International

Senior US senator Lindsey Graham called for “somebody in Russia” to assassinate President Vladimir Putin after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in a televised interview on Thursday evening. “How does this end? Somebody in Russia has to step up to the plate… and take this guy out,” the senator told conservative Fox News TV host Sean Hannity. He repeated the call later in a series …

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia intends to continue “detailed talks” with Iran in order to reach a satisfactory agreement for both, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said, while stressing the need for a strong nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers at talks in Vienna. In remarks to The Atlantic monthly, carried by Saudi state media on Thursday, he said direct talks with Iran would enable …

BEIJING: Uproar in China this year over incidents of women chained or caged by their husbands has spurred a nationwide crackdown on the decades-old problem of abduction and trafficking of women and children. The Ministry of Public Security announced the crackdown ahead of Saturday’s opening of an annual session of the rubber-stamp parliament, at which at least seven delegates have …

BRUSSELS: The European Union on Wednesday cut seven Russian banks from the Swift payment system and banned Kremlin-controlled media outlets RT and Sputnik from broadcasting into the bloc. The measures, effective immediately, were the latest ratcheting up of the Western-coordinated sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. “At the speed of light, the European Union has adopted three waves …

ISLAMABAD: Amid objections raised by Pakistan to about a dozen hydropower projects on western rivers, India is reported to have agreed to provide additional data and try to address the concerns. The three-day meeting between the two commissioners of Permanent Commission on Indus Waters (PCIW) completed discussions on all agenda items on Wednesday and would finalise minutes of the huddle …

GENEVA: Nearly 200,000 people have fled Ukraine in just 24 hours, bringing to 875,000 the number of refugees seeking shelter in neighbouring countries since the Russian invasion began on February 24. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has projected that more than four million Ukrainian refugees may eventually need protection and assistance, while the European Union’s crisis management commissioner has said …

JERUSALEM/VIENNA: A new Iran nuclear agreement “cannot be postponed any longer”, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday during his first visit to Israel, which staunchly opposes efforts to forge a deal with Tehran. Policy differences on Iran, long Israel’s arch foe, surfaced at a Jerusalem joint press conference, with Scholz saying Germany “would like to see an agreement reached …

UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly voted on Wednesday to censure Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, demanded that Moscow stop fighting and urged it to immediately withdraw its military forces. However, in a carefully-worded statement on the Ukrainian crisis, delivered in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday, Pakistan emphasised the need to protect territorial integrity of a state without …

A new World Bank report, published ahead of International Women’s Day (March 8), has suggested that Pakistan should bring more reforms to improve legal equality for women in the country. While presenting an index covering 190 economies and structured around the life cycle of working women, the report, “Women, Business and the Law 2022” put the score for Pakistan at 55.6 …

Russian troops have seized Kherson, the first major Ukrainian city to fall in a devastating week-old war that has already created one million refugees. The capture of the Black Sea city of 290,000 people, which just last year hosted Nato-supported war games, appeared a significant boost for Moscow as it readied for potential ceasefire talks on Thursday. Russian “occupiers” were …