ALI IMRAN

  TAIPEI: China warned Washington not to “play with fire” on Wednesday as a US delegation wrapped up a historic trip to the self-ruled island of Taiwan. Beijing has been infuriated by the  highest-profile visit  in decades to Taiwan, which it sees as part of its territory, as US-China relations plunge to a record low over a range of issues from trade to military and the coronavirus pandemic. Health chief Alex Azar finished a three-day visit to Taiwan, during which he criticised China’s handling of the pandemic and visited the shrine of a former Taiwan president hated by the Communist Party leadership. Beijing slammed the visit on Wednesday and said it “firmly opposes official exchanges between the US and Taiwan under any pretext”. “On issues involving China’s core interests, some people in the US must not harbour illusions, those who play with fire will get burned,” said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian at a regular press briefing. “I would also like to remi...

Lebanese rescue teams pulled out bodies and hunted for missing in the wreckage of buildings on Wednesday as investigations blamed negligence for a massive warehouse explosion that sent a devastating blast wave across Beirut, killing at least 135. More than 5,000 people were injured in Tuesday’s explosion at Beirut port, Health Minister Hamad Hassan said, and up to 250,000 were left without homes fit to live in after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland. Hassan said tens of people remained missing. Prime Minister Hassan Diab declared three days of mourning from Thursday. The death toll was expected to rise from the blast, which officials blamed on a huge stockpile of highly explosive material stored for years in unsafe conditions at the port. The explosion was the most powerful ever to rip through Beirut, a city still scarred by civil war that ended three decades ago and reeling from an economic meltdown and a ...

US President Donald Trump on Thursday raised the possibility of delaying the nation’s November presidential election despite its date being enshrined in the country's constitution, drawing immediate objections from Democrats. It was not clear if Trump was serious and any such move would require action by the US Congress, which holds the power to set the timing of elections. Trump, without evidence, repeated his claims of mail-in voter fraud and raised the question of a delay, writing: “delay the election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump has cast doubt on the legitimacy of mail-in ballots, which have been used in far greater numbers in primary elections amid the coronavirus pandemic. He has also made unsubstantiated allegations that voting will be rigged and has refused to say he would accept official election results if he lost. Democrats, including presu...

CHAGAI: The Iranian authorities on Tuesday handed over 14 convicted Pakistani prisoners to officials on this side of the Taftan border after they were released on humanitarian grounds. According to official sources, due to not having valid passports, the prisoners were allowed after processing their manual immigration clearance at the FIA immigration centre in Taftan. While confirming the development, Chagai Deputy Com­missioner Agha Sher Zaman told news that the prisoners were handed over to the superintendent of Nushki District Jail, who later shifted them to Nushki Jail. Sharing the development on Twitter, the Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran Rahim Hayat Qureshi wrote: “Pursuant to PM @ImranKhanPTI’s visit to #Iran & request to Pres @Hass­anRouhani for amnesty to Pakistani prisoners on humanitarian grounds, 14 Pak prisoners released today.#Pakistan Iran signed agreement on transfer of sentenced prisoners in 2014”. Superintendent of Nushki District Jail Malik Samiul...

SEOUL: A pair of new statues in South Korea of a man kneeling in front of a girl symbolising a victim of sexual slavery by Japan's wartime military is the latest subject of diplomatic sensitivity between the countries, with Tokyo’s government spokesperson questioning whether the male figure represents the Japanese prime minister. Kim Chang-ryeol, owner of a botanic garden in the mountain town of Pyeongchang, said on Tuesday that he canceled an unveiling ceremony for the bronze statues that was to take place on Aug 10 because of what he described as unwanted controversy. Kim said the statues were his idea, but that he didn’t specifically intend the male figure to be Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Since his inauguration in 2012, Abe has stoked anger among South Koreans over his nationalistic stance on Japan's wartime past and his demands that South Korea remove similar statues symbolising sexual slavery victims in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul and other sites....

PARIS: Scientists have successfully revived microbes that had lain dormant at the bottom of the sea since the age of the dinosaurs, allowing the organisms to eat and even multiply after eons in the deep. Their research sheds light on the remarkable survival power of some of Earth’s most primitive species, which can exist for tens of millions of years with barely any oxygen or food before springing back to life in the lab. A team led by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology analysed ancient sediment samples deposited more than 100 million years ago on the seabed of the South Pacific. The region is renowned for having far fewer nutrients in its sediment than normal, making it a far-from-ideal site to maintain life over millennia. The team incubated the samples to help coax the microbes out of their epoch-spanning slumber. Astonishingly, they were able to revive nearly all of the microorganisms. “When I found them, I was first sceptical whether the findings ar...

TEHRAN: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards blasted a mock-up of a US aircraft carrier with missiles on Tuesday during military exercises in sensitive Gulf waters, state television reported. The exercises — dubbed “Prophet Mohammed 14th” — were held near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for a fifth of global oil output. The US Navy condemned the “irresponsible and reckless behaviour by Iran”, calling it an attempt “to intimidate and coerce”. The Iranian maritime manoeuvre was staged at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and its decades-old arch enemy the United States. Footage of the war games broadcast on state television showed the Guards’ air and naval forces readying for an attack off the country’s southwestern coast. Speedboats skimmed across the water in formation before ground forces fired cannons and a missile was launched from a helicopter. The mock-up of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier came into view with rows of dummy fighter jets on either side of its lan...