International

BALI: A two-day meeting of finance ministers from the Group of 20 major economies ended on Saturday in Indonesia without a joint communique after Russia’s war in Ukraine divided the global forum. During talks on the Indonesian resort island Bali, the finance chiefs looked for solutions to food and energy crises, while accusing Russian technocrats of exacerbating the problems. US …

An Indian airliner carrying 186 passengers from Sharjah made an emergency landing at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport — the second such incident this month — after reporting a “technical defect” in the wee hours of Sunday, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman Saifur Rehman said. The IndiGo airline plane, which was bound for Hyderabad Deccan, landed “safely” at the Karachi airport …

WASHINGTON: President Arif Alvi has said that the present government, like its predecessors, is trying to improve relations with the US and Pakistani Americans should support this effort. “Pakistan belongs to all and all parties, when in power, have tried to maintain close relations with the United States,” the president told the annual convention of the Association of Pakistani Physicians …

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s parliament acce­pted the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday after he fled the country, paving the way for lawmakers to start repairing the island’s shattered politics and resume efforts to ease its economic crisis. Sri Lankans will now have to wait for lawmakers to elect a new president on July 20. Until then, Prime Minister Ranil …

TEHRAN: Iran’s navy on Friday unveiled its first division of ships and submarines capable of carrying armed drones, as US President Joe Biden tours the Middle East. The United States and Israel, the sworn enemies of Iran, have previously accused the Islamic republic of using drones and missiles to attack US forces and Israel-linked ships in the Gulf. “The first …

OTTAWA: A man was shot dead in British Columbia on Thursday who local media reports said was Ripudaman Singh Malik, a Canadian Sikh businessman acquitted in connection with the 1985 Air India bombing that killed 329 people. Police, in a statement res­ponding to a Reuters request for information on Malik’s death, said they found a man suf­f­ering from gunshot wou­nds when officers …

NUSA DUA: G20 finance leaders meeting in Bali must make progress tackling the global economic threats sparked by Russia’s war in Ukraine or the humanitarian consequences would be catastrophic, host Indonesia said on Friday. Some Western ministers blasted Russian officials attending the talks, with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen saying Russia’s “brutal and unjust war” was solely responsible for the …

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook owner Meta released its first annual human rights report on Thursday, following years of accusations that it turned a blind eye to online abuses that fueled real-world violence in places like India and Myanmar. The report, which covers due diligence performed in 2020 and 2021, includes a summary of a controversial human rights impact assessment of India that Meta …

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates is considering sending an ambassador to Iran, a senior official said on Friday, six years after a downgrade in ties. UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash also called for regional economic cooperation as a means of easing political tensions. “We are now indeed considering sending an ambassador to Iran,” Gargash said during a video call with …

NEW YORK: Increased misinformation and the disruption of global supply chains due to Covid are behind the biggest sustained drop in childhood vaccinations in three decades, a UN report said. The percentage of children who received three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP) fell five percentage points between 2019 and 2021 to 81 per cent, according …