Category: English

Nepal will receive $20 million in aid from the United Nations’ climate loss and damage ​fund after the devastating flood along its ‌border with China’s Tibet region in August, the government said late on Thursday. The August 26 flood killed about ​1,500 people, and more than 5,000 are ​still missing The flood affected about 60,000 people from ⁠15,000 families, according to official data, and ​caused losses estimated at about $2.7 billion to infrastructure ​, including roads, bridges, schools and 13 hydropower plants Early official estimates show reconstruction bills could top…

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Seven terrorists were killed during a clearance operation by security forces in Gwadar, while efforts are underway to locate and neutralise explosives and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the area on Friday, according to security sources. The clearance operation is ongoing, with security forces searching surrounding areas to identify and neutralise any explosives or IEDs that may have been planted. Security sources said operations to secure the area would continue until the clearance process was complete.

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Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Friday departed for Istanbul to participate in the ministerial meeting of R4 comprising Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Egypt and the R4+E3 with the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. At the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, Hakan Fidan, the deputy prime minister will attend the R4 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Istanbul today. This will be followed by the R4+E3 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting featuring the participation of the E3 countries—the United Kingdom, France,…

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US and South Korean officials see the chances of a meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year fading, according to ​five people with knowledge of the situation. Trump, the only US president to have met a North Korean leader, has been eager to jump-start talks with North ‌Korea, but Pyongyang has shown little interest in diplomacy aimed at containing its nuclear program. The US has received no response from North Korea on holding a Trump-Kim meeting, and there is little time left before…

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US President Donald Trump determined on Thursday that petroleum production, refining, and related activities are essential to national defence. This move could open up US funding for fossil fuel projects. In a presidential memo, Trump also invoked part of the Cold War-era Defence Production Act, allowing him to provide financial incentives for oil-related activities, ​pipelines, and storage of liquid fuels. Prices for crude oil and diesel have ​surged since the US and Israel attacked Iran in joint ⁠action at the end of February. Since then, the conflict ​has limited energy…

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Versatile actor Tom Skerritt, who starred in Hollywood megahits including the sci-fi classic “Alien,” the war comedy “M*A*S*H,” and the action drama “Top Gun,” has died at the age of 93. Skerritt, a Detroit native whose Hollywood career spanned from the 1960s to the 2020s, died on ​Wednesday of natural causes, his family said in a statement. “While the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew ‌him for his humour, curiosity, wisdom, generosity, and the love he brought into our lives,” they said. “He cared deeply about…

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Oil prices were little changed in early Asian trade on Friday, after rising 4% to a five-month high in the previous session due ​to concerns of further energy supply disruption after Houthi attacks ‌on top exporter Saudi Arabia. Brent crude futures was down 21 cents, or 0.2%, at $112.96 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was down ​27 cents, or 0.3%, at $98.12. Every week, WTI was on ​track to end two weeks of gains to finish lower. ⁠Brent, which settled at its highest since May 4 on…

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The United ​Arab Emirates’ Ministry of ‌Climate Change and Environment said on Friday that its monitoring ​system had detected a ​tanker oil spill affecting beaches ⁠in Umm Al Quwain. Odors ​reported by residents in Sharjah, ​Ajman and Umm Al Quwain posed no health risks to them, ​the ministry said. The ministry ​said all beaches and coastal areas in ‌Umm ⁠Al Quwain had been temporarily closed until technical teams completed their assessments and ​determined the ​necessary ⁠safety and marine protection measures. Survey operations are ​ongoing as a precautionary ​measure ⁠to ensure…

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Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least four people in the Gaza Strip in separate incidents on Thursday, health officials ​in the enclave said. In Gaza City, a strike on a car killed ‌at least one person, medics said. They earlier said there had been two deaths. A crowd gathered around the burning wreckage, as orange-vested emergency crews sprayed it with water, photos ​from the scene showed. Other strikes killed a Palestinian man on a ​bike in the southern city of Khan Younis, and a man near ⁠Nuseirat refugee camp…

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The number of people injured in a magnitude 7 earthquake that struck the southwestern region of China’s Tibet ​has risen to 65, local government said in ‌a social media post on Friday, while the death count remained unchanged at 16. The quake, with an epicentre in Nagqu, a sparsely populated, high-altitude ​city in northern Tibet, is the strongest to hit ​China since January 2024. More than 300 police officers, including ⁠traffic and community police personnel, were sent to the epicentre ​to carry out rescue and emergency relief work, the Nagqu…

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