ISLAMABAD: With an apparent understanding reached during the final review of the $3 billion Standby Arrange­ment, the visiting staff mission of the Interna­tional Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistani authorities agreed on Monday to extend talks overnight to conclude the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP). The fina­nce ministry had earlier annou­nced the schedule of rev­iew talks ending on March 18. However, …

Bulls maintained their position at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday as shares gained over 600 points in intraday trade. The KSE-100 index gained 680.68 points, or 1.05 per cent, to stand at 65,571.18 points at 12:55pm from the previous close of 64,890.50. Finally, the index closed at 65,502.59, up by 612.09 points, from the previous close. Faran Rizvi, …

LONDON: A new artwork by British street artist Banksy has appeared in London, using green paint sprayed across the side of a building to mimic the foliage of a real, heavily pruned tree that stands a few metres in front of it. A photo of the mural was posted on Banksy’s official Instagram account on Monday, where the artist usually …

WELLINGTON: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a rare visit to New Zealand on Monday, stressing the need to work with “friends” in the face of the “tumultuous international situation”. The trip marks the start of a diplomatic blitz through New Zealand and Australia, Wang’s first visit to either country since 2017. The whistle-stop tour is expected to focus heavily …

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres invoked Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer on Monday as he warned that the world faced the highest risk of nuclear war in decades. At a Security Council session called by Japan, Guterres said that the biopic about the morally conflicted father of the atomic bomb “brought the harsh reality of nuclear doomsday to vivid life …

LONDON: Western governments lined up on Monday to condemn Vladimir Putin’s landslide election victory as unfair and undemocratic, but China, India and North Korea and some other countries congratulated the veteran Russian leader on extending his rule by a further six years. The contrasting reactions underscored the geopolitical fault lines that have gaped wider since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine …

GENEVA: A fact-finding mission mandated by the United Nations said on Monday the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police was unlawful and caused by violence and that Iranian women still suffer systematic discrimination. The death of 22-year-old Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman, in September 2022 while in custody for allegedly flouting Iran’s Islamic dress code unleashed months …

ROME: Half of Gazans are experiencing “catastrophic” hunger, with famine projected to hit the north of the territory by May without urgent intervention, a United Nations-backed food security assessment warned on Monday. “People in Gaza are starving to death right now. The speed at which this man-made hunger and malnutrition crisis has ripped through Gaza is terrifying,” the head of the UN’s …

India’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that China was making “absurd claims” over Arunachal Pradesh, adding that the northeastern state which shares a border with China will always be an “integral and inalienable part of India”. China claims Arunachal Pradesh to be a part of southern Tibet. New Delhi rejects the claim, saying Arunachal Pradesh has always been a part …

LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday remanded three suspects in police custody over their involvement in the harassment of a woman in Ichhra Bazaar for wearing a shirt with Arabic print. The Ichhra police presented the suspects — Muhammad Nadeem, Adil Sarwar and Altimash Saqlain — before the court and sought their 14-day physical remand. The investigating officer told the court …