ISLAMABAD: The country’s large-scale manufacturing (LSM) sector recorded a consistent growth for the fourth consecutive month with a 2.04 per cent increase in March compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. The quantum index of LSM industries was 115.53 points in March this year, while it stood at …

ISLAMABAD: As the Centre prepares the federal budget, set to be presented next month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the authorities concerned to take all provincial governments on board so that the document could be finalised through mutual consultation. The prime minister expressed these views during a meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at the …

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was publicly challenged on Wednesday about plans for the Gaza Strip by his own defence chief, who vowed to oppose any long-term military rule by Israel over the ravaged Palestinian enclave. The televised statement by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant marked the most vocal dissent from within Israel’s top echelon against Netanyahu during a seven-month-old …

ISLAMABAD: As dengue has been spreading in a number of countries across the world, a new vaccine for the mosquito-borne disease has received pre-qualification from the World Health Organisation (WHO). “TAK-003 is the second dengue vaccine to be pre-qualified by WHO. Developed by Takeda, a Japanese multinational pharmaceutical company, it is a live-attenuated vaccine containing weakened versions of the four …

WASHINGTON: Incumbent President Joe Biden and Donald Trump agreed on Wednesday to hold the first presidential debate in June. The Democrat president challenged his rival to “make my day” and the scandal-plagued Republican promptly responded that he was ready to “rumble.” CNN announced it plans to host the first debate on the 27 of June, in Atlanta (Georgia). Biden proposed …

TEHRAN: Iran’s parliament approved changes to the working week for all government employees on Wednesday that would establish a 40-hour working week with a Friday-Saturday weekend. The legislation, which still requires a green light from constitutional watchdog the Guardian Council, would replace the existing 44-hour working week with a half-day Thursday and a full-day off Friday. The change had been …

NEW DELHI: India granted citizenship on Wednesday to a first batch of 14 people under a controversial law that has been criticised for discriminating against Muslims, midway through general elections in which religious divisions have taken centre stage. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) grants citizenship to Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians who fled to India from Muslim-majority Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before …

SYDNEY: France declared a state of emergency on the Pacific island of New Caledonia on Wednesday after three young indigenous Kanak and a police official were killed in riots over electoral reform. The state of emergency will give authorities additional powers to ban gatherings and forbid people from moving around the French-ruled island. Police reinforcements have been sent — and …

BEIJING: Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in China on Thursday to meet his “dear friend” Xi Jinping as he seeks to win greater support from Beijing for his war effort in Ukraine and his isolated economy. It will be Putin’s first trip abroad since his March re-election and his second in just over six months to China, an economic lifeline …

GAZA: Palestinians commemorated the 1948 “Nakba” or catastrophe, on Wednesday, marking the time when hundreds of thousands were dispossessed of their homes in the war at the birth of the state of Israel, as fighting raged amid the rubble in Gaza. The Nakba has been one of the defining experiences for Palestinians for more than 75 years, helping to shape …