World

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is after a potential diplomatic settlement of the war in Ukraine. Putin told reporters on Thursday Russia wanted an end to all armed conflicts through diplomacy. “Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war,” the president said. “We will strive for an end to this, and the sooner the better, of course

Riyadh, Dec 22 Saudi Arabia has called on Afghan caretaker government to reverse its decision on banning women from pursuing higher education in Afghanistan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed surprise and regret of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the decision to deny Afghan girls the right to university education. The Kingdom said, “This decision raises surprise in all Islamic countries.”

Jakarta, Dec 16: The death toll from an earthquake that hit Indonesia's main island Java last month has jumped by hundreds to 602, a local administration official said Friday, after authorities verified unreported casualties across the worst-hit town. The shallow 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit the town of Cianjur in Indonesia's most populous province West Java on November 21, with most of the

Pakistan will take a dossier to the United Nations alleging its neighbour India has backed incidents of terrorism, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday, a day after Islamabad said India was behind a high-profile bombing. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said the dossier will include detailed evidence and information of India's involvement in a 2021 bombing outside the

The US and Russia have exchanged jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, held in an American prison for 12 years. UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud led mediation efforts that secured the release of Griner in a prisoner swap with Russia, a joint statement

Elon Musk’s Neuralink, a medical device company, is under federal investigation for potential animal-welfare violations amid internal staff complaints that its animal testing is being rushed, causing needless suffering and deaths, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and sources familiar with the investigation and company operations. Neuralink Corp is developing a brain implant it hopes will

Beijing, Dec 1: China's top Covid official has signalled a possible relaxing of the country's strict zero-tolerance approach to the virus, after nationwide protests calling for an end to lockdowns and greater political freedom. Anger over China's zero-Covid policy -- which involves mass lockdowns, constant testing and quarantines even for people who are not infected -- has sparked protests in

Islamabad, Nov 28: Pakistan's Taliban said on Monday they have called off a shaky ceasefire agreed with the government in June and ordered fighters to stage attacks across the country. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a separate entity from the Taliban in Afghanistan but sharing a similar Islamist ideology, have been responsible for dozens of violent attacks and hundreds of deaths across Pakistan

Shanghai/Beijing, Nov 27: Protests against China's heavy COVID-19 curbs spread to more cities, including the financial hub Shanghai on Sunday, nearly three years into the pandemic, with a fresh wave of anger sparked by a deadly fire in the country's far west. The fire on Thursday that killed 10 people in a high-rise building in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region, has sparked widespread public

Beijing, Nov 26: China held a meeting this week with 19 countries from the Indian Ocean region in which India was conspicuously absent. The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), an organisation connected with the Chinese Foreign Ministry held a meeting of the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation on November 21, in which 19 countries took part, according