QUETTA: A day after a deadly attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan claimed the lives of 23 Pakistan Army soldiers, Balochistan caretaker Information Minister Jan Achakzai has proposed a set of counterterrorism measures, including offering the United States “drone bases to target militant sanctuaries in Afghanistan”. The minister shared a series of counterterrorism measures in a post on his X (formerly …

BEIJING: Backing the UN resolutions on the disputed Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) region, China on Tuesday called for peaceful resolution of the issue. “The Kashmir issue is an issue left over from history between India and Pakistan,” said Mao Ning, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. “It should be resolved peacefully based on the UN Charter, Security Council resolution …

HANOI: Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hanoi on his first trip as China’s leader to Vietnam in six years, the two countries signed 37 cooperation deals in what can be seen as a triumph of Vietnam’s “Bamboo diplomacy” as both China and the United States vie for influence. After China’s push, Vietnam agreed to “support the initiative of building of …

ISLAMABAD: A special court established under the Official Secrets Act on Tuesday deferred the indictment of former premier Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case till tomorrow (December 13). The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by Imran. The PTI has long held that the document contained a threat …

ISLAMABAD: PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday cleared yet another legal hurdle ahead of the Feb 8 general election after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) acquitted him in the Al-Azizia reference. A two-judge bench comprising IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced the verdict, which was reserved earlier in the day, while hearing Nawaz’s appeal …

ISLAMABAD: In a sharp rebuke to the Indian Sup­reme Court’s decision to uphold the 2019 revocation of occ­upied Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani strongly cond­emned the ruling, declaring it a product of a “pliant judiciary” and asserting that it holds no legal significance. Pakistan’s response underscored the country’s longstanding stance on the Kashmir dispute. In the press conference …

DI KHAN: Twenty-three Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred while 27 terrorists were killed in three separate incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan, the military’s media affairs wing said on Tuesday. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), “heightened activities” were witnessed in the district on the nights of December 11 and 12. In the early hours today, a group …

DUBAI: A new model for sub-seasonal forecasts using artificial intelligence (AI) technology was unveiled by a Chinese scientist during the ongoing 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, according to Fudan University. The model, “FuXi-Subseasonal,” developed by scientists from the Shanghai Academy of Artificial Intelligence for Science …

BEIJING: The first snowfall of this year’s winter hit Beijing on Sunday night, causing moderate to heavy snow in most areas and blizzard-like conditions on the outskirts of the city. From 7 p.m. Sunday to 8 a.m. Monday, snowfall in the city reached 5.8 mm on average. The highest precipitation was seen in Fangshan District, reaching 10.2 mm, according to …

DUBAI: China is talking with every relevant party to find a solution acceptable to all and promote the success of COP28, which is considered the “most difficult” climate conference in recent years, said Xie Zhenhua, the country’s special envoy for climate change. “I have participated in climate negotiations for 16 years. The most difficult one is this conference,” Xie told …