BEIJING: China will take “drastic measures” if Taiwan makes moves towards independence, a Beijing official warned on Wednesday, adding that Taiwan’s provocations and outside meddling could intensify next year. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and in the past two years has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure to assert its sovereignty claim, fuelling anger in Taipei …

Indian police on Thursday arrested a Hindu religious leader for allegedly making a derogatory speech against India’s independence leader Mahatma Gandhi and praising his assassin. Gandhi was shot dead by a Hindu extremist during a prayer meeting in the Indian capital in 1948 because he was considered sympathetic toward Muslims during the partition of the Indian subcontinent by British colonialists …

A destitute Indian woman who claims she is heir to the dynasty that built the Taj Mahal has demanded ownership of an imposing palace once home to the Mughal emperors. Sultana Begum lives in a cramped two-room hut nestled within a slum on the outskirts of Kolkata, surviving on a meagre pension. Among her modest possessions are records of her …

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty in New York on Wednesday of recruiting and grooming young girls to be sexually abused by the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell faces spending the rest of her life behind bars after the 12-person jury convicted her on five of the six counts she was facing, including the most serious charge of sex trafficking a minor. …

A Covid “tsunami” threatens to overwhelm healthcare systems, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday, as record surges fuelled by the Omicron variant dampened New Year celebrations around the world once again. Governments are walking a tightrope between anti-virus restrictions and the need to keep societies and economies open, as the highly transmissible variant drove cases to levels never seen before …

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman urged arch-rival Iran on Thursday to end its “negative behaviour” in the region, after Riyadh accused Tehran of aiding Yemeni rebels in launching deadly attacks on his country. However, the monarch who turns 86 on Friday appeared to soften his hawkish tone towards the Islamic republic, after having urged world powers last year to take a “firm stance” …

ISLAMABAD: After a wait of 32 years, over 4,000 people would finally get possession of developed plots in E-12, which had been marred by a dispute between the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the villagers. On Wednesday, 162 of around 1,200 villagers were allotted alternative plots through balloting, paving the way to resolution of the long-running dispute that had been …

RAWALPINDI: Higher educational institutions and secondary schools, both in private and public sector, in Rawalpindi are observing separate winter vacation schedule due to lack of coordination between different sections of the Punjab Education Department. As per the notification issued by the Higher Education Department (HED) Punjab, the public and private sector higher education institutions had been observing winter holidays from …

ISLAMABAD: Kohsar police arrested two persons on the charge of murdering a visa section officer of the Iraqi embassy. The victim’s wife was among those arrested. According to the police, the deceased was identified as Mohammad Shakeel, a resident of Bhara Kahu, who worked with the Iraqi embassy in Islamabad. A case was registered with Kohsar police against unidentified person(s) …

GWADAR: The leader of Gwadar Ko Haq Do Tehreek, Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, has said that illegal fishing near Makran coast has come down because of strict steps taken by the authorities. Maulana Rehman was talking to journalists here on Wednesday after attending a meeting which reviewed point-to-point progress and implementation of the agreement reached between the government and the protestors …