BEIJING: China has unveiled a list of rare earth regulations aimed at protecting supplies in the name of national security, laying out rules on the mining, smelting and trade in the critical materials used to make products from magnets in electric vehicles to consumer electronics. The regulations, issued by the State Council or cabinet on Saturday, say rare earth resources belong to the state, and that the government will oversee the development of the industry around rare earths — a group of 17 minerals of which China has in recent years become the world’s dominant producer, accounting for nearly 90 per cent…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
ATHENS: A wildfire ignited on Saturday afternoon in a forest area north of Athens, amid heightened fire risk across six Greek regions. At least forty wildfires have erupted since dawn across the country with wind speeds exceeding 100 kilometres per hour, according to fire brigade sources. “In general, the conditions that prevail are difficult and dangerous,” Fire Department spokesperson Vasilis Vathrakogiannis told an emergency press briefing on Saturday. Accustomed to scorching summers, Greece faces a tough wildfire season after its warmest winter and earliest heatwave on record, with temperatures hitting 44°C. Strong winds and numerous high-voltage pylons in the area…
PANAMA CITY: A Panamanian court on Friday acquitted 28 people charged with money laundering in connection with the now-defunct law firm Mossack Fonseca, the epicentre of the “Panama Papers” international tax evasion scandal. Among those acquitted were the firm’s founders, Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca, the latter of whom died in May in a Panamanian hospital. During the trial, which was held in Panama City in April, the prosecution asked for 12 years in prison for the duo, the maximum sentence for money laundering. However, Judge Baloisa Marquinez acquitted the pair and 26 others after finding that evidence taken from the law firm’s…
WASHINGTON: A senior US official has assured Islamabad that the United States and Pakistan maintain a stable and broad-based relationship despite occasional friction between the two allies. The assurance follows the recent adoption of a resolution by an overwhelming majority in the US Congress, expressing concerns about the state of democracy and human rights in Pakistan. Islamabad responded strongly, rejecting the concerns as unfounded. “Like any longstanding relationship, there’s always a little bit of friction at times,” said US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Horst while speaking at a mango party at the Pakistan Embassy on Friday night. “But the US-Pakistan relationship…
GAZA STRIP: Explosions, air strikes and gunfire rattled northern Gaza on Saturday, the third day of an Israeli military operation that has uprooted tens of thousands of Palestinians and compounded what the UN called “unbearable” living conditions in the territory. A correspondent reported explosions from the Shujaiya area near Gaza City, and a resident saying bodies were seen on the streets. The armed wings of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they were engaged in ongoing fighting with Israeli forces there. Israel’s military, meanwhile, said its operations were continuing in Shujaiya where fighting “above and below the ground” left a…
An Afghan Taliban delegation on Sunday will participate in the third round of the United Nations-hosted meeting of Special Envoys and Special Representatives on Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar. This will mark the first time the de facto Afghan rulers will attend a gathering of international envoys on Afghanistan since UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres started the process in May 2023, aimed at developing a coherent and unified world approach to engagement with the Taliban. The Taliban government has not been officially recognised by any state and the international community has wrestled with its approach to Afghanistan’s new rulers, with women’s rights issues a sticking point for…
At least 18 people were killed and 19 seriously wounded in suicide attacks targeting a wedding, a hospital and a funeral in northeastern Nigeria on Saturday, authorities said. The region has been scarred by more than a decade of violence by the militant group Boko Haram, which did not immediately claim responsibility for the string of attacks. In one of three blasts on Saturday in the town of Gwoza, a woman with a baby strapped to her back detonated explosives in the middle of a wedding ceremony, according to a state police spokesman. “At about 3:45pm (2:45pm GMT) a woman…
ISLAMABAD: In a letter sent to the Supreme Court registrar to dispel the impression that contempt proceedings against Senator Faisal Vawda and MNA Mustafa Kamal were initiated on his complaint, Justice Athar Minallah stated unequivocally that neither any complaint was filed by him nor was he in any manner consulted in this regard. “My view regarding contempt proceedings is manifest from the jurisprudence laid down while I was serving in the High Court,” Justice Minallah said in the letter. He added that he had confronted the challenges of malicious campaigns, intrusions in his privacy, fake allegations, and imputation of motives on account…
LAHORE: Amid escalating tensions with the treasury, the opposition in the Punjab Assembly held its own session on Saturday, pledging not to accept “fake Form-47” Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, even if the speaker suspended all its lawmakers. Opposition lawmakers from the PTI (Sunni Ittehad Council) and ruling PML-N lawmakers had been at loggerheads after 11 opposition members were suspended for 15 sittings due to “rowdyism” during Maryam Nawaz’s speech on Friday. The government further escalated the situation by stripping opposition leader Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar of his perks and privileges and closing his chamber in the assembly. A heavy contingent of police…
ISLAMABAD: Justice Athar Minallah has asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to satisfy the Supreme Court that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was excluded from the electoral process legitimately, thereby forfeiting its claim to reserved seats. As a member of the full-court bench of the Supreme Court hearing the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) appeal against the denial of reserved seats for women and minorities, Justice Minallah directed the ECP to satisfy the court that a level playing field was provided to all political parties, including PTI, before, during, and after the February 8 general elections. The SC will resume hearing the appeal on Monday.…
