International

India’s main opposition Congress party filed a complaint to the Election Commission on Monday accusing Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “blatantly targeting” minority Muslims in a campaign speech. The world’s most populous country is constitutionally secular and its election code bans canvassing based on “communal feelings”. Modi’s muscular Hindu-first politics is a key part of his electoral appeal …

LAS PALMAS: Ministers from five Mediterranean nations on Saturday urged the EU to “deepen” bilateral agreements with migrant countries of origin and increase funding to tackle the root causes of migration. Meeting on Gran Cana­ria Island, interior and migration ministers from the so-called MED5 nations — Cyprus, Gree­ce, Italy, Malta and Spain — discussed the new migration and asylum pact …

BEIJING: Russia remained China’s top oil supplier in March, data showed on Saturday, as refiners snapped up stranded Sokol shipments. China’s imports from Russia, including supplies via pipelines and sea-borne shipments, jumped 12.5 per cent on the year to 10.81 million tonnes, or 2.55 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. …

ISLAMABAD: Iran’s Ambassador Dr Reza Amiri Moghaddam met Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday to discuss arrangements for the Iranian president’s upcoming visit to Pakistan. The two officials deliberated upon the details of President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit. The Iranian ambassador congratulated Mr Naqvi on assuming the charge of interior minister and appreciated his performance as caretaker chief minister of Punjab. …

PANAMA CITY: Hear­ings in the money-laundering trial of the heads of the now-defunct law firm Mossack Fonseca, the epicentre of the global “Pana­ma Papers” scandal, concluded on Friday in the Panamanian capital. Following 10 days of hear­ings, a sentence is expected in the coming weeks, with judge Baloisa Marquinez saying she would take advantage of a law giving her 30 …

WASHINGTON: The US House of Represe­ntatives on Saturday with broad bipartisan support passed a $95 billion legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, over bitter objections from Republican hardliners. The legislation now proceeds to the Democratic-majority Senate, which passed a similar measure more than two months ago. US leaders from Democ­ratic President Joe Biden to top Senate Republican Mitch …

ISLAMABAD: Russia has warned Pakistan that it will ban rice imports again if their phytosanitary concerns are not addressed in future consignments. The Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (FSVPS) of the Russian Federation issued a notification regarding violations of international and Russian phytosanitary requirements over a shipment of rice imported from Pakistan. The notification, numbered FS-SA-3/6592 and dated …

SEOUL: North Korea has tested a “super-large warhead” designed for a strategic cruise missile, state media said on Saturday, the most recent test since UN sanctions monitoring against the nuclear-armed nation was upended last month by Russia. The announcement comes after Russia in March used its United Nations Security Council veto to effectively end UN monitoring of violations of the …

RAFAH: Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Saturday an overnight Israeli strike killed nine members of a Palestinian family, including six children, in the southern city Rafah. Separately, Israeli troops killed 10 people in the occupied West Bank. Five children aged one to seven and a 16-year-old girl were among the dead, along with two women and a man, according …

One person was killed and seven people were missing on Sunday after two Japanese military helicopters collided before crashing into the sea, officials said. A spokesman for Japan’s Self Defence Force (SDF) confirmed the incident to AFP, adding that one person was rescued but later confirmed dead. Defence Minister Minoru Kihara said rescuers “spotted what are believed to be part of …