BEIRUT: Israeli shelling killed 14 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip’s south, packed with people who had fled attacks in other parts of the besieged enclave, on Thursday. The dead included nine children, an official said. All the 14 Palestinians were killed in a strike at Al Mawasi camp, to the west of Khan Yunis. Gaza residents said Israeli planes and …

Squeezed between giant arch-rivals India and China, the landlocked mountain kingdom of Bhutan was long isolated by icy Himalayan peaks. But as Bhutan readies to elect a new parliament in Thimphu on January 9, China and India are watching the contest with keen interest as they eye strategic contested border zones, analysts warn. A “cooperation agreement” inked between Bhutan and …

An Indian Navy warship was moving towards a hijacked Liberian-flagged vessel in the Arabian Sea, and aircraft were closely monitoring the situation, the Indian navy said on Friday. At least 15 Indian crew members were on board the MV Lila Norfolk, which was hijacked near Somalia’s coast and the navy received information about it on Thursday evening, Indian news agency ANI, …

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Thursday regretted that constitutional amendments dealing with the disqualification of lawmakers under Article 62(1)(f) were thrust upon parliament under peculiar circumstances, without any debate. “I have repeatedly emphasised that there is a need to understand the broader picture and the way such amendments in the Constitution were brought in,” the CJP observed, adding …

LAHORE: The federal government has decided to procure 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine, amid a possible resurgence of a new variant of the virus in various countries, officials have confirmed. The procurement of Pfizer vaccines from the US was planned on the recommendations of the Eme­r­gency Operation Centre’s (EOC) technical advisory group following the emerging threats of the JN.1 variant. …

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Thursday emphasised that Pakistan’s foreign policy must be driven by the vision of the country as a progressive and economically rising state, focusing primarily on the socio-economic prosperity of its citizens. The Foreign Office in a statement said that the prime minister was speaking at a envoys’ conference here. Mr Kakar said …

ISLAMABAD: Former director general Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) retired Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed has submitted a written response to the inquiry commission probing the 2017 sit-in by Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) at Faizabad Interchange in Islamabad, Dawn has learnt through sources on Thursday. On the other hand, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has requested the commission to provide him a questionnaire so that he could come before it …

LONDON: A guest essay attributed to incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan in The Economist indicates that the former prime minister has serious doubts about whether the upcoming elections will be held or not. The piece, published on Thursday, repeats Mr Khan’s allegations about how a regime change brought about after US government pressure led to a vote of no-confidence against him, and describes the …

Two terrorists, including a “high-value target”, were killed in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Friday. In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said security forces conducted an operation late last night on the “reported presence of terrorists”. “After an intense fire exchange, two terrorists, including HVT Gul Yousaf …

Caretaker Health Minister Dr Nadeem Jan on Friday said that the country had not yet recorded any cases of the new Covid-19 variant, JN.1 Omicron, but emphasised “we are on red alert”. The statement from the minister comes a day after the federal government decided to procure 500,000 doses of a Covid vaccine, amid a possible resurgence of the new variant of …