International

Four out of five children in Gaza suffer from emotional distress, Save the Children said Wednesday, 15 years after Israel slapped a strict blockade on the Palestinian territory. Israel imposed the measure in June 2007, as fighters of the Hamas movement took control of the densely populated enclave. Israel, and Egypt, continue to severely restrict the flow of people and …

BAGHDAD: Iraq temporarily closed Baghdad airport on Monday as choking clouds of dust blanketed the capital, the latest crippling sandstorm in a country that has warned climate change poses an “existential threat”. It was the tenth such storm since mid-April to hit Iraq, which has been battered by intense droughts, soil degradation, high temperatures and low rainfall linked to climate …

BRUSSELS: Google parent Alphabet has offered to let rival ad intermediaries place ads on YouTube to address a crucial part of an EU anti-trust investigation that could pave the way for it to settle the case without a fine, people familiar with the matter said. The European Commission opened a probe last year to examine whether the world’s largest provider …

ATALAIA NORTE: Hum­an remains have been found in the search for a British journalist and Brazilian indigenous expert who disappeared deep in the Amazon after receiving threats, Brazil’s president confirmed on Monday. Relatives of the missing men — veteran correspondent Dom Phillips, 57, and respected indigenous specialist Bruno Pereira, 41 — meanwhile said Brazilian authorities had informed them two bodies …

KRAMATORSK: Ukraine said on Monday its forces had been pushed back from the centre of key industrial city Severodonetsk, where President Volodymyr Zelensky described a fight for “literally every metre”. The cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which are separated by a river, have been targeted for weeks as the last areas still under Ukrainian control in the eastern Lugansk region. …

ISLAMABAD: A day before leaving for Iran on an official visit, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday made it clear that former prime minister Imran Khan and his government had not been removed because of the latter’s visit to Russia as the present coalition government was also following the PTI government’s foreign policy of being neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war. …

WASHINGTON: China and some other allies are quietly working to get Pakistan off the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list during the agency’s next plenary session, diplomatic sources told Dawn. The FATF, a global body which monitors money laundering and terrorism financing, is holding the four-day — June 14-17 — session in Berlin, Germany, from Tuesday. FATF delegates representing …

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has required would-be Haj pilgrims from many Western countries to apply for visas via a government portal online, a move intended to crack down on “fake” travel agencies, officials said on Monday. The new system was put in place as the kingdom prepares to welcome 850,000 Muslims from abroad for the annual Haj after two years during …

WASHINGTON: Ambas­sador Masood Khan, Islam­abad’s representative in Wa­­shington, meets US Presi­dent Joe Biden on Monday evening, an appointment that will formalise his position as Pakistan’s envoy to the United States. Ambassador Khan was sent to Washington on March 25, when the PTI government was still in power, but after Imran Khan’s ouster on April 11, there was speculation that the …

New US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome said on Tuesday that enhancing ties with Pakistan was his “top priority” and that they wanted more American companies to invest in Pakistan. “Enhancing ties is our top priority. We welcome US investment in the stock exchange, and we want more and more companies to come to Pakistan,” he said. Blome expressed these …