The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said on Friday that it had removed the United Arab Emirates from its “grey list” of countries subject to increased monitoring, while Kenya and Namibia were added. Countries on the list have “strategic deficiencies” in their efforts to counter money laundering and terrorist financing, but are cooperating with the global anti-money laundering watchdog to …

LONDON: A woman stripped of her British citizenship after leaving the country as a teenager to marry an Islamic State militant group’s fighter lost her appeal against the decision on Friday. London’s Court of Appeal rejected all five arguments presented by Shamima Begum, 24, although she can still take the case to the supreme court. “It could be argued that …

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Friday announced sanctions against Russia on over 500 targets to mark the second anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine, vowing sustained pressure to stop President Vladimir Putin’s “war machine.” The sanctions, described as the largest single tranche since the start of the war, also seek to impose a cost for the death last week …

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has presented his first official “day after” plan for the Gaza Strip once the war there ends, saying Israel will keep security control over all Palestinian areas and make reconstruction of Gaza dependent on its demilitarisation. The document proposes Israel would maintain security control over all land west of Jordan, including the occupied West …

BERLIN: Germany joined the small group of countries and jurisdictions that have legalised cannabis when the Bundestag passed a law on Friday allowing individuals and voluntary associations to grow and hold limited quantities of the drug. The law passed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling three-party coalition legalises cultivating up to three plants for private consumption and owning up to 25 …

NEW DELHI: India’s foreign ministry conceded on Friday that some of the country’s citizens had signed up for “support jobs” with the Russian army and said it was working with Moscow to secure their discharge. The Hindu newspaper had reported on Wednesday that 18 Indians were stranded in various border towns along Russia’s frontier with Ukraine. Three had been “forced” to …

ISLAMABAD: Climate hazards are increasing and projected to become more severe and frequent with impacts leading to reduced agricultural and labour productivity, loss of livelihoods, and human displacement, says a new report jointly released by the United Nations and Asian Development Bank. These hazards strain socio-economic and environmental systems, and hinder efforts to promote food security and alleviate poverty, says …

WASHINGTON: The White House escalated its criticism of Republican US House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday, accusing him of benefiting Iran and Russia by not putting a national security bill that gives aid to Ukraine up for a vote. Iran has provided Russia with a large number of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, six sources said this week, deepening the military …

ISLAMABAD: In a fresh push towards completion of a multibillion-dollar gas supply project, the government on Friday decided to start building an 80-kilometre segment of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, extending from the Iranian border to Gwadar, at an estimated cost of $158 million (Rs44.2 billion), to ward off $18bn potential penalties from Tehran. The decision was taken at a meeting …

ISLAMABAD: Taking a firm stance at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday, Pakistan implored the tribunal not to allow Israel to get away with its ongoing violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Caretaker Minister for Law and Justice Ahmed Irfan Aslam emphasised that Israel’s occupation was not only unlawful but that allowing …