International

LONDON: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday criticised “the abuse” of international sanctions, while Russian President Vladimir Putin scolded the West for fomenting global crisis, with both leaders calling for greater BRICS cooperation. Xi called on Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) to take up the responsibility conferred by their economic clout, and said they should stand up …

WASHINGTON: The United States has started sending humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan after Wednesday’s earthquake without waiting for a formal request from its Taliban rulers, the State Department said. A powerful earthquake hit Afghanistan on Wednesday morning, killing more than a thousand people, and causing injuries to many more. “US humanitarian partners are already responding, including by sending medical teams to …

Pakistan’s financial capital, Karachi, has been ranked among the world’s most unlivable cities, according to an annual index released by The Economist Intelligence Unit. The unit’s global livability index for the year 2022 ranks Karachi 168th in terms of livability among a total of 172 countries. Every city is assigned a rating for relative comfort for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors …

Afghanistan does not have enough medical supplies to treat the injured from an earthquake that killed 1,000 people this week, a senior official said, as an aftershock on Friday killed five more people. Authorities earlier ended the search in remote southeastern mountains for survivors from the 6.1 magnitude earthquake that struck early on Wednesday, about 160 km (100 miles) southeast …

A bipartisan package of modest gun safety measures passed the US Senate late on Thursday even as the Supreme Court broadly expanded gun rights by ruling Americans have a constitutional right to carry handguns in public for self-defense. The landmark court ruling and Senate action on gun safety illustrate the deep divide over firearms in the United States, weeks after …

SAN FRANCISCO: Google has agreed to pay Wiki­pedia for content displayed by its search engine, mirroring deals the US tech giant has struck with news outlets in Europe. The Wikimedia Foun­dation, the charity that oversees the online encyclopedia, said Google was the first paying customer for its commercial venture Wikimedia Enterprise, which it laun­ched last year. The Internet Archive, a …

MES AYNAK: An ancient Buddhist city carved out of immense peaks near Kabul is in danger of disappearing forever, swallowed up by a Chinese consortium exploiting one of the world’s largest copper deposits. Located at the confluence of Hellenistic and Indian cultures, Mes Aynak — believed to be between 1,000 and 2,000 years old — was once a vast city …

QUITO: Eighteen police officers are “missing” following an attack by Indigenous protesters on a police station in Ecuador’s eastern Amazon region, the interior minister said on Wednesday. Another six officers were “seriously injured” and three more detained by the protesters, said Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo. A protester also died in the attack in the Amazonian city of Puyo, a five-hour …

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s crown prince on Wednesday dissolved parliament and called for an early election following a stand-off between the government and elected assembly that has hindered fiscal reform. Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah said in a televised speech that decrees would be issued for the dissolution of parliament for “elections in coming months”. Kuwait’s ruling emir, who has the …

DOHA: Propelled by inflation, the price of air tickets has begun to take off again after tumbling during the pandemic, a reversal that looks set to intensify due to environmental pressures, experts say. For members of the International Air Transport Association, gathered in Doha for their annual meeting this week, minds are focused on how far such increases risk undermining …