International

PADANG: Seven people died and dozens more were injured when a 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Friday, with residents shuttling loved ones to safety as buildings crumbled around them. The earthquake came just minutes after a less violent tremor, as terrified residents had begun evacuating their houses. “We all fled our home (after the first quake),” Yudi Prama …

KYIV: A dead man in civilian clothes lay sprawled on the sidewalk of a residential neighbourhood in northern Kyiv on Friday, as Ukrainian soldiers took up positions under the cover of a two-storey building. Two dozen metres away, medics were rushing to help another man, who had been driving a civilian car that was completely crushed under the tracks of …

Pakistan’s embassy in Ukraine on Saturday said it has received 23 more Pakistani students, who are now set to be evacuated from the country and move to Poland amid the ongoing Russian invasion. The embassy said the students were received at the facilitation desk in the city of Lviv and came from different cities of Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv. …

LONDON: Even as EU leaders wrapped up an emergency summit on Friday with agreement to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine by imposing “severe” sanctions targeting its financial, energy and transport sectors, Britain and nine other European defence allies agreed that further sanctions were needed on Russia. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the so-called Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) bloc …

A total of 198 people have been killed and over 1,000 injured since the Russian offensive started before dawn on Thursday with massive air and missile strikes and troops forging into Ukraine from the north, east and south. “Unfortunately, according to operative data, at the hands of the invaders we have 198 dead, including 3 children, 1,115 wounded, including 33 children,” Ukraine …

KARACHI: President Houston-Karachi Sister City Association welcomed by President KCCI Muhammad Idrees, Senior Vice President KCCI Abdul Rehman Naqi, Vice President Qazi Zahid Hussain, Chairman Diplomatic Missions & Embassies Liaison Subcommittee Zia ul Arfeen, Chairman Fairs, Exhibitions & Trade Delegation Azeem Ahmed Alvi, Former President KCCI Majyd Aziz and KCCI Managing Committee at the Chambers Secretariat. In a joint meeting, …

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Imran Khan conveyed to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that he regretted the situation developing between Russia and Ukraine, adding that Islamabad had hoped that military conflict could be averted through a diplomatic solution. PM Khan and his entourage, who concluded the historic visit to Moscow after a working lunch meeting which lasted over three hours, …

As Russia launches an operation in Ukraine, prompting outrage and sanctions from the US and several other nations in the West, China has indicated that an “independent power” like Russia does not need Beijing’s backing for actions in Ukraine, clarifying that it was not supporting nor condemning Moscow for its actions. “As for the US suggestion that Russia has China’s …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is actively pursuing the case of Sumaira — a Pakistani woman languishing in an Indian prison for nearly five years — with India, the Foreign Office said on Thursday. In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi were taking all possible steps to secure early release and repatriation of Sumaira and …

DAMASCUS: At least six pro-government fighters, including Syrian troops, were killed in Israeli air strikes on Thursday targeting positions held by Iran-backed groups near the capital Damascus, a war monitor reported. It is the fourth time this month that Israeli strikes have been reported inside Syria, keeping up a campaign against pro-Iranian forces supporting the Damascus government in the more …