BERLIN: German Economic Affairs Minister Robert Habeck warned in an interview published on Saturday of “severe consequences” for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany if Moscow attacked Ukraine. The Baltic Sea pipeline is set to double supplies of cheap natural gas from Russia to Germany, which the European Union’s top economy says is needed to help …

ROME: A one-year-old boy believed to have been sent by his parents to make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing alone has made it safely to the island of Lampedusa, Italian media reports said on Saturday. The child, estimated to be barely a year old, was among 500-plus people who arrived on the small island in seven separate landings over the past …

KABUL: Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said on Saturday they will resume issuing passports in Kabul, giving hope to citizens who feel threatened living under their rule. Thousands of Afghans have applied for new travel documents to escape a growing economic as well as a humanitarian crisis described by the United Nations as an “avalanche of hunger”. Authorities will start issuing the …

WASHINGTON: Nine senior US lawmakers sent a letter to secretaries of state and treasury on Saturday, asking them to help rebuild Afghanistan’s failing economy and to unfreeze the country’s assets. The appeal coincides with an OIC foreign ministers’ conference in Islamabad on Sunday to consider options for helping Afghanistan and to urge the Taliban to soften their policies. The United States and …

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday issued a clear warning to the global community, stating that Afghanistan could potentially become the biggest “man-made crisis in the world” if it did not act now. The premier expressed the views while delivering the keynote address at the 17th extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers to …

LONDON: Nations across Europe are moving to reimpose tougher measures to stem a new wave of Covid-19 infections spurred by the highly transmissible omicron variant, triggering calls for protests from Paris to Barcelona. As case numbers escalated, alarmed ministers in France, Cyprus and Austria tightened travel restrictions. Paris canceled its New Year’s Eve fireworks. Denmark closed theaters, concert halls, amusement …

WASHINGTON: The US Senate approved a defence bill on Friday, which calls for establishing an independent commission to scrutinise the Afghan war and to probe options for combating terrorism in the region, including Pakistan. The proposed 16-member Afghanistan War Commission will produce a report within three years. The members would be selected in equal measure by Republican and Democratic lawmakers. …

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in 89 countries and is spreading rapidly even in places with high levels of population immunity, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday. The number of Covid-19 cases involving Omicron is doubling every 1.5 to three days in countries where there is community transmission of the variant and not just …

The tireless efforts of Pakistanis in the international labour force have made the country one of the top recipients of remitted money. But some of Pakistan’s most vulnerable migrant workers in the Gulf are routinely exploited, with many ending up in overcrowded prisons with little consular support. Around 7,000 Pakistanis are currently languishing in Gulf country prisons. What’s behind this …

ISLAMABAD: In a rare exercise of its power to “read in” the law, the Supreme Court has done away with constitutional bar on the appointment of retired judges as members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) before completion of two years after their retirement. The court in a detailed order on a petition challenging the Sindh High Court’s judgement of June …