International

LAHORE: Three private companies, which had been awarded a contract to run wagons under phase one of the Pakistan Railways project to outsource its freight business four months ago, have surprisingly backed out, Dawn has learned. The companies also surprisingly continued using hundred of freight wagons for the transportation of imported coal from Karachi to various destinations without signing the project award …

ISLAMABAD: The government is working on a set of tax and expenditure measures to provide relief to the urban middle, lower-middle and salaried classes to absorb increasing price shocks. A meeting of the Macroeconomic Advisory Group presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Thursday considered a few measures that address inflationary pressures on the urban middle class. These proposals …

PARIS: The oldest member of the venerable Academie Francaise, the official guardian of the French language, has died aged 103, the institution said on Thursday. Rene de Obaldia, a poet, novelist and playwright, had been a member of the Academie for over 20 years. At 98, he published his last book, “Pearls of Life”, a collection of quotes that included …

KARACHI: United States Navy ships recently visited Karachi and conducted bila­teral exercise with Pakistan Navy. On arrival at the Karachi Port, senior officials of the Pakistan Navy and the Ame­­rican Embassy recei­ved the US Navy ships Squall (PC-7) and Whirl­wind (PC-11) with traditio­nal warmth and cordiality. The US ships’ visit inclu­ded a bilateral exercise and professional exchanges through meetings and …

JERUSALEM: Snow carpeted Jerusalem and the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday as a rare storm turned the holy city into a winter wonderland but brought misery to the region’s Syrian refugees. The cold snap, which has already caused major disruption in Athens and Istanbul, saw heavy snowfall in areas better known for their summer heat. In the alleyways of Jerusa­lem’s walled …

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan urged the international community on Thursday to respond ‘positively and generously’ to a UN appeal for $3.6 billion for a transitional engagement with Afghanistan. On Wednesday, the UN team in Afghanistan launched the UN Transitional Engagement Framework (TEF) for the country, which is a $3.6 billion plan to save lives and sustain health, education and other essential …

NEW DELHI: The de facto head of India’s Congress party has complained to Twitter about “strange” activity on his account, accusing the US giant of being an “unwitting” ally of the government in curbing free speech. Rahul Gandhi told Twitter’s chief executive in a letter that growth in his new Twitter followers “suddenly” stopped last August, falling from a monthly …

WASHINGTON: The United States, Norway and other key European governments urged Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on Thursday to do more to gain international acceptance. Special Representatives and Special Envoys of the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States met in Oslo on Jan 24 to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. The meeting included sessions with …

THE HAGUE: The EU’s drug watchdog approved Pfizer’s coronavirus pill on Thursday, making it the first oral antiviral treatment for the disease to be authorised in Europe. Studies showed the drug called Paxlovid reduces hospitalisation and death in patients at risk of severe Covid, and may also be effective against the Omicron variant. Pills are seen as a potentially huge …

ABU DHABI: Yemen rebel attacks will not become a “new normal” for the United Arab Emirates, a senior Emirati official said on Thursday, vowing a robust defence. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched two missile attacks on the UAE this month, with three oil workers killed in the first assault on January 17 and the second intercepted by its defence forces. …