International

A number of major investment deals are expected to be signed during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s upcoming visit to Islamabad, according to officials. Two Saudi sources have confirmed to AFP that the heir apparent to the Gulf kingdom’s throne will visit Islamabad shortly, without giving a date. Officials from both countries confirmed to AFP that a number of deals are expected to be signed …

DUBAI: Public debt has rapidly increased in many Arab countries since the 2008 global financial crisis, due to persistently high budget deficits, the International Monetary Fund warned Saturday. “Unfortunately, the region has yet to fully recover from the global financial crisis and other big economic dislocations over the past decade,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said. “Among oil importers, (economic) …

In an exclusive interview with Dawn.com, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid has said that if the Taliban do end up having a say in the Afghan polity one day, they will approach Pakistan “as a brother and a neighbour”, seeking “comprehensive ties based on mutual respect, just as we seek such relations with all other neighbours.” He acknowledged that Pakistan had remained …

Turkey has called China’s treatment of its minority Uighurs “a great cause of shame for humanity”. In a statement on Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said it is “no longer a secret” that China has arbitrarily detained more than a million Uighurs in “concentration camps”. Read more: China grilled over Uighur internment camps, civil rights at UN human rights …

China on Saturday protested the visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, a contested region located on the border between the two countries. “The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ and is firmly opposed to the Indian leader’s visit,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement. “China urges the …

BRUSSELS: Britain is leading a group of European Union states who are trying to block an EU plan to include Saudi Arabia and 22 other jurisdictions on a blacklist of countries that pose money-laundering and terrorism financing threats, sources said. The EU’s executive commission adopted last month a draft list that adds Saudi Arabia, Panama and small Pacific and Caribbean islands to …

GENEVA: The Red Cross called on Friday for a total ban on nuclear weapons, warning of the growing risk that such arms could again be used with devastating effect. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) launched a global campaign to raise awareness about the rising nuclear …

There was still some hard work to be done ahead of the upcoming summit between United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a Washington envoy said on Saturday after three days of talks in Pyongyang. Stephen Biegun, the US Special Representative for North Korea, said preparatory talks had been productive, but more dialogue was needed …

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince told a senior aide he would go after Jamal Khashoggi “with a bullet” a year before the dissident journalist was killed inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, the New York Times reported on Thursday quoting US intelligence. US lawmakers have threatened to take tougher action against Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi’s killing after this new revelation. US intelligence understood that …

A groundbreaking trial providing a guaranteed basic monthly income to 2,000 jobless people has led to improved wellbeing but failed to boost employment, Finnish authorities announced on Friday. Last December the Nordic nation concluded a two-year experiment in which a randomly selected group of unemployed people were paid an unconditional, tax-free 560 euros ($634) a month. Researchers studied whether the …