ISLAMABAD: Weekly inflation clocked in at 42.27 per cent year-on-year owing to the rising prices of edible oil, pulses and vegetables, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday. Short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), is expected to intensify further as the full impact of depreciation, hike in general sales tax rate …

THE Saudi Crown Prince is seeking defence guarantees and wants to develop the civilian nuclear programme from the Biden administration, in exchange for normalising relations with Israel, The New York Times reported. According to the report, the deal could see a major political breakthrough in the Arabian peninsula. Also, it would meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most precious desire to increase …

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has banned music from his campaign stops and vowed to heal the earthquake-stricken nation’s wounds as he formally set the next election for May 14. Erdogan signed a decree over national television on Friday that kicks off campaigning for what is widely seen as Turkiye’s most consequential vote of its post-Ottoman history. It is …

PARIS: Laura Poitras has made herself the conscience of the United States with ground-breaking films about the occupation of Iraq, tech surveillance, and now the opioid epidemic. She is proud to call herself a troublemaker. “I think it’s so important to document histories of struggle,” the 59-year-old filmmaker said during a visit to Paris to promote her latest film, All …

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin was charged on Friday with abusing his power to obtain bribes and money laundering linked to the alleged misuse of a Covid economic recovery fund. Muhyiddin was prime minister for 17 months between 2020 and 2021, at the height of Malaysia’s battle against the coronavirus, and now leads an opposition coalition against …

LONDON: Former England soccer captain Gary Lineker will “step back” from his role at the BBC following his criticism of Britain’s migration policy that has sparked a furious row between the government and the corporation’s highest-paid presenter. On Tuesday, Britain announced details of a new law which would see migrants arriving in small boats across the Channel prevented from claiming asylum and …

UNITED NATIONS: Foreign Mini­ster Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari urged the global community on Friday not to underestimate the resentment and sense of injustice Muslims felt when faced with deliberate acts of Islam­ophobia, like the burning of holy books. The foreign minister was speaking at a special high-level event at the UN headquarters in New York to highlight the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, …

A blast hit the capital of Afghanistan’s northern Balkh province on Saturday, police said, killing one person and wounding five a few days after the death of the province’s governor in an explosion claimed by the militant group Islamic State. “A blast has taken place in the second police district of Balkh,” said Mohamad Asif Waziri, Balkh’s police spokesperson. He confirmed the …

LOS ANGELES: California’s banking regulators on Friday closed SVB Financial Group, the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis, moving quickly to protect depositors as a crisis at the startup-focused lender rippled through global markets and hit banking stocks. The regulator appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as the receiver, putting the tech-heavy lender into receivership and will …

TEHRAN: Regional powerhouses Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed on Friday to restore ties and reopen diplomatic missions in a surprise, Chinese-brokered announcement that could have wide-ranging implications across the Middle East. In a trilateral statement, Tehran and Riyadh said they would reopen embassies and missions within two months and implement security and economic cooperation deals signed more than 20 years …