ABUJA: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday he was seeking talks to get Ukraine and Russian agriculture and fertilizer production back into world markets to help end a “three-dimensional” crisis the Ukraine invasion is causing for developing nations. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and economic sanctions on Moscow have disrupted supplies of wheat and other food supplies from both …

TAIPEI: Taiwan signalled on Thursday that it had abandoned a plan to buy advanced new anti-submarine warfare helicopters from the US, saying they were too expensive. Taiwan had earlier said it was planning to buy 12 MH-60R anti-submarine helicopters, made by Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) unit Sikorsky, but Taiwanese media reported that the United States had rejected the sale as not …

WASHINGTON: The United States has expressed determination to work together with Pakistan in areas of mutual interests including counter-terrorism and border security. At his press briefing in Washington D.C, the US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said his country values the bilateral relationship with Pakistan. The spokesperson reiterated condemnation of the terrorist attack at the Karachi University. He said a …

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday “strongly denounced” a ban on Eid prayer gatherings by Indian authorities in certain areas of occupied Jammu and Kashmir. In a phone call with Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas earlier today, PM Shehbaz reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to continue to extend moral, political, and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people until …

The European Union’s (EU) top official on Wednesday called on the 27-nation bloc to ban oil imports from Russia and target the country’s biggest bank and major broadcasters in a sixth package of sanctions over the war in Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, proposed having EU member nations phase out …

India and France on Wednesday called for “an immediate cessation of hostilities” in Ukraine, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi again stopping short of condemning Russia’s invasion of its neighbour. India, which imports much of its military hardware from Russia, has long walked a diplomatic tightrope between the West and Moscow — notably refusing to denounce the latter or vote against it …

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Wednesday said that the prices of diesel and petrol would have been significantly higher under the agreement the PTI regime made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Speaking to the media in Karachi, the minister came down hard on the PTI regime for what he said was its incompetence in addressing the country’s economic challenges. …

KARACHI: The case pertaining to the alleged abduction of teenage Nimra Kazmi, who purportedly solemnised free-will marriage in Punjab, took a twist as judicial magistrate found discrepancies in the case record. Kazmi, said to be a 16-year-old resident of Saudabad, went missing from Karachi in April and later emerged in Punjab, saying she left her parents’ house of her own …

TAXILA: A court in Attock on Monday granted the police another two days’ physical remand of Member National Assembly (MNA) Sheikh Rashid Shafique, nephew of former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, in the case registered over Masjid-i-Nabvi incident. Mr Shafique was arrested at the Islamabad International Airport (IIA) upon his arrival from Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Police produced the MNA in the …

PESHAWAR: The doctors and paramedics have criticised the health department’s move to initiate action against those opposing the government’s policies on social media. However, the health secretary insisted that the department wanted to implement the relevant law to act against those critical of its policy matters. On April 30, the health department issued a notification declaring it has established the …