Bulls returned to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday as shares gained over 500 points, with analysts attributing the rally to hopes that political parties would soon reach an agreement on forming the government. Last week, growing doubts about the formation of a new coalition government amid raging protests against alleged manipulation of election results across the country kept …

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON: The US ambassador to Moscow visited a makeshift shrine to Alexei Navalny on Sunday, as Russian authorities suppressed memorials and tributes to the late opposition leader. Rights groups say police have detained over 400 people at gatherings for the politician, a leading critic of President Vladimir Putin who died in an Arctic prison Friday. Ambassador Lynne Tracy was pictured …

MOSCOW: Russia on Sunday said it had full control of the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, though some Ukrainian troops were still holed up in a vast Soviet-era coke plant after one of the most intense battles of the war. The fall of Avdiivka is Russia’s biggest gain since capturing the city of Bakhmut in May 2023, and comes almost two …

THE HAGUE: The UN top court will from Monday hold hearings on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967, with an unprecedented 52 countries expected to give evidence. Nations including the United States, Russia, and China will address judges in a week-long session at the Peace Palace in The Hague, seat of the International Court of …

MOSCOW: Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence, Senator Mushahid Hussain, has said Pakistan could join the intergovernmental geopolitical bloc, BRICS, with Russian cooperation as Russia is Chair of BRICS in 2024. The senator welcomed growing relations between Pakistan and Russia especially in the field of energy, connectivity, education, regional security including Afghanistan and cooperation at multilateral fora including …

BANGKOK: Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was released on parole on Sunday, just six months after he was arrested following a dramatic return to the kingdom from 15 years of self-imposed exile. The controversial billionaire, twice elected premier and ousted in a 2006 military coup, was jailed for eight years on abuse-of-power and graft charges upon his return in …

UNITED NATIONS: In the midst of intricate political challenges in Pakistan, three pivotal issues unfolded on the global stage at the United Nations this week, with profound implications for Islamabad. The seriousness of the water crisis took centre stage during a UN Security Council meeting in New York, with Pakistan stressing the crucial importance of upholding the Indus Water Treaty. …

CAIRO: Fighting, fuel shortages and Israeli raids put the Gaza Strip’s second-largest hospital completely out of service on Sunday, local and UN health officials said, as Israel battled Hamas in the devastated Palestinian enclave. The latest blow to Gaza’s destroyed healthcare sector came as Israel prepared for an assault of the southernmost city Rafah, home now to more than a …

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council is likely to vote on Tuesday on an Algerian push for the 15-member body to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza war, said diplomats, a move the United States signaled it would veto. Algeria had put forward an initial draft resolution more than two weeks ago. But US Ambassador to the …

The Indian government has offered guaranteed support prices for pulses, corn and cotton in a bid to break a deadlock with protesting farmers, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said after week-long clashes between security forces and protesters. Tear gas and barricades were used to deter the farmers, who form an influential voting bloc, months ahead of a general election due by May, in which Prime …