WASHINGTON: US officials are preparing for a pause on funding the main UN agency for Palestinians to become permanent due to opposition in Congress, even as the Biden administration insists the aid group’s humanitarian work is indispensable. The US, along with more than a dozen countries, suspended its funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees …

WASHINGTON: The US government and the United Nations expressed concerns on Tuesday about a contentious religion-based citizenship law in India, with the UN calling the legislation “fundamentally discriminatory in nature”. Rights advocates have criticised the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act, which the Indian government moved to implement on Monday. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said it discriminates against Muslims. Just …

WASHINGTON: The US House Foreign Affairs Com­mittee has tasked its Subcommittee on the Mid­dle East, Africa, and Cen­tral Asia with conducting a hearing on the future of democracy in Pakistan, scheduled for March 20. The hearing will also delve into the dynamics of US-Pakistan relations following the Feb 8 general elections. Donald Lu, the Assis­tant Secretary of State for South …

Pfizer said on Tuesday a combination treatment using its drug, Adcetris, met the main goal of a late-stage study of extending survival in patients with a type of blood cancer. The safety and tolerability of ADCETRIS in the ECHELON-3 trial were consistent with what has been previously presented for patients with relapsed/refractory DLBCL treated with ADCETRIS in clinical trials. Full …

The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has spread more aggressively than ever before in wild birds and marine mammals since arriving in South America in 2022, raising the risk of it evolving into a bigger threat to humans, according to interviews with eight scientists. Of more immediate concern is evidence the disease, once largely confined to bird species, appears to …

PARIS: Bayer Leverkusen and West Ham United go into Thursday both needing positive results to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League after failing to win their first-leg ties. A stoppage-time Patrik Schick equaliser spared Leverkusen’s blushes last week in Baku, and also maintained their unbeaten record this season, after Qarabag took a shock 2-0 lead against the runaway Bundesliga …

MOSCOW: Russia’s sports minister on Wednesday said Moscow should not boycott the upcoming Paris Olympics despite the severe restrictions on its athletes over the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) in December suspended Russia from the 2024 Games, but gave the green light for Russian athletes to compete as neutrals as long as they do not actively …

CHITTAGONG: Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto struck an unbeaten century to guide Bangladesh to a comfortable six-wicket win in the first One-day International of a three-match series against Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Najmul hit 122 not out off 129 balls, and was ably supported by one of his predecessors as captain, Mushfiqur Rahim, who was unbeaten on 73, as Bangladesh raced …

KARACHI: Multan Sultans have done well enough to deserve the top spot in the HBL Pakistan Super League standings by the end of the tournament’s round-robin stage. They boast a line-up featuring the likes of their experienced captain Mohammad Rizwan and Usman Khan, arguably the most explosive batter. Their bowling has a decent mix of pace and spin, ranging from seasoned pro …