Gaitty Ara Anis

WASHINGTON: Pakistan has been elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the 2026&ndash;2028 term with a resounding majority of 178 votes, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Tuesday, reaffirming its position as an active voice for human rights on the global stage. The election took place at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, where thirteen other nations also secured seats on the 47-member body. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the development, calling it &ldquo;a testament to Pakistan&rsquo;s effective and vibrant role at the United Nations.&rdquo; In a statement issued by the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office, Sharif reaffirmed the government&rsquo;s &ldquo;unwavering commitment to promoting and protecting human rights across all dimensions, civil, political, economic, social, and cultural.&rdquo; Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, expressing gratitude to UN member states for their &ldquo;overwhelming trust and support,&rdquo; said on X, formerly Twitter, &ldquo;This election reflects global recognition of Pakistan&rsquo;s strong credentials and active contributions toward strengthening the international human rights framework.&rdquo; He added that Pakistan would continue to &ldquo;work constructively with all partners in the spirit of tolerance, respect, and consensus-building.&rdquo; This marks the sixth time Pakistan has been elected to the Human Rights Council since its establishment in 2006. A recognition that underscores the international community&rsquo;s confidence in Islamabad&rsquo;s consistent advocacy for universal human rights and multilateral engagement. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan will use its upcoming term to &ldquo;advance dialogue and cooperation&rdquo; on key issues such as the right to development and the protection of people living under foreign occupation. The ministry also reiterated that Pakistan will continue to raise concerns about &ldquo;grave human rights violations&rdquo; in the Indian occupied Kashmir and Palestinian Territory, in line with the Council&rsquo;s mandate. Based in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council is the UN&rsquo;s principal intergovernmental body responsible for promoting and protecting human rights globally. With its renewed mandate, Pakistan aims to strengthen its role as a consensus-builder and advocate for fairness, transparency, and universality in global human rights discourse. &ldquo;Pakistan&rsquo;s election is not just a diplomatic achievement,&rdquo; said a senior diplomat at the UN, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s a reaffirmation of the country&rsquo;s enduring belief in dialogue, inclusivity, and the universality of human dignity.&rdquo;

Foreign Affairs

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says Pakistan’s election to the United Nations Human Rights Council reflects its vibrant and effective role at the UN and reaffirms Islamabad’s unwavering commitment to promoting and protecting global human dignity

Pakistan secures UN Rights Council seat, reaffirms commitment to global justice 

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump&#39;s second term has seen the United States go all-in to boost Big Oil and block renewables -- yet a wave of state and local climate-damage lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry continues to advance. Now Republicans are moving to shut them down with a two-pronged strategy: pushing for a federal shield law and urging the Supreme Court to intervene. &quot;The issue for the oil companies is that they know they did it,&quot; Richard Wiles, president of the nonprofit Center for Climate Integrity, told AFP. &quot;Their only avenue out of this is to get some kind of a waiver of liability, make the cases go away, bar the courthouse doors, get a &#39;get out of jail free card.&#39;&quot; Dozens of cases modeled on successful actions against the tobacco industry in the 1990s are playing out in state courts nationwide -- including claims of injuries, failure to warn, and even racketeering, meaning acting like a criminal enterprise. Some have been dismissed, and none have yet gone to trial -- though crucially, the conservative-dominated Supreme Court has repeatedly declined to intervene and block them. They have no shameIn June, 16 Republican state attorneys general urged the Trump administration to enact a shield law to end such cases. &quot;Under the banner of &#39;global climate change,&#39; they have effectively declared an all-out war on traditional American energy,&quot; their letter said, calling the lawsuits &quot;lawfare against the energy industry.&quot; It faulted the Supreme Court for not moving the cases to federal court, where companies believe they stand a better chance of winning, and cited a 2005 statute granting gunmakers a similar liability shield. &quot;They have no shame,&quot; said Pat Parenteau, an emeritus professor of environmental law at the University of Vermont, pointing to the epidemic of gun violence. &quot;I mean, come on, that&#39;s your argument?&quot; Congress has yet to act, but observers see worrying signs that it may be edging closer. A recent appropriations bill for the District of Columbia would bar the city from using funds to enforce consumer protection laws &quot;against oil and gas companies for environmental claims.&quot; And just last week, more than 100 House Republicans filed a friend-of-the-court brief in one Colorado case, urging the Supreme Court to &quot;put an end to these unconstitutional attempts to dictate national energy policy.&quot; AFP contacted Nebraska and West Virginia, which led the letter, as well as the Department of Justice, oil majors ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, and BP, and the American Petroleum Institute. None responded. Coordinated campaign&nbsp;The Trump administration, for its part, has escalated attacks on Democrat-led states passing &quot;polluter pays&quot; laws -- suing for example, New York and Vermont to block &quot;Superfunds&quot; that would require companies to pay billions toward climate and extreme weather resilience. The Justice Department has also asked the Supreme Court to weigh in through a friend-of-the-court brief in the Colorado case, where the state&#39;s top court allowed Boulder County to proceed with its lawsuit against Suncor Energy. A constellation of conservative legal scholars has joined what appears to be a coordinated push, including a <a data-fr-linked="true" href="//FoxNews.com">FoxNews.com</a> op-ed by John Yoo -- author of the Bush-era &quot;torture memos&quot; -- urging the Supreme Court to &quot;reaffirm federal authority over national energy.&quot; Results in the cases have so far been mixed: oil firms have won dismissals in some states, while others have allowed cases to advance. &quot;There hasn&#39;t been a big verdict yet. It&#39;s not clear there&#39;s going to be a big verdict. And you&#39;ve always got the Supreme Court lurking in the background,&quot; said Parenteau. That may explain why Congress has hesitated to act, he added -- though &quot;given the craziness that&#39;s going on in America right now, anything&#39;s possible.&quot; Environmental groups have urged Democrats to hold firm, and this summer, the 3,000-member National Association of Counties passed a resolution opposing &quot;any legislation that would limit or preempt counties&#39; access to courts or give companies immunity from lawsuits.&quot; Brigid Shea, commissioner for Texas&#39; Travis County, who helped lead the resolution, told AFP local governments were being &quot;walloped&quot; by extreme weather. &quot;We have to protect our access to the courts,&quot; she said. &quot;This is fundamental to our democratic process.&quot;

Americas

Republicans are moving to protect oil giants as climate lawsuits gain traction, pushing for federal immunity and Supreme Court backing. Critics say it’s an effort to dodge accountability as local governments pursue damages for climate-related destruction.

US Republicans seek to shield oil giants as climate lawsuits advance

HONG KONG: China&rsquo;s biggest state-owned air carriers have hit back at a US proposal to bar them from flying over Russia when traveling to or from the US. The US side has said such flights give Chinese airlines an unfair cost advantage over American carriers, which cannot cross through Russian airspace. Moscow closed Russian airspace to US air carriers and most European airlines in 2022 in response to Western sanctions for Russia&rsquo;s invasion of Ukraine. Air China, China Eastern and China Southern are among six Chinese airlines filing complaints over the order proposed last week to prohibit such flights by Chinese carriers. &lsquo;Inconvenience travelers&rsquo;China Eastern said in its filing this week to the US Department of Transport that the proposed ban would &ldquo;harm the public interest&quot; and &quot;inconvenience travelers&rdquo; from both China and the US. The additional flight time would result in higher costs and elevated air fares, which increases the burden on all travelers, it said. China Southern warned that a Russian airspace ban would adversely affect thousands of travelers. Air China said it estimates at least 4,400 passengers would be affected if the ban takes effect during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. &lsquo;Punishing&rsquo; passengers&nbsp;Last week, China&rsquo;s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun also hit back at the proposed ban, saying the move would be &ldquo;punishing&rdquo; passengers around the world. David Yu, an aviation industry expert at New York University Shanghai, said that US carriers&#39; inability to fly over Russian airspace has increased flight paths for some US-China routes by roughly two to three hours. Longer journeys require more fuel and pressure US carriers&rsquo; profitability. &ldquo;The US-China route historically has been a money-maker for airlines on both sides,&rdquo; Yu said. &ldquo;From the Chinese carriers&rsquo; perspective, if you can go through Russia, your costs go down.&rdquo; Despite that, Chinese carriers have struggled with losses, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. &lsquo;Competitive imbalances&rsquo;The US Department of Transportation said in its proposed order that Chinese carriers&#39; ability to cross Russian airspace has caused &ldquo;competitive imbalances&rdquo; between American and Chinese airlines. &ldquo;Being able to use the most efficient route provides a competitive advantage because it usually results in the shortest flight time duration, thereby offering a more appealing option to travelers,&rdquo; the department said last week. European airlines including Air France-KLM have also complained. In a filing to the Department of Transportation, United Airlines urged that Hong Kong&rsquo;s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific, which is not included in the list of Chinese airlines, not be included in the ban.

China

Moscow closed Russian airspace to US air carriers in 2022 in response to Western sanctions; six Chinese airlines are filing complaints over the order proposed last week to prohibit such flights by Chinese carriers.

Chinese airlines protest US plan to ban their flights over Russian airspace

HONG KONG: Stocks jumped on Wednesday as trade war fears were overshadowed by comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who suggested the bank would cut interest rates again this month.&nbsp;After a volatile couple of days characterized by a fresh flare-up in China-US tensions, investors took the opportunity to jump back into the market and resume a months-long, tech-fuelled rally.&nbsp;Powell has for most of the year walked a fine line between trying to keep a cap on US inflation while also supporting the labor market, even as he faced a barrage of abuse from President Donald Trump for not lowering borrowing costs soon enough.&nbsp;And while price gains continue to outpace the bank&#39;s target pace, a series of weak readings has forced him to turn his focus on jobs, and last month announced the first rate cut since December.&nbsp;And on Tuesday, he indicated more were on the way.&nbsp;&quot;In this less dynamic and somewhat softer labor market, the downside risks to employment appear to have risen,&quot; said Powell, adding that longer-term inflation expectations remained aligned with the Fed&#39;s two-percent goal.&nbsp;&quot;Rising downside risks to employment have shifted our assessment of the balance of risks,&quot; he said, adding there was &quot;no risk-free path for policy as we navigate the tension between our employment and inflation goals.&quot;&nbsp;Powell also hinted that monetary policymakers could soon stop reducing the size of its holdings of bonds and other instruments bought in vast quantities during the pandemic to keep borrowing rates low and support the economy.&nbsp;The bank has a dual mandate from Congress to act independently to tackle both inflation and employment.&nbsp;No official jobs data has been published for September because of the US government shutdown, but private sector figures point to a marked slowdown in hiring last month.&nbsp;US markets ended mostly down but well off their morning lows, and Asia was on the front foot.&nbsp;Hong Kong, Tokyo, Taipei and Seoul all climbed more than one percent, while Sydney, Seoul, Singapore and Wellington also advanced.&nbsp;Shanghai rose, with little negative reaction to data showing Chinese consumer prices fell in September, indicating consumer sentiment remains weak.&nbsp;Powell&#39;s remarks helped investors turn from the latest trade salvos between Washington and Beijing, with Trump last week threatening 100-percent tariffs owing to Chinese rate-earth measures.&nbsp;While the US president tempered his rhetoric Sunday, China appeared to stoke the row by imposing sanctions on five American subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean, accusing them of supporting Washington&#39;s investigation into the shipping industry.&nbsp;Still, there are hopes the row can be defused, with Trump telling reporters at the White House that &quot;we have a fair relationship with China, and I think it&#39;ll be fine. And if it&#39;s not, that&#39;s OK too.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;We have a lot of punches being thrown, and we&#39;ve been very successful.&quot;&nbsp;Meanwhile, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC that senior officials had spoken on Monday about the rare earth dispute and gave a broadly upbeat view.&nbsp;&quot;We&#39;ve been pretty successful in finding a path forward with them in the past, so we think we&#39;ll be able to work through it,&quot; he said in an interview.&nbsp;Key figures at around 0230 GMT&nbsp;Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.3 percent at 47,463.31 (break)&nbsp;Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.5 percent at 25,826.42&nbsp;Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 3,881.03&nbsp;Euro/dollar: UP $1.1621 from $1.1604 on Tuesday&nbsp;Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3348 from $1.3319&nbsp;Dollar/yen: DOWN at 151.17 yen from 151.74 yen&nbsp;Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.06 pence from 87.13 pence&nbsp;West Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $58.71 per barrel&nbsp;Brent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $62.40 per barrel&nbsp;New York - Dow: UP 0.4 &nbsp; percent at 46,270.46 (close)&nbsp;London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 9,452.77 (close)

Business

After a volatile couple of days marked by a fresh flare-up in China-US tensions, investors seize the opportunity to re-enter the market and resume a months-long, tech-fueled rally.

Asian markets rally as Fed cut hopes trump trade war fears

MOSCOW: With Hollywood boycotting the Russian market over Moscow&#39;s offensive on Ukraine, French films are one of the few cultural windows Russians have left to the West. And even as relations between Paris and Moscow have sunk to their lowest in decades, French cinema has retained its popularity as aficionados seek a big-screen dose of &quot;art de vivre&quot;, the French philosophy of living well and savoring the moment. &quot;French films create a colorful bubble where I want to stay,&quot; Alexandra told AFP, allowing her to &quot;pause my thoughts about what&#39;s going on in the world.&quot; The Moscow cinema hall showing Cedric Klapisch&#39;s dramatic comedy &quot;Colors of Time&quot; -- recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival -- was crowded. Other French films offer a range, from fresh releases such as Luc Besson&#39;s &quot;Dracula&quot; and Quentin Dupieux&#39;s &quot;The Piano Accident&quot; to Ren&eacute; Cl&eacute;ment&#39;s cult classic &quot;Purple Noon&quot;, starring Alain Delon. Russia was the top export market for French films in 2023, and second in 2024 by ticket sales, according to Unifrance, a French cultural body promoting cinema abroad. This comes even as pirate copies of Hollywood films were still being shown in some Russian cinemas. &nbsp;Life-savingThe popularity has endured even as France hit Russia with an unprecedented number of sanctions over the Ukraine offensive, and the Kremlin and Elysee deploy increasingly sharp rhetoric against each other. French President Emmanuel Macron called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin an &quot;ogre&quot; and &quot;predator&quot; earlier this year -- drawing rebukes from officials in Moscow. But big box office releases have kept flowing, with 73 French films hitting Russian cinemas last year. In 2023, animated film &quot;Miraculous&quot; scored more than three million viewers in Russia -- the largest audience for a French film in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. &quot;It would be foolish in this situation to abandon the country that invented cinema,&quot; Konstantin Ernst, the sanctioned head of Russia&#39;s state-run Channel One, told AFP.&nbsp; &quot;The subtlety, depth, and aestheticism of French cinema are closely aligned with the Russian soul,&quot; he added. Many Asian and Latin American producers have tried to fill the void in the Russian market by the formal absence of Hollywood movies -- but with little success. For Marina, a 33-year-old who works at a law firm, they have a &quot;different energy&quot;. &quot;French or European cinema is closer to me in terms of its atmosphere and elegance,&quot; she told AFP. It is &quot;essential, even life-saving&quot;, she added. Different way of livingRussians have for centuries sought to establish cultural bridges to France -- &quot;from French literature in the 19th century to the cinema that replaced it,&quot; Joel Chapron, a French expert on Russian cinema, told AFP. It is &quot;a kind of cultural diplomacy&quot;, he added, offering a &quot;glimpse into the culture they&#39;ve always loved... and an alternative to propaganda.&quot; As Alexandra put it: &quot;Interwoven for centuries, our two cultures are continuing their dialogue.&quot; Even during the Cold War, French cinema was widely popular behind the Iron Curtain. The 1952 swashbuckling comedy &quot;Fanfan la Tulipe&quot; starring Gerard Philippe attracted some 30 million viewers. French actors have also remained high-profile celebrities in Russia. Disgraced star Gerard Depardieu was even granted citizenship in 2013. Unifrance has defended its decision not to join Hollywood in boycotting the Russian market over the Ukraine offensive. &quot;Banning culture would mean severing ties with the Russian population,&quot; a spokesperson told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. Cinema was a way of &quot;providing a glimpse to another culture... and to a different way of living,&quot; they added. Channel One&#39;s Ernst hailed that decision as &quot;wise&quot;. Distributors agree. &quot;Closing doors is never helpful,&quot; said Nadezhda Motina, president of Arna Media, which sells French films in Russia. &quot;We must show Russians another world with its values and bring a little sun into cold water,&quot; she said, referring to French writer Francoise Sagan&#39;s novel &quot;Sunlight on Cold Water&quot;.

 French director Cedric Klapisch's dramatic comedy "Colours of Time"

Film & TV

Despite political tensions and sanctions, French cinema thrives in Russia. With Hollywood absent, French films dominate screens, sustaining a historic bond and providing Russians solace, beauty, and “art de vivre.”

French cinema booms in Russia despite political rift

JAKARTA: A volcano erupted overnight on an Indonesian island, authorities said Wednesday, spewing a massive ash column into the sky as the highest alert level was declared. Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island erupted late Tuesday and again at 01:35 am (1735 GMT), sending volcanic materials 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) above its 1,584-meter-high peak, the national volcanology agency said in a statement. Warning issued&nbsp;There was no immediate word of any casualties or damage, but authorities warned residents and tourists on the eastern Indonesian island to keep away from the area, preparing for possible evacuations. Geology agency head Muhammad Wafid said it had raised the volcano&#39;s alert level to the highest late Tuesday, after detecting an increase in deep quakes that often precede an explosive eruption. Airport operations&nbsp;Wafid said the towering column of ash from the eruption could &quot;disrupt airport operations and flight paths if it spreads&quot; further. Authorities have already suspended operations at a local airport in the town of Maumere, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Lewotobi, the airport said on Instagram. The geology agency said residents near rivers should also remain on alert for hazardous floods of volcanic material known as lahar if heavy rain occurs. &lsquo;Ring of Fire&rsquo;In July, the same volcano spewed a colossal 18-kilometer (11-mile) tower of ash, forcing the cancellation of 24 flights at the international airport on the resort island of Bali. Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, is situated on the Pacific &quot;Ring of Fire&quot;, an arc of intense and frequent seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Asia

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island erupted late Tuesday; there was no immediate word of any casualties or damage; authorities have already suspended operations at a local airport in the town of Maumere. 

Indonesia volcano erupts, operations suspended at local airport 

Reuters

GENEVA: Israel will only allow half the agreed number of aid trucks into Gaza starting on Wednesday, according to a note seen by Reuters and confirmed by the United Nations, in a setback to hopes food and supplies would be quickly ramped up to ease famine in the enclave. COGAT, the Israeli military arm that oversees aid flows into Gaza, also notified the UN that no fuel or gas will be allowed into the enclave except for specific needs related to humanitarian infrastructure. COGAT did not immediately respond to a request for comment. COGAT blamed Hamas for the slow release of hostage bodies for the decision to limit aid trucks to 300 daily.&nbsp; The fighter group has said that locating the bodies is difficult. &quot;Hamas violated the agreement regarding the release of the bodies of the hostages held in the Gaza Strip. As a result, the political leadership has decided to impose a number of sanctions related to the humanitarian agreement that was reached,&quot; read the COGAT note. So far, Hamas has handed over four coffins of dead hostages, leaving at least 23 presumed dead and one unaccounted for still in Gaza.&nbsp; The group informed mediators that it will begin transferring four more bodies to Israel later on Tuesday. &quot;We have received this communication from the Israeli authorities,&quot; Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Gaza, told reporters.&nbsp; &quot;We certainly very much hope that the bodies of the hostages are handed over and that the ceasefire continues to be implemented.&quot; COGAT had said on Friday that it expected about 600 aid trucks to enter Gaza daily during the ceasefire. COGAT told the UN that 817 trucks had entered Gaza on Sunday, said Cherevko. It was not immediately clear how many trucks entered on Monday, deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said. &quot;Crossings are not open today for the entry of supplies from the Israeli side, but we are collecting supplies from within Gaza today,&quot; Haq said on Tuesday. Israel requires aid to be offloaded from trucks on the Palestinian side of the border, where it then has to be collected by the UN and aid groups already in Gaza. Crossing needs to open, aid agencies sayIsrael has delayed plans to open the southern Rafah border crossing to Egypt, three Israeli officials said earlier on Tuesday. &quot;We need all crossings open. The longer Rafah stays closed, the more the suffering prolongs for people in Gaza, especially those displaced in the South,&quot; UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said. US President Donald Trump declared an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict on Monday as the last living Israeli hostages were swapped for Palestinian detainees, raising expectations that aid supplies would be rushed into the enclave where a global hunger monitor has warned hundreds of thousands of people face famine. &quot;We are still witnessing only few trucks coming in, and large crowds approaching these trucks in a way that does absolutely not conform to humanitarian standards,&quot; ICRC spokesperson Christian Cardon told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday. The UN World Food Program said on Tuesday that it has brought in 137 trucks since the weekend. Aid agencies are seeking to rapidly scale up supplies to people in Gaza City, where up to 400,000 people have not received assistance for several weeks, according to the WFP. UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram said it has been able to bring in dozens of trucks with life-saving supplies, such as family tents, plastic tarpaulin sheets, winter clothes, and hygiene kits. The UN and aid groups have been able to move more freely across parts of Gaza from which Israeli forces have withdrawn, Haq said. Throughout the war, the UN had complained of obstacles to delivering and distributing aid in Gaza, blaming impediments on Israel and lawlessness. &quot;This improved access has allowed partners to scale up the response to the most urgent needs,&quot; he said. Agencies face ongoing restrictionsAround 50 international aid groups, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, CARE, and Oxfam, have still not received clearance for supplies to enter, as they face ongoing registration barriers. &quot;We&#39;re in this limbo ... The needs of a population that has experienced famine over a period of months is not going to be met with a few trucks,&quot; Bushra Khalidi, an Oxfam policy adviser, said. COGAT previously said that aid trucks operated by the UN and &quot;approved international organizations,&quot; the private sector, and donor countries would be allowed to enter Gaza. Catholic Relief Services has, however, received permission to bring in supplies with shelter as a priority, Jason Knapp, an official with the organization, told Reuters from Gaza. US-backed aid group pauses operationsThe US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it has temporarily paused its operations.&nbsp; It last distributed aid on Friday and has dismantled one of its four distribution sites, said a GHF spokesperson, adding that the site could reopen elsewhere in Gaza. The GHF says it currently has funding to continue operating until the end of November and that while it would make &quot;tactical adjustments&quot; to its operations, it was still committed to delivering aid to as many people in Gaza as possible. Israel and the United States wanted the UN to work through the GHF, but the UN refused, questioning the neutrality of the GHF and accusing the distribution model of militarizing aid and forcing displacement. The United Nations human rights office said in July that it had recorded more than 600 deaths of people seeking aid &mdash; near GHF sites and UN aid convoys.&nbsp; For the past several months, UN data showed that most of its aid was looted off trucks in Gaza either by hungry people or armed groups.

Middle East

COGAT blames Hamas' slow release of hostage bodies for the decision to limit aid trucks to 300 daily; the fighter group has said that locating the bodies is difficult.



Israel cuts agreed aid into Gaza over slow release of hostage bodies

CARACAS<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: nowrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">:&nbsp;At least 14 miners have died in floods caused by heavy rain in eastern Venezuela, rescue workers said Tuesday. Disaster relief agencies and the military said in a joint statement that they were working to recover the bodies of the workers from a gold mine in the town of El Callao in Bolivar state. The workers were underground when heavy rain fell on the region, which borders both Guyana and Brazil, flooding several mine shafts. &quot;They were caught by surprise,&quot; Bolivar Governor Yulisbeth Garcia said in a statement, adding that the rescue effort was continuing. Videos posted on social media showed workers bringing up several muddied bodies from the mine. &quot;What we&#39;re experiencing is horrific,&quot; Elizabeth Zerpa, who lost two relatives in the disaster &mdash; brothers from the same family &mdash; told AFP. El Callao&#39;s mayor, Jesus Coromoto Lugo, sent his condolences to the victims&#39; families in a social media post. Gold mining is the economic mainstay of El Callao, a town around 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Caracas and home to around 60,000 miners, according to the mayor. It was not clear whether the mine was operating legally or illegally. Deadly accidents are common at illegal gold mines across South America. Between 2023 and 2024, at least 30 miners died in the collapse of gold mines in Bolivar state.

Not clear whether mine was operating legally or illegally; deadly accidents are common at illegal gold mines across South America; at least 30 miners died in the collapse of gold mines in Bolivar state between 2023 and 2024. 

At least 14 miners killed in Venezuela floods

Web Desk

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday &mdash; after reaching a staff-level agreement with Pakistan &mdash; said that authorities were committed to strengthening public finances, providing support to flood victims, ensuring the inflation target is met, restoring the energy sector&rsquo;s viability, and advancing structural reforms. An IMF team left Pakistan last week without signing the staff-level agreements on reviews of its two main support programs, which are worth a combined $8.4 billion. Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistan Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that the country was set to sign a preliminary deal on a review of its loan program with the IMF, a key step to securing a payout from the lender. &quot;The mission was on the ground for a couple of weeks, we had very constructive dialogue with them around the quantitative benchmarks, the structural benchmarks, and we&#39;ve been having some follow-up discussions,&quot; Muhammad Aurangzeb told Reuters during an interview on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings. According to a statement issued by the IMF on Tuesday, the approval of the loan program would allow Pakistan to access $1.2 billion &mdash; $1 billion under the Extended Fund Facility and $200 million under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility &mdash; after approval from the fund&#39;s board, bringing total disbursements under the two arrangements to about $3.3 billion. While quoting the Mission Chief Iva Petrova, the statement said, &ldquo;Pakistan&rsquo;s economic program is entrenching macroeconomic stability and rebuilding market confidence.&rdquo; &ldquo;The recovery remains on track, with the FY25 (fiscal year 2025) current account recording a surplus &mdash; the first in 14 years, the fiscal primary balance surpassing the program target, inflation remaining contained, external buffers strengthening, and financial conditions improving as sovereign spreads have narrowed significantly,&rdquo; Petrova said. However, she added that the recent floods have &ldquo;weighed on the outlook, particularly of the agriculture sector, bringing down the projected FY26 GDP to about 3.25%-3.5%,&rdquo; underscoring Pakistan&rsquo;s high vulnerability to natural disasters and substantial climate-related risks. &nbsp;&ldquo;The authorities reaffirmed their commitment to the EFF- and RSF-supported programs, and to maintaining sound and prudent macroeconomic policies while advancing ongoing structural reforms. The authorities&rsquo; policy priorities include,&rdquo; Petrova said.&nbsp; The statement said that Pakistan remained committed to meeting the FY26 budget primary surplus of 1.6% of GDP, &ldquo;anchored in sustained efforts to mobilize revenue through tax policy and compliance measures, and stand ready to take necessary actions should revenue shortfalls risk program targets.&rdquo; It said that the authorities were also assessing the flood damage, providing &ldquo;urgent flood relief support in the affected provinces via reallocations in the provincial and federal budgets.&rdquo; It added that to strengthen poverty reduction and social protection &mdash; a key pillar of the EFF-supported program &mdash; Pakistan was working to enhance the generosity, coverage, and administrative capacity of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).&nbsp; &ldquo;They are also committed to scaling up non-BISP health and education spending at both the federal and provincial levels to support inclusive growth and safeguard vulnerable populations,&rdquo; the statement said. The statement said that efforts were &ldquo;underway to enhance revenue mobilization, broaden burden-sharing between federal and provincial governments, and strengthen public financial management.&rdquo; &ldquo;The authorities are also making important progress in strengthening tax policy design, with the newly established tax policy office, which will lead medium-term reforms to simplify the tax code and reduce reliance on ad hoc measures,&rdquo; the statement said. According to the IMF, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) remained committed to a &ldquo;prudent monetary policy stance&rdquo; to ensure inflation remains durably within its target range of 5-7%.&nbsp; It added, however, that further steps were needed to &ldquo;deepen the foreign exchange market to facilitate transactions, support price discovery, and cushion external shocks.&rdquo; The fund&rsquo;s team expressed its &ldquo;sympathy to those affected by the recent floods, and is grateful to the Pakistani authorities, private sector, and development partners for many fruitful discussions and their hospitality throughout this mission.&rdquo; According to Reuters, countries under IMF lending programs need to pass regular reviews, which, once signed off by the fund&#39;s executive board, trigger loan tranche payments. The IMF&#39;s support in September 2024 helped shore up Pakistan&#39;s $370 billion economy following a severe economic crisis that sent the country&rsquo;s currency tumbling, Reuters reported.

Economy

Fund says Pakistan committed to strengthening public finances, providing support to flood victims, ensuring meeting inflation target, restoring energy sector’s viability and advancing structural reforms.

IMF reaches staff-level agreement with Pakistan on loans worth $1.2 billion

MUMBAI: At least 20 people were killed after a bus caught fire while travelling in the western Indian state of Rajasthan on Tuesday, local media reports and officials said. The vehicle, which carried over 50 passengers, was travelling between the cities of Jaisalmer and Jodhpur when the incident occurred. &quot;Nineteen passengers died in the bus and one succumbed to burn injuries on the way to Jodhpur,&quot; senior police officer Rajesh Meena told AFP. The Press Trust of India news agency &mdash; which also confirmed the toll, citing a local lawmaker &mdash; reported that the bus stopped on the highway after smoke emerged from the back of the vehicle. &quot;The driver stopped the bus along the roadside, but within moments, the flames engulfed the vehicle,&quot; it added. The incident occurred shortly after the bus departed from Jaisalmer at around 3:00 pm (0930 GMT), according to reports. Local broadcaster NDTV, citing unnamed police officials, said that a short circuit may have sparked the fire.&nbsp; The details of the report could not be immediately verified, according to AFP.&nbsp; Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was &quot;distressed by the loss of lives,&quot; adding that he was &quot;praying for the speedy recovery of the injured.&quot; Modi added that 200,000 rupees ($2,252.5) would be provided as compensation to the families of the deceased from the Prime Minister&rsquo;s National Relief fund, while the injured would receive 50,000 rupees. India, the world&#39;s most populous nation, has a notoriously unsafe road safety record. In 2023, according to the latest available data, more than 480,000 accidents were reported on Indian roads, resulting in close to 173,000 fatalities and nearly 463,000 injuries.

Incident occurred shortly after the bus departed from Jaisalmer at around 3:00 pm; Local broadcaster says a short circuit may have sparked the fire. 

Bus fire leaves at least 20 people dead in west India

WASHINGTON: A well-known Indian-origin US scholar who advised the US government on India was arrested and charged with retaining classified information and allegedly met Chinese officials, prosecutors said on Tuesday. Ashley Tellis, 64, who has worked in or advised the US government for more than two decades, was found to have kept more than 1,000 pages of top-secret or secret documents in his home, a criminal affidavit said. Late in the evening of September 25, Tellis entered the State Department, where he served as an unpaid advisor, and appeared to print from a secret document on US Air Force techniques, the affidavit said. It said Tellis met multiple times with Chinese government officials at a restaurant in the Washington suburb of Fairfax, Virginia. At one dinner, Tellis entered with a manila envelope but did not appear to leave with it, and on two occasions, the Chinese officials presented him a gift bag, the affidavit said. Tellis faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted on the charges of unlawfully holding documents, the Justice Department said. &quot;The charges as alleged in this case represent a grave risk to the safety and security of our citizens,&quot; said Lindsey Halligan, the US attorney for Virginia&#39;s eastern district, who has become known for pursuing charges against critics of President Donald Trump. The State Department confirmed that Tellis was arrested on Saturday &mdash; the same day the affidavit said he was due to fly to Rome &mdash; but declined further comment due to the ongoing investigation. Tellis, a naturalized US citizen originally from India, is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and served in senior positions under former president George W. Bush. He helped negotiate the Bush administration&#39;s civil nuclear deal with India that was seen as a landmark in building ties between the world&#39;s two largest democracies. But in recent years, Tellis has become known as one of the most outspoken contrarians in Washington on the US courtship of India. In a recent essay in Foreign Affairs, Tellis said India was often pursuing policies at odds with the United States, pointing to its relations with Russia and Iran, and doubted that India would match China&#39;s strength anytime soon. In August, Trump imposed significant tariffs on India over its oil purchases from Russia. Lawyers for Tellis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tellis faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted on the charges of unlawfully holding documents, the Justice Department said.
