International

ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday announced the Afghan refugees whose ‘Proof of Registration’ (PoR) cards had expired in 2015 would be given new smart cards after verification this year. The Chief Commissione­rate for Afghan Refugees in the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (Safron) and the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), with the support of the United Nations High …

GUSAU: Hundreds of girls who were kidnapped from a boarding school in northwestern Nigeria last week have been freed, the local governor said on Tuesday. President Muhammadu Buhari expressed “overwhelming joy” at their release and called on the security forces to hunt down their abductors, after Nigeria reeled from its fourth mass abduction in less than three months. “I am …

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday underscored the “vitality and depth” of Pak-China bilateral ties and said that “strategic and political cooperation” between the two countries had gone from strength to strength. He was speaking at a virtual ceremony held to launch commemorative ceremonies for the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Pak-China diplomatic ties. Chinese foreign minister …

WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on seven senior Russians as it said its intelligence concluded that Moscow was behind the poisoning of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. In action coordinated with the EU, the United States renewed demands that Russia free Navalny, who was arrested in January upon his return to Moscow as he spurred massive rallies …

KEREM SHALOM: Israel intends to develop a “special security arrangement” with its new Arab allies, who share common concerns about Iran, Defence Minister Ben­ny Gantz said on Tuesday. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain established formal relations with Israel last year. As part of their US-backed rapprochement, Israel and the UAE have proposed defence and military cooperation. The UAE’s first …

Outrage rippled through Afghanistan on Wednesday as funerals were held for three female media workers gunned down in the eastern city of Jalalabad, the latest assassinations to rack the war-weary country. Journalists, activists and judges have recently been ambushed by gunmen or killed by explosives attached to their vehicles as surging violence forces many into hiding — with some leaving Afghanistan. The …

Pakistani community organizations Collaborative “Texas Winter Storm Relief Efforts” distributed Food, Blankets & Water to1000 families in Houston. By: Raja Zahid A Khanazada Houston Texas: In response of brutal winter storms which have battered the entire City of Houston forcing millions of people to search for the basics for survival food, water and shelter from record cold. The Pakistani American …

PORT SUDAN: A US naval destroyer docked on Sudan’s Red Sea coast on Monday in the latest sign of thawing relations between Washington and Khartoum, a day after a visit by a Russian frigate. The visits are a sign of international competition for influence in Sudan, which sits in a volatile region bridging the Horn of Africa, the Gulf, and …

BRUSSELS: Dubious intermediaries have offered governments across the European Union a total of about one billion non-existent Covid vaccine doses worth about 14 billion euros, the bloc’s anti-fraud agency said on Monday. Such middlemen are asking for advance payments and giving no delivery details, Ville Itala, the head of the European anti-fraud office OLAF, said, stressing that pharmaceutical companies insist …

VIENNA: The three European members of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal will put forward a resolution condemning Iran’s suspension of some inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog, diplomatic sources said on Monday. France, Germany and the UK will propose it during this week’s meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog’s board of governors, a delicate moment for diplomacy on the Iranian …