PATNA: A New Delhi-bound flight carrying 185 passengers made an emergency landing on Sunday in the eastern Indian city of Patna, after its left engine caught fire while in flight, officials said. The passengers aboard the domestic flight, operated by commercial carrier SpiceJet, were evacuated safely once the pilot returned to Patna airport shortly after take-off. “The flight returned to …

BERLIN: Germany and Austria announced emergency measures on Sunday to ensure their energy needs after a drop in Russian gas supplies, including reverting to coal in what Berlin called a “bitter but indispensable” step. “To reduce gas consumption, less gas must be used to generate electricity. Coal-fired power plants will have to be used more instead,” the German economy ministry …

WASHINGTON: The United States has agreed to help Pakistan negotiate a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), diplomatic sources told on Sunday. Earlier, media reports had claimed that Islamabad was “seeking Washington’s support” for renewing its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with the IMF. As the largest shareholder, the US has considerable influence over the IMF’s decision-making. Pakistan signed a …

NEW DELHI: Enrolment under India’s new armed services recruitment plan will commence this month, top defence officials said on Sunday, despite protests against a scheme that will drastically cut tenure and offer fewer service benefits at the end of contract. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on June 14 set out a policy called Agnipath, or “path of fire”, designed to …

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron lost his parliamentary majority on Sunday after major election gains by a newly formed left-wing alliance and the far right, in a stunning blow to his plans for major second term reform. The result threw French politics into turmoil, raising the prospect of a paralysed legislature or messy coalitions, with Macron forced to reach out …

Sri Lanka closed schools and halted all non-essential government services on Monday, beginning a two-week shutdown to conserve fast-depleting fuel reserves as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) opened talks with Colombo on a possible bailout. The country of 22 million people is in the grip of its worst economic crisis after running out of dollars to finance even the most …

KARACHI: Police on Sunday morning arrested a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf lawmaker from his Clifton apartment over a sexual harassment case. The provincial PTI leadership slammed the arrest of a member of the Sindh Assembly and described the FIR against him as ‘suspicious’. South-SSP Asad Raza told Dawn that PTI lawmakers Khurram Sher Zaman and Haleem Adil Sheikh approached the Boat Basin police for …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan warned that inflation is set to rise further and the country is headed towards becoming the next Sri Lanka, which is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence. Addressing party workers across the country through video link, Mr Khan asked people to take to the streets against inflation “for their own good” and …

NORTH WAZIRISTAN: Six people, including four volunteers of a social organisation, were killed in two incidents in North Waziris­tan tribal district on Sunday. Police and residents said that unidentified men on two motorcycles opened fire on a moving car in the Haiderkhel area of Mirali tehsil. Four activists of the Youth of Waziristan, a social organisation, were killed in the …

LAHORE: The constitutional crisis related to holding of the Punjab Assembly session is deepening with every passing day, as the panel of chairmen on Sunday directed four senior assembly secretariat officers to immediately report at Aiwan-i-Iqbal, where the budget session has been under way since June 14. “Special Secretary Ali Imran Rizvi, Chief Security Officer Akbar Nasir, Chief Reporter Umar …