International

WARSAW: A new UN convoy was on Thursday heading to the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, which has seen heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces, to try to evacuate civilians, its humanitarian chief said. “Today as we speak, a convoy is proceeding to get to Azovstal by tomorrow morning hopefully to receive those civilians remaining in that bleak hell…and take …

LONDON: A new World Health Organisation (WHO) report, which is being considered the most comprehensive look at the true global toll of the pandemic so far, reveals that the actual number of deaths from the pandemic were nearly three times more than what official data showed. The report pinpointed India, saying that almost half of the deaths that had not …

The Asian Games due to take place in the Chinese city of Hangzhou in September have been postponed indefinitely because of Covid-19, organisers said on Friday. The Games were scheduled to be held from September 10 to 25 but have now been delayed as China tries to stamp out a large resurgence in infections in several parts of the country. …

WASHINGTON: Counter­terrorism and border security are the two areas where the United States wants to continue to work with Pakistan, says the US State Department. Responding to a question about restoring US security assistance to Pakistan, the department’s spokesperson Ned Price said at a Wednesday news briefing that Washington wanted to continue its cooperation with Islamabad in some areas. “We …

SEOUL: North Korea fired a ballistic missile Wednesday, Seoul said, a week after Kim Jong Un vowed to boost Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal and just days before the South inaugurates a new, hawkish president. Pyongyang has conducted 14 weapons tests since January, including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at full-range for the first time since 2017. Last week, while overseeing a …

ABUJA: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday he was seeking talks to get Ukraine and Russian agriculture and fertilizer production back into world markets to help end a “three-dimensional” crisis the Ukraine invasion is causing for developing nations. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and economic sanctions on Moscow have disrupted supplies of wheat and other food supplies from both …

TAIPEI: Taiwan signalled on Thursday that it had abandoned a plan to buy advanced new anti-submarine warfare helicopters from the US, saying they were too expensive. Taiwan had earlier said it was planning to buy 12 MH-60R anti-submarine helicopters, made by Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) unit Sikorsky, but Taiwanese media reported that the United States had rejected the sale as not …

WASHINGTON: The United States has expressed determination to work together with Pakistan in areas of mutual interests including counter-terrorism and border security. At his press briefing in Washington D.C, the US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said his country values the bilateral relationship with Pakistan. The spokesperson reiterated condemnation of the terrorist attack at the Karachi University. He said a …

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday “strongly denounced” a ban on Eid prayer gatherings by Indian authorities in certain areas of occupied Jammu and Kashmir. In a phone call with Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas earlier today, PM Shehbaz reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to continue to extend moral, political, and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people until …

The European Union’s (EU) top official on Wednesday called on the 27-nation bloc to ban oil imports from Russia and target the country’s biggest bank and major broadcasters in a sixth package of sanctions over the war in Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, proposed having EU member nations phase out …