PARIS: International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons has told AFP he hopes the Paralympics in Paris will take place in full stadiums and predicted the TV coverage would be the most extensive in history. The 16th Summer Paralympics take place in the French capital from Aug 28 to Sept 8, just over two weeks after the Olympics. In an interview six months …

WELLINGTON: An emotional Neil Wag­ner announced his retirement from international cricket Tuesday, after the fast bowler was left out of New Zealand’s team for the first Test against Australia this week. Wagner fought back tears as he told reporters he had decided to call time on a 64-Test career after New Zealand Cricket said he would not be in the …

KARACHI: Karachi Kings captain Shan Mas­ood is unfazed by the apparent lack of big individual contributions from his team-mates. The batter, instead, is proud of how they have showed up when needed the most. The former HBL Pakis­tan Super League (PSL) champions have kicked off this year’s campaign with two wins out of the three they have played so far …

ROME: Almost 9,000 people, including artists, curators and museum directors, have signed an online appeal calling for Israel to be excluded from this year’s Venice Biennale art fair and accusing the country of genocide in Gaza. Israel has been facing mounting international criticism, including in the arts world, over its military offensive in the Palestinian enclave.“Any official representation of Israel on …

PARIS/KYIV: French President Emmanuel Macron has smashed a major taboo by floating the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine, raising the stakes in a showdown with a nuclear-armed Russia. Hosting a conference of Euro­pean leaders on Monday night, the French leader refused to rule out the dispatch of Western troops to Ukraine as Russia’s invasion stretches into its third year and …

ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan’s exports to European countries dipped year-on-year by 7.54 per cent in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, mainly due to reduced demand for Pakistani goods in western, southern and northern Europe. The export proceeds from these countries fell to $4.866 billion in July-January FY24, a drop from the $5.263bn recorded in the corresponding months of …

WASHINGTON: The White House said on Tuesday that the United States would not send troops to fight in Ukraine. President Joe Biden “has been clear that the US will not send troops to fight in Ukraine”, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. The statement came after the French president suggested that Western troops could be sent to Ukraine. …

SYDNEY: Australian police found the bodies of a TV presenter and his flight attendant boyfriend in a rural area outside Sydney on Tuesday, acting on information from a police officer charged with their murder. The discovery ends an almost week-long high-profile search for the remains of entertainment journalist Jesse Baird, 26, and Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies, 29. A 28-year-old …

ISLAMABAD: Outgoing caretaker Minister for Power and Petroleum Muhammad Ali on Tuesday identified recent “painful” gas pricing reforms among the best achievements despite difficulties to the consumers and conceded inability to negotiate debt relief from foreign independent power producers (IPPs) chiefly from China during over six-month stint. Speaking to journalists before leaving the office, he said the biggest challenge to …

India will only finalise new deals at a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting if the United States stops blocking an agreement on a dispute settlement mechanism, New Delhi’s trade minister said on Wednesday. Delegates are hoping for progress on issues such as fisheries and agriculture at the WTO’s 13th ministerial meeting, underway in Abu Dhabi. But Indian minister Piyush Goyal told AFP on …