Category: World

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb reiterated on Monday that it was not the government’s job to give jobs, in a statement that came on the heels of capital flight in the absence of an enabling business environment and a high unemployment rate. Addressing a seminar on population growth, the finance minister said “it is not the government’s job to give jobs and we have to get out of that mindset; it is the ladies and gentlemen who are freelancers today, leading our IT services, leading the IT economy”. Soon after…

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HALLANDALE BEACH: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held high stakes talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida on Sunday, as the United States pushes to end Russia’s war against its neighbor. The negotiations come as Kyiv faces mounting military and political pressure, along with the fallout from a corruption scandal. They could set the stage for next week’s visit to Moscow by President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, who is expected to discuss Ukraine diplomacy. “This is not just about peace deals. It’s about creating a pathway forward that…

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DHAKA: A commission set up to investigate a violent mutiny that saw dozens of senior army officers massacred 16 years ago on Sunday said former premier Sheikh Hasina had ordered the killings. Rampaging troops from the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) murdered 74 people, including military officers, during the two-day revolt that began in Dhaka and spread across the country in 2009, destabilising the government of then-premier Hasina weeks after she took office. After Hasina was ousted last year following a student-led uprising, the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus formed a…

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BEIRUT: Visiting Pope Leo XIV urged the Lebanese people on Sunday to embrace reconciliation and remain in their crisis-hit country, while calling on its leaders to put themselves fully at the service of their citizens. The pope, bearing what he described as a message of peace, had previously visited Turkey, where he kicked off his first overseas tour since being elected leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics in May. Long hailed as a model of coexistence, multi-confessional Lebanon is nonetheless plagued by sectarian and political rifts, and has seen…

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Iran and Turkiye have agreed to begin constructing a new joint rail link to serve as a strategic gateway between Asia and Europe, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday. The planned route, known in Iran as the Marand-Cheshmeh Soraya railway transit line and running towards Turkiye’s Aralik border region, will cover around 200 kilometres (120 miles}. It will cost roughly $1.6 billion and is expected to take three to four years to complete, Iranian authorities have said. Earlier this month, Iran’s transport minister Farzaneh Sadegh said the rail line…

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WARSAW: Germany will return valuable artefacts looted during the Second World War to Poland, local media reported on Sunday. A meeting on Monday to discuss Polish-German cooperation will include the “historic return of cultural goods looted during World War II”, according to local news website Onet.pl. The Polish side describes the return as having “groundbreaking character”, according to the reports. The artefacts are said to include a sculpture of a saint’s head stolen from Malbork castle, a royal residence in northern Poland. The items reportedly also include documents from the…

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By Sohail Ahmed Let us bear in mind that any peace settlement in Ukraine will directly affect security across the entire European continent for decades to come. We must therefore approach it with the utmost responsibility, as it directly concerns us. At the same time, European security is equal to Czech security. The current draft plan also contains provisions that would affect European defense capabilities in addition to Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity. Further diplomatic steps will therefore be aimed at finalizing the plan so that it does not affect…

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Liam Hemsworth just got emotional in his latest interview when asked about his dad’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease. His brother Chris Hemsworth will be starring in a documentary A Road Trip To Remember along with their father. The family documentary will be based their dad’s struggle with the disease. In a recent interview at The Kelly Clarkson Show, The Witcher actor was asked “How is this ride been for you all, where your family is discussing this not so easy subject so openly.” Liam responded, “I mean yeah it’s incredibly sort of difficult thing…

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US President Donald Trump sparked fury among Ukrainians after he gave President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a deadline of one week to accept the 28-point proposal on Thursday. However, on Saturday, Trump told reporters during brief remarks at the White House that the “peace plan” to end the war between Russia and Ukraine was still open for negotiations. The plan had been considered to favour Moscow, with Ukrainians describing it as reminiscent of Neville Chamberlain’s 1938 Munich agreement with Adolf Hitler. “No, not my final offer,” Trump told the reporters. “We’d like…

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