WELLINGTON: Pacific Rim leaders agreed to do all they can to improve access to coronavirus vaccines and reduce carbon emissions, but failed to reach agreement on whether the US should host talks in two years’ time. US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping were among those taking part in the online meeting of 21 leaders at the end …

ISLAMABAD: The government and the opposition traded barbs in the Senate over burgeoning external debt, with the opposition chiding the government for setting a new record and the government holding the previous rulers responsible for economic woes. Conceding that the external debt had risen from Rs25 trillion over the last three years to nearly Rs40 trillion at present, Minister of …

ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel was on Friday informed by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) that the performance of many known universities was actually unsatisfactory. The Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training met at the Parliament House with Senator Irfan Siddiqui in the chair. The lawmakers were stunned when HEC officials revealed data on the performance of the …

MUMBAI: India’s regular captain Virat Kohli will skip the opening Test against New Zealand this month as the hosts named a depleted side for the two-match series on Friday. The team will be led by Ajinkya Rahane in the Nov 25-29 test in Kanpur with Kohli returning at the helm for the second and final contest in Mumbai from Dec …

ISLAMABAD: Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi on Friday said that 75 per cent of girls in the country had resumed their studies in schools. He was replying to a question about the situation of girls’ education rights in Afghanistan, at a talk organised by the Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East and Africa (CAMEA), here at the Institute …

LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) has yet again expressed its reservations about the functioning of the Punjab government, complaining that the party leadership is not being taken on board in decision-making. The Chaudhrys of Gujrat have been hammering every now and then that the Punjab government is not taking the PML-Q leadership, as well as its ministers in the …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday held a third meeting with the leaders of ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in a week amid “shattered” confidence of allies in the government’s policies and the opposition’s threat to topple the government gradually. The prime minister chaired a meeting of PTI’s core committee which was attended by the governors of Sindh and Balochistan …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved key measures needed to roll out Sehat Card facility to the entire Punjab population from January 01. The details were shared with the prime minister by Punjab Health Minister Yasmin Rashid, who briefed that an overall Rs332 billion has been allocated for the distribution of Sehat cards among 29.3 million families in the …

ISLAMABAD: The number of Covid-19 infections in Pakistan has dropped to its lowest as the country logged 231 new cases in the last 24 hours. According to the latest figures, shared by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), a total of 33,862 samples were tested during this period, out of which 231 turned out to be positive, registering a …