ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said Turkey had made a historic discovery of gas in the Black Sea, but would still speed up contentious exploration in the Mediterranean that has pitted it against Greece and the EU. Turkey hopes the discovery can help wean it off imported energy, including from Russia, which comes […]
GAZA CITY: Israeli warplanes bombed the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Friday, as Palestinians fired rockets and launched fire bombs into southern Israel, the army said. Israeli planes launched raids against Gaza shortly after midnight on Thursday and then again later on Friday morning. Israel said the bombs were in response to seven rockets launched from […]
Health authorities in China’s capital Beijing have removed a requirement for people to wear masks outdoors, further relaxing rules aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus after the city reported 13 consecutive days without new cases. Despite the relaxed guidelines, a large proportion of people continued to wear masks in Beijing on Friday. Some […]
Pakistan foreign minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi is leaving for Beijing for ‘strategic level’ discussions with his Chinese counterparts on Thursday, days after Prime Minister Imran Khan underscored that Pakistan’s future is connected with that of its long-time ally China. Qureshi will be accompanied by a team of diplomats including foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood, people […]
Iran unveiled a surface-to-surface ballistic missile that Defence Minister Amir Hatami said had a range of 1,400 kilometres and a new cruise missile on Thursday, ignoring US demands that Tehran halt its missile programme. “The surface-to-surface missile, called martyr Qassem Soleimani, has a range of 1,400 km and the cruise missile, called martyr Abu Mahdi, […]
Democrats make it official, nominate Biden to take on Trump Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden as their 2020 presidential nominee Tuesday night, as party officials and activists from across the nation gave the former vice president their overwhelming support during his party’s all-virtual national convention. The moment marked a political high point for Biden, who […]
KABUL: Six members of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s honour guard were wounded on Tuesday when a rocket struck his palace compound, two officials said. The rocket was one of a salvo launched into central Kabul just as officials were gathering in the capital to commemorate Afghanistan’s 101st independence day. Ghani had finished speaking outside the […]
The World Health Organization says the planet is nowhere near the amount of coronavirus immunity needed to induce herd immunity, where enough of the population would have antibodies to stop the spread. Herd immunity is typically achieved with vaccination and most scientists estimate at least 70 per cent of the population must have antibodies to […]
US’ former first lady Michelle Obama ripped through Donald Trump at the opening of the Democratic National Convention, saying he is the “wrong president for our country” who is “clearly in over his head”. The four-day convention was initially scheduled to be held in Wisconsin but it began virtually on Monday amid the ongoing COVID-19 […]
ISLAMABAD: Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa on Monday reached Saudi Arabia and held meetings with the kingdom’s top military leadership. “COAS met His Excellency General (Staff) Fayiadh bin Ha’med Al-Rowaily, Chief of General Staff, and His Royal Highness Lieutenant General (Staff) Fahad bin Turki Al Saud Commander Joint Forces, KSA,” ISPR said about Gen Bajwa’s […]