International

LONDON: The hefty carbon footprint of global shipping networks that crisscross our oceans and keep the world’s economy afloat will come under scrutiny next week, as countries wrestle over measures to slash planet-heating pollution. Nations are under pressure to agree ambitious emission reduction targets and consider a tax on pollution by the sector at a key meeting of the International …

NAIROBI: The death toll from a horrific road crash in western Kenya rose to 52 on Saturday, officials said, as rescuers worked to clear the wreckage from one of the deadliest traffic accidents in the country in recent years. A truck carrying a shipping container veered out of control and ploughed into multiple other vehicles and people thronging a busy …

DILI: East Timor independence fighter Xanana Gusmao was inaugurated as prime minister of Southeast Asia’s youngest democracy on Saturday, marking his return to power almost a decade after he left the government. More than two decades after independence, the country is still struggling to develop its economy, with more than 40 per cent of its 1.3 million citizens living in …

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani business community plans to boost the local food industry, taking advantage of an end to import restrictions. The recent dollar crisis encouraged local production units leading several Pakistanis, mostly affiliated with food industry, to sign JV agreements. Most of such deals were concluded with their counterparts from Thailand. “Pakistan imports significant amount of human as well as …

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s parliament approved a domestic debt restructuring plan on Saturday that is crucial to continue a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The plan passed with a majority of 122 votes in the 225-member parliament. Sri Lanka tumbled into its worst financial crisis in more than seven decades last year after the country’s dollar reserves …

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has urged the United Nations to add non-permanent members to the Security Council to ensure equitable representation of all 193 member states of the world body. In a debate on the Security Council’s 2023 report on Friday, Pakistan UN Ambassador Munir Akram also emphasized the need to separate terrorism from legitimate struggles for self-determination. While thanking the …

French authorities deployed reinforcements to flashpoint cities and had made hundreds of arrests by early Sunday, on the fifth night of unrest sparked by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old who was laid to rest the day before. A total of 486 people had been arrested across France as of 3am (0100 GMT) on Sunday, the interior ministry said, though the level of …

Police in the US city of Baltimore confirmed on Sunday that two people had died in a “mass shooting incident” overnight at an apartment block in the city and three others were in critical condition. The city’s police department said 30 people had been shot in the incident at 800 block of Gretna Avenue in Baltimore. An 18-year-old female was …

KENNEDY CENTRE: A European-built orbital satellite was launched to space on Saturday from Florida on a mission to shed new light on the mysterious cosmic phenomena known as dark energy and dark matter, unseen forces scientists say account for 95 per cent of the known universe. The telescope dubbed Euclid, named for the ancient Greek mathematician called the “father of …

The European Union joined several Muslim nations on Saturday in condemning the latest incident of desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden while the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) would be convening an emergency meeting on the matter next week. The censure comes after a man, who fled from Iraq to Sweden several years ago, tore up and burned the Holy Quran …