ISLAMABAD: Merch­andise exports grew 25.3 per cent in the first fortnight of the current month on a year-on-year basis, indicating a recovery of export-led industrial growth. Official data compiled by the commerce ministry showed that export proceeds in the first 15 days of February reached $1.275 billion from $1.017bn over the corresponding period last year. Commerce Minister Gohar Ejaz noted …

KARACHI: The first month of the second half of the current fiscal year posted a current account deficit (CAD) of $269 million, but the deficit shrank significantly in the first seven months of this year. The latest data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan on Monday shows that the current account changed its track from surplus to deficit, indicating …

MOSCOW: Eleven Ukrainian children were setting off from Russia to Ukraine on Monday to be reunited with their families in the latest transfer between the warring sides under a Qatari-mediated scheme. The children, aged between two and 16, were hosted at the Qatari embassy in Moscow on Monday, ahead of a long journey via Belarus that should see them cross …

BEIRUT: At least two air strikes hit near the town of Ghaziyeh on Lebanon’s coast around 60 km (37 miles) north of the border with Israel on Monday, according to witnesses in the area. The witnesses heard several loud booms and saw two thick black columns of smoke emanating from around the town. Lebanon’s state media said the strikes were …

KABUL: A landslide cau­sed by heavy snowfall has killed 25 people and injured eight others in the eastern Afghan province of Nuristan, a disaster management ministry spok­e­sman said on Monday. Earth, snow and rubble swept through the village of Nakre in the Tatin valley of Nuristan overnight on Sunday. “As a result of the landslide, some 25 people have been …

MUZAFFARABAD: Kashmiri activists would hold an anti-India demonstration in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) capital to register their protest against the scheduled visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to occupied Jammu amid tight security cover. “Since India’s savage machinery has been brazenly stifling all voices of dissent through the worst ever coercive measures, we, who breathe in free air …

LONDON: “Oppenheimer”, Christopher Nolan’s epic movie about the creation of the atomic bomb, swept the board at Sunday’s BAFTA film awards in London, delivering a serious statement ahead of next month’s Oscars. The movie earned seven awards in total, including best film, best director for Nolan, best actor for Cillian Murphy and best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr. In …

SEVERAL relocation requests from Afghan soldiers who feared persecution after the Taliban took over Kabul were blocked by UK Special Forces despite them fighting together, BBC News has reported. The members of Afghan Special Forces units CF 333 and ATF 444 – known as the “Triples” — who were at risk of reprisal from the Taliban government — were eligible to apply …

GENEVA: United Nations experts expressed alarm on Monday over credible allegations of egregious human rights violations to which Palestinian women and girls continue to be subjected in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, according to a press release issued by the office of the UN High Commisioner for Human Rights . Independent experts work on a voluntary basis. …

THE HAGUE: Palestinians are suffering “colonialism and apartheid” under the Israelis, foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki told the UN’s top court Monday, urging judges to order an immediate and unconditional end to Israel’s occupation. “The Palestinians have endured colonialism and apartheid… There are those who are enraged by these words. They should be enraged by the reality we are suffering,” Al-Maliki …