NEW YORK: Oil prices rose about one per cent on Wednesday despite a surprise jump in US gasoline supplies, as investors worried that a potential expansion of the fighting in Gaza could disrupt crude supplies from the Middle East. Brent crude futures rose 22 cents, or 0.3pc, to $85.23 per barrel by 1835 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled 7 cents higher at $80.90 a barrel. Cross-border strains between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah have been escalating in recent weeks, stoking fears of an all-out Israel-Hezbollah war that could draw in other regional powers, including major oil producer Iran. “The geopolitical risk premium…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
SAO PAULO: Brazil is set to become the world’s largest cotton exporter in 2023-24, knocking the United States from the top spot it has held for decades, following a more than 80 per cent surge in shipments this season, local exporters’ association Anea said. With a month to go until the end of the 2023-24 cycle, the South American country’s position as the world’s number one exporter is a given, according to the group, driven by record output, strong demand from Asian countries and a drop in US production due to adverse weather. “It happened a little earlier than we…
TOKYO: Japan’s government is calling for stricter oversight of US troops stationed in the country after a soldier was charged with the alleged sexual assault of a Japanese teenager in Okinawa. Prosecutors in the southern island region charged the US soldier in March, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Tuesday. Local media said the 25-year-old man had been accused of assault, adding that he knew the girl was under 16, the age of consent in Japan. The government expressed “regret” to US Ambassador Rahm Emanuel over the incident and called for stronger oversight of behaviour by military personnel,…
WASHINGTON: The United States offered rare criticism of close partner India in a report published on Wednesday on religious freedom, while also voicing alarm over rising bigotry worldwide against both Jews and Muslims. Secretary of State Antony Blinken unveiled the annual report and said that the United States was also facing its own sharp increase of both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in connection to the Gaza war. “In India, we see a concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, demolitions of homes and places of worship for members of minority faith communities,” Blinken said. The US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, Rashad Hussain, faulted efforts…
WASHINGTON: The United States has consistently inquired about an investigation into India’s alleged involvement in the attempted assassination of a US citizen on American soil, a top State Department official said on Wednesday. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell stated in an online news briefing that Indian officials are considering whether the government needs to implement institutional reforms in light of the allegations. The investigation was initiated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after US prosecutors alleged that his government had attempted to assassinate New York-based Sikh activist and US citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. In June of last year, Czech officials arrested Indian national Nikhil…
TEHRAN: Iran’s former president Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday threw his weight behind reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, two days ahead of a snap presidential vote to replace the late Ebrahim Raisi. Rouhani, a moderate politician who preceded Raisi in office, said Pezeshkian — the only reformist on the ballot — could “remove the shadow of sanctions” that have battered the Iranian economy since the collapse of a landmark nuclear deal. “On Friday, we should vote for someone who is determined to remove the shadow of sanctions from the Iranian people,” Rouhani said in a video message published by the reformist Shargh daily,…
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was appointed leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, a crucial post that had remained vacant during both terms of the Modi government. Signalling a robust challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fragile coalition, Mr Gandhi shook hands with him and with Speaker Om Birla before addressing the Lok Sabha. Earlier, Mr Birla was re-elected to the post on Wednesday by a voice vote. The fact that the opposition had put up its candidate to contest Mr Birla but did not force a division of votes was described by opposition MPs as a tactical…
Bolivia’s army chief was arrested on Wednesday after sending soldiers and tanks to take up position in front of government buildings in what President Luis Arce called an attempted coup. The troops and tanks entered Plaza Murillo, a historic square where the presidency and Congress are situated, in the afternoon, prompting global condemnation of an attack on democracy. One of the tanks tried to break down a metal door of the presidential palace. Surrounded by soldiers and eight tanks, the now-dismissed army chief General Juan Jose Zuniga said the “armed forces intend to restructure democracy, to make it a true…
ISLAMABAD: Iranian Ambassador Dr Reza Amiri Moghadam on Wednesday said the new government in his country would uphold the legacy of late President Ebrahim Raisi and continue to promote cooperation with regional states, including Pakistan. He was speaking at a seminar on ‘President Raisi’s vision of regional cooperation’ organised by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) in collaboration with Asian Institute of Eco-Civilisation Research and Development (AIERD) at the IRS office in Islamabad. Dr Moghadam said regional cooperation had been the top priority of President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister, Dr Amir Abdollahian. He said President Raisi prioritised regional…
ISLAMABAD: The National Commission on the Rights of Child (NCRC), in collaboration with the French embassy, launched a comprehensive awareness campaign to address critical issues affecting children in Pakistan, such as child domestic labour, child sexual abuse and out-of-school children. The campaign’s primary goal is to raise awareness about child domestic labour, targeting the demand side while promoting education as a key factor in eliminating child labour. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), one in four households in Pakistan employed a child for domestic work, often in hazardous conditions. The campaign aims to shed light on these practices, advocating…
