PARIS: A gene therapy that has allowed several children born deaf to hear for the first time is being hailed as a “game changer” that raises hopes of the first new treatment for hereditary deafness in decades. Several medical teams around the world are trialling the procedure, which focuses on a rare genetic mutation that affects only a small number …

GAZA STRIP: Thousands of civilians were trapped in southern Gaza by bombardment and fighting on Saturday, a day after the top UN court ruled Israel must prevent genocidal acts. Growing alarm has focused on Khan Yunis, the biggest city in Gaza’s south, where the two main hospitals were barely functioning under the weight of the relentless bombardment and the press …

BAGHDAD: Iraq and the United States on Saturday held a first round of talks on the future of American and other foreign troops in the country, with Baghdad expecting discussions to lead to a timeline for reducing their presence. Roughly 2,500 US troops are still deployed in Iraq as part of the anti-IS international coalition formed in 2014 — the …

NEW YORK: A jury in New York ordered former US president and 2024 candidate Donald Trump on Friday to pay $83.3 million to compensate the writer E. Jean Carroll, whom he was found to have sexually assaulted and defamed. The civil order, which prompted an audible gasp in the federal court, far exceeds the more than $10 million in damages …

QUETTA / ISLAM­ABAD: Nine Pakistani workers were gunned down by unidentified attackers in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province near the border with Pakistan on Saturday, as the neighbouring countries have sought to ease tensions after deadly cross-border fire. Iran’s Mehr news agency reported that “according to witnesses, this morning unknown armed men killed nine non-Iranians in a house in the Sirkan neighbourhood of Saravan city” …

GAZA STRIP: While bad weather hit displaced Palestinians seeking refuge further north in the battered enclave, Israel pressed ahead on Saturday with its aggression in Gaza’s Khan Younis area after the failure of UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) to call for a ceasefire. Aggravating the crisis for Palestinians, the UK, Australia, Canada, Italy and Finland suspended their funding to …

North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles off its east coast on Sunday, its second such launch in less than a week, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. The missiles were launched at around 2300 GMT on Saturday and were being analysed by South Korean and US intelligence authorities, the JCS said, without specifying how many missiles were fired …

LAKKI MARWAT: Three militants were killed in an intelligence-based operation in Titterkhel town of Lakki Marwat district on Saturday. An official said that the operation was jointly launched by local police and counter-terrorism department commandos after receiving information about the presence of militants in the rural locality. He said that the law enforcers backed by armoured personnel carrier (APC) vehicles …

GILGIT: Life in Gilgit-Baltistan remained paralysed for a second consecutive day as protests grew against the hike in wheat prices and other grievances on Saturday. Demonstrations were staged in various districts of the region including Astore, Diamer, Ghizer, Hunza, Nagar, Skardu, Shigar, Kharmang and Ghanche districts. Main roads including Karakoram Highway, Skardu Road, Ghizer Road wore deserted look as protests …

ABBOTTABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief organiser Maryam Nawaz on Saturday said if the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa voted her party to power, it would change the nation’s destiny. “It is up to you to change the destiny of your province by vote. If you elect us, we will develop it like Punjab,” the PML-N leader told an election rally here. …