04-12-2022 By SJA Jafri + Agencies KUALA LIMPUR: Anwar Ibrahim became Malaysia’s 10th prime minister last week, after an epic career in which he had sought the job, and come close to getting it, over a quarter of a century but whatever jubilation he might have felt must have been …

04-12-2022 HELSINKI: Finnish PM Sanna Marin has said Europe is “not strong enough” to stand up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on its own, and has had to rely on US support. During a visit to Australia, the leader of the pending NATO member said Europe’s defences must be strengthened. …

04-12-2022 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON: Pakistan rejected the US State Department’s assessment under the US domestic legislation on religious freedom, terming it arbitrary and selective. The designation of Pakistan as a “Country of Particular Concern” is completely against the realities on the ground and …

04-12-2022 NEW DELHI: Nearly three years after toxic gases from a Union Carbide Corporation’s (UCC) factory killed an estimated 15,000 people and left more than half a million seriously ill in the Indian city of Bhopal, a chemical trading firm, Visa Petrochemicals Private Limited was incorporated in Mumbai. Over the …

04-12-2022 BRUSSELS: The Group of Seven (G7) nations, Australia and the European Union have agreed on a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil as part of an international campaign to curb Russia’s ability to finance its war against Ukraine through energy sales. The EU agreed on …

04-12-2022 UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations still cannot get unfettered access to bring humanitarian aid into Ethiopia’s Tigray, one month after the ceasefire, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. The UN’s health agency said on Friday that just a trickle of aid had managed to get into the northern …

03-12-2022 KYIV: As many as 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in battle since Russia invaded the country nine months ago, according to an official in Kyiv. The comments from Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, appeared to be the first update on the number of fighters …

03-12-2022 HAGUE: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has declined to issue a decision in an international dispute over the Silala River, one of several water-related issues that have spurred tensions between Chile and Bolivia. Chile is in the middle of an historic, massive 13-year drought, and Bolivia is likewise …

03-12-2022 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies WASHINGTON/ ISLAMABAD/ KABUL: The United States announced it was designating South Asian Al-Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban leaders as terrorists, vowing action as alarms grow over Afghanistan. The targeted militants included four leaders of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), a regional …

03-12-2022 Bureau Report + BBC MELBOURNE: The case against a former political adviser accused of raping a colleague inside Australia’s Parliament House has been dropped. Bruce Lehrmann, 27, denies sexually assaulting Brittany Higgins on a minister’s sofa after a night out in 2019. He maintains no sex took place. Lehrmann’s …