PARIS: The oldest member of the venerable Academie Francaise, the official guardian of the French language, has died aged 103, the institution said on Thursday. Rene de Obaldia, a poet, novelist and playwright, had been a member of the Academie for over 20 years. At 98, he published his last book, “Pearls of Life”, a collection of quotes that included the proverb: “If you want to reach 100 you should start young.” De Obaldia was born in Hong Kong in October 1918 of a French mother and Panamanian father, grew up in Amiens in northern France, and then made it…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
KARACHI: United States Navy ships recently visited Karachi and conducted bilateral exercise with Pakistan Navy. On arrival at the Karachi Port, senior officials of the Pakistan Navy and the American Embassy received the US Navy ships Squall (PC-7) and Whirlwind (PC-11) with traditional warmth and cordiality. The US ships’ visit included a bilateral exercise and professional exchanges through meetings and sessions at the harbour. At sea, the US and Pakistan Navy ships participated in a Passage Exercise, which included the participation of surface, air and special services elements. The aim of the exercise was to build synergy, strengthen naval relationships…
JERUSALEM: Snow carpeted Jerusalem and the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday as a rare storm turned the holy city into a winter wonderland but brought misery to the region’s Syrian refugees. The cold snap, which has already caused major disruption in Athens and Istanbul, saw heavy snowfall in areas better known for their summer heat. In the alleyways of Jerusalem’s walled Old City, children pelted each other with slushy snowballs after the first flakes fell late on Wednesday. By morning, snow crowned the golden-tipped Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and carpeted the esplanade in front of the…
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan urged the international community on Thursday to respond ‘positively and generously’ to a UN appeal for $3.6 billion for a transitional engagement with Afghanistan. On Wednesday, the UN team in Afghanistan launched the UN Transitional Engagement Framework (TEF) for the country, which is a $3.6 billion plan to save lives and sustain health, education and other essential services throughout 2022. “We hope and trust that the international community will respond positively and generously to the UN humanitarian and refugee response appeals,” said Pakistan’s UN ambassador Munir Akram. Secretary-General António Guterres launched two appeals for Afghanistan this month,…
NEW DELHI: The de facto head of India’s Congress party has complained to Twitter about “strange” activity on his account, accusing the US giant of being an “unwitting” ally of the government in curbing free speech. Rahul Gandhi told Twitter’s chief executive in a letter that growth in his new Twitter followers “suddenly” stopped last August, falling from a monthly average of hundreds of thousands to nearly zero. “I have been reliably, albeit discreetly, informed by people at Twitter India that they are under immense pressure by the government to silence my voice,” he said in the letter dated Dec…
WASHINGTON: The United States, Norway and other key European governments urged Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on Thursday to do more to gain international acceptance. Special Representatives and Special Envoys of the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States met in Oslo on Jan 24 to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. The meeting included sessions with representatives of the Taliban and Afghan civil society actors. In a joint statement released in Washington and Oslo, the participants urged the Taliban to do more to stop the alarming increase of human rights violations, including arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances,…
THE HAGUE: The EU’s drug watchdog approved Pfizer’s coronavirus pill on Thursday, making it the first oral antiviral treatment for the disease to be authorised in Europe. Studies showed the drug called Paxlovid reduces hospitalisation and death in patients at risk of severe Covid, and may also be effective against the Omicron variant. Pills are seen as a potentially huge step in ending the pandemic as they can be taken at home, rather than in hospital. “Paxlovid is the first antiviral medicine to be given by mouth that is recommended in the EU for treating Covid-19,” the European Medicines Agency…
ABU DHABI: Yemen rebel attacks will not become a “new normal” for the United Arab Emirates, a senior Emirati official said on Thursday, vowing a robust defence. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched two missile attacks on the UAE this month, with three oil workers killed in the first assault on January 17 and the second intercepted by its defence forces. “This is not going to be the new normal for the UAE,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “We refuse to acquiesce to the threat of Houthi terror that targets our people and way of life,” the official added.…
Six rockets were fired on Friday at the Iraqi capital’s airport, causing damage but no casualties, security sources said, the latest in a string of attacks the US blames on Iran-linked militias. The rockets hit Baghdad International Airport’s runways or parking areas, a source at the interior ministry said, noting that a “civilian plane has been hit and damaged”. The attack was not immediately claimed. A second security source confirmed the attack consisted of six rockets that fell around civil installations at the airport, damaging a plane, while a third source identified the plane as a Boeing 767 belonging to…
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Air Force on Thursday briefed Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the Chinese assistance for its modernisation project during his visit to PAF headquarters. The briefing took place ahead of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s trip to China from Feb 3 to 5 during which the two sides are expected to review the entire gamut of ties and bilateral cooperation in various sectors, including defence. The PAF’s media division said in a statement that Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu briefed Mr Qureshi. “In the context of forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister…
