ISLAMABAD: The caretaker government on Wednesday increased the per-litre price of petrol by Rs13.55 and that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs2.75 for the next fortnight ending Feb 15, citing higher international market and import premiums. The government has also raised the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by Rs1.16 per kilogram for February. In a late-night an­­nouncement, the Ministry …

An Indian court weighed in on one of the country’s most sensitive religious disputes on Wednesday by permitting Hindu worshippers to pray inside a mosque in the city of Varanasi. The Gyanvapi mosque is one of several Islamic houses of worship that Hindu activists, backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, have sought for decades to reclaim for their religion. …

NICOSIA: European police arrested 15 members of an illegal EU migration ring in Cyprus on Wednesday that arranged marriages of convenience between men from Pakistan and India, and women from Portugal and Latvia, Europol said. Two of the ringleaders were arrested in Latvia and Portugal and 13 suspects were arrested in Cyprus. The criminal network “facilitated illegal migration into the …

WASHINGTON: The US State Department emphasised on Wednesday that violence at election rallies undermines the electoral process in Pakistan. Strongly condemning Tuesday’s bomb explosion at a PTI rally in Sibi that killed 10 people, the State Department said that incidents like this “undermine the electoral process”. The department asserted: “The Pakistani people have the right to choose their leader without fear for …

ISLAMABAD: The banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been receiving “significant backing” from Al Qaeda and other militant factions for executing attacks in Pakistan in addition to support from the Afghan Taliban. This was disclosed in the 33rd report submitted to the United Nations Security Council Commi­ttee by ISIL (aka Daesh) and Al Qaeda/Taliban Monitoring Team. The collaboration includes not just …

KYIV: Russia and Ukraine traded hundreds of prisoners of war on Wednesday, just a week after Moscow said Kyiv had shot down a plane carrying captured Ukrainian soldiers to an exchange. The crash of a Russian military cargo plane near the border with Ukraine — which Russia said killed 65 Ukrainian POWs — had thrown doubt on future prisoner swaps …

KABUL: While most of the world treats Afghanistan’s Taliban government as a pariah, China is growing diplomatic and economic links — and Kabul is happy for the attention. Top-level meetings between officials, new mineral deals, and the upgrading of transport routes between the two countries are regularly championed by Taliban government officials. While Beijing has played down the formality of …

WASHINGTON: Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg apologised to families at a US Senate hearing on Wednesday about the impact that social media has on children. The hearing marks the latest effort by lawmakers to address the concerns of parents and mental health experts that social media companies put profits over guardrails that would ensure their platforms do not harm children. …

GAZA CITY: Artillery fire pounded southern Gaza early on Wednesday as Israel said it had begun “flooding Hamas tunnels” and mediators sought a halt to the nearly four-month hostilities. The focus of the fighting in recent weeks has been Khan Yunis, the southern Gaza Strip’s main city, where a constant barrage of air strikes and shelling rent the air all …

LAHORE: Confusion prevailed at the Multan airport on Wednesday over the arrival of the bodies of nine Pakistani workers who were killed by unknown gunmen in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province on Jan 27. Official sources in Multan told the plane carrying the bodies, which was scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, could not take off from Quetta due to bad weather and is expected to arrive …