today’s urban dwellers would regularly find themselves …

ISLAMABAD: Chief of General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri arrived here on Tuesday on a three-day visit. Lt Gen Saqib Mehmood Malik, chief of logistics staff of Pakistan Army, received him at the airport. General Bagheri is leading a high-ranking military delegation. The top Iranian commander will meet Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed …

SRINAGAR: Indian government forces killed five suspected militants in occupied Kashmir, police said on Tuesday, a day after militants allegedly shot dead five soldiers. The killings come as the restive and disputed territory is hit by a string of civilian shootings, with seven killed last week in attacks claimed by an anti-India militant group, The Resistance Front (TRF). Police said …

WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has appointed Elizabeth Jones, a veteran diplomat, to lead efforts for relocation and resettlement in Afghanistan, the US State Department said on Tuesday. “As the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, Ambassador Jones will assume oversight of the entire Afghanistan relocation effort, from our ongoing efforts to facilitate the departure of individuals from Afghanistan to their onward …

Afghanistan’s new Taliban government has warned US and European envoys that continued attempts to pressure them through sanctions will undermine security and could trigger a wave of economic refugees. Acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told Western diplomats at talks in Doha that “weakening the Afghan government is not in the interest of anyone because its negative effects will directly …