Beijing: China’s population shrank last year for the first time in more than six decades, official data showed Tuesday, as the world’s most populous country faces a looming demographic crisis. The nation of 1.4 billion has seen birth rates plunge to record lows as its workforce ages, in a rapid decline that analysts warn could … Read more
New York: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday listed Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki as a global terrorist under its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee. This listing comes after China last year put on India’s bid to name the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader a global terrorist. In June 2022, India slammed China after … Read more
Washington: The Biden Administration has announced plans to expand the premium processing of some of the important categories of green card applicants and some categories of visas, particularly those related to training of foreign students. The expansion of these categories would be carried out in phases beginning with the premium processing of EB-1 and EB-2 … Read more
Geneva: A global economic slowdown will force more workers into accepting lower quality, poorly paid jobs in 2023, while inflation gobbles up real term wages, the United Nations warned Monday. As prices rise faster than incomes, the cost-of-living crisis risks pushing more people into poverty, the UN’s International Labour Organization said, while unemployment around the … Read more
Pokhara: Nepal Army on Monday said they have not rescued anyone alive from the site of the plane crash that occurred on Sunday in the central resort city of Pokhara. “We haven’t rescued anyone alive from the crash site,” said Nepal Army Spokesperson Krishna Prasad Bhandari. A Yeti Airlines passenger plane crashed into a river … Read more
Kyiv: Russia and Belarus will begin joint air force drills on Monday, which have triggered fears in Kyiv and the West that Moscow could use its ally to launch a new ground offensive in Ukraine. Minsk says the drills are defensive, and since Moscow used its neighbour as a springboard for its invasion of Ukraine … Read more
Ukraine: Ukraine said Friday it was resisting a “high intensity” Russian offensive in Soledar, a town in the eastern Donetsk region where Kyiv claimed Moscow was deploying more troops. “It was hot overnight in Soledar. Hostilities continued. The enemy relocated almost all of its main forces to the Donetsk front and is maintaining a high … Read more
Beijing: The peak of China’s COVID-19 wave is expected to last two to three months, and will soon swell over the vast countryside where medical resources are relatively scarce, a top Chinese epidemiologist has said. Infections are expected to surge in rural areas as hundreds of millions travel to their hometowns for the Lunar New … Read more
Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Ukrainian forces defending Bakhmut and Soledar in the east would be armed with everything they need to keep Russian troops at bay in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. Kyiv said earlier its troops were fighting to retain control of the now-battered industrial towns in the … Read more
Islamabad: Pakistan today rejected the reports in British media that a uranium-tainted cargo package that landed at London’s Heathrow Airport last month originated from Karachi, saying the news is “not factual”. The BBC reported on Wednesday that British counterterrorism police were investigating after border officers seized cargo contaminated with uranium at Heathrow Airport last month. … Read more
New Delhi: India and the United States will increase dialogue on food and agricultural trade issues in 2023, both governments said in a joint statement today after a trade policy forum meeting in Washington D.C. The two countries also decided to create a new trade policy forum working group on resilient trade, and to continue … Read more
Moscow: The head of Russia’s mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said early Wednesday his fighters had taken control of Ukraine’s city of Soledar after intense fighting this week, but some “urban battles” continued. READ | Russia continues to shell Ukraine, troops ask ‘What ceasefire? Can you hear?’ “Wagner units have taken control of the whole … Read more
London: British police said Tuesday they had opened an investigation into a package containing uranium that was seized at London’s Heathrow Airport. The package was discovered by border agents during a routine search on December 29, police said. The package had originated in Pakistan and arrived on a flight from Oman, according to The Sun, … Read more
Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday appeared virtually at the annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony to say that “there will be no third World War” as the tide is changing in Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with Russia. At Hollywood’s 80th Golden Globe Awards, which was telecast live, Zelensky said “The first World War claimed millions … Read more
Bangkok: Thailand has rescinded an entry policy announced at the weekend requiring visitors to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination, its health minister said on Monday, citing sufficient immunization levels in China and globally. Anutin Charnvirakul said checking evidence of vaccinations was inconvenient and a panel of health experts had agreed to withdraw the new … Read more