TEHRAN: Relative moderate Masoud Pezeshkian urged people on Saturday to stick with him on “the difficult road ahead” after beating a hardline rival to win Iran’s presidential election. Friday’s run-off vote was between Pezeshkian, the sole moderate in the original field of four candidates, and hardline former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old cardiac surgeon, has pledged to promote …
LONDON: Newly elected UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday said Britain needed to rediscover its identity and undergo a wider reset, in his first words outside his new office at 10 Downing Street, promising to fight to restore trust in politics and serve all voters. Greeted in Downing Street by a large crowd of cheering aides and supporters after …
ASTANA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday raised the issue of terrorism as a major concern for member states at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and called for “meaningful” engagement with the Afghan Taliban government. PM Shahbaz arrived in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana on Wednesday for a two-day official visit, representing Pakistan at the SCO meetings where leaders and …
ASTANA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has invited Tajikistan to “avail the facilities of Pakistani seaports” for transit trade, a joint statement issued by the two countries said on Wednesday, as the premier concluded his two-day official visit to the Central Asian country. The PM’s official visit commenced at the invitation of the Tajik president, Emomali Rahmon. During the visit, the …
PYONGYANG: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a deal with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on Wednesday that includes a mutual defence pledge, one of Russia’s most significant moves in Asia for years that Kim said amounted to an “alliance”. Putin’s pledge overhauls Russia’s entire post-Soviet policy on North Korea just as the United States and its Asian allies try to …
By focusing on key desert fringe areas and taking innovative, scientific and comprehensive measures for wind prevention, sand and desertification control, as well as dust suppression, China has made a promising start to its campaign to tame desert areas and created a model of sand control and desertification prevention and control. Last year, China initiated a battle against sand in …
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a US-drafted resolution supporting a ceasefire plan in Gaza, as Washington leads an intense diplomatic campaign to push Hamas to accept the proposal. The text — passed with 14 votes in favour and Russia abstaining — “welcomes” the truce and hostage release proposal announced on May 31 by President Joe Biden, and …
BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday that on the Palestinian issue, China’s position matches that of Arab countries. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, added that China will continue to work in solidarity and cooperate with Arab countries and stand together on the side of …
RAWALPINDI: In a meeting with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir on Friday, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov acknowledged Pakistan’s pivotal role in maintaining regional stability, the military’s media wing said. In a press release, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the army chief met with FM Bayramov at the Rawalpindi General Headquarters. It added that the …
NEW YORK: Donald Trump on Thursday became the first former US president ever convicted of a crime after a New York jury found him guilty on all charges in his hush money case, months before an election that could see him yet return to the White House. The jury found him guilty on each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide …