50 killed as blast rips thru Kabul mosque

A powerful explosion killed more than 50 worshippers after Friday prayers at a Kabul mosque, its leader said, amid a series of attacks on civilian targets in Afghanistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
29 April 2022, 18:00 PM

All creditors will be treated equally Says Sri Lankan central bank

All Sri Lanka’s creditors will be treated equally in a planned restructuring of the country’s debt, its central bank governor said yesterday, adding that he expected progress in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the next two months.
29 April 2022, 18:00 PM

Blast hits mosque in western Kabul during Jummah, at least 50 dead

A powerful explosion killed more than 50 worshippers after Friday prayers at a Kabul mosque, its leader said, the latest in a series of attacks on civilian targets in Afghanistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
29 April 2022, 14:07 PM

Sri Lanka crisis: Mahinda Rajapaksa to be replaced as PM, new cabinet soon

Sri Lanka’s president has agreed to replace his older brother as prime minister in a proposed interim government to solve a political impasse caused by the country’s worst economic crisis in decades, a prominent lawmaker said Friday.
29 April 2022, 10:41 AM

9 killed in Afghanistan van blast

Bombs exploded aboard two passenger vans carrying Shi'ite Muslims in the northern Afghanistan city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Thursday, killing at least nine people, an official said.
28 April 2022, 19:27 PM

Pak PM heads to Saudi for first foreign visit

Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif begins his maiden foreign trip to Saudi Arabia, seeking financial support from a country where he spent years in exile.
28 April 2022, 18:00 PM

South Asia wilts in early heatwave

Millions sweltered in an early summer heatwave across India and Pakistan yesterday, leading to power and water shortages as annual furnace-like temperatures hit South Asia.
28 April 2022, 18:00 PM

Strike cripples Sri Lanka

Millions of workers staged a crippling strike in Sri Lanka yesterday, adding to pressure on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his ruling family to quit over the country’s worst-ever economic crisis.
28 April 2022, 18:00 PM

Forex crisis: Nepal bans luxury goods

Nepal banned imported liquor, playing cards and nearly a dozen other “non-essential” goods to address the Himalayan country’s widening trade deficit and
27 April 2022, 18:00 PM

Bilawal Bhutto appointed Pak foreign minister

The scion of Pakistan’s most influential political dynasty was appointed foreign minister yesterday, the latest step up a ladder likely to take Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to the top of the country’s leadership.
27 April 2022, 18:00 PM

Suu Kyi gets 5 years for graft

A Myanmar junta court yesterday sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi to five years in jail for corruption, part of a barrage of criminal cases that could see the deposed civilian leader jailed for decades.
27 April 2022, 18:00 PM

Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal becomes Pakistan's new foreign minister

President Arif Alvi administered oath to PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday who would be joining Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's cabinet as a federal minister.
27 April 2022, 17:44 PM

Pakistan PM Shehbaz to be indicted in money laundering case

A special court in Lahore on Wednesday stated that charges against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and others in the Rs16 billion money laundering case will be framed on May 14, asking them to ensure their presence at the next hearing as no further adjournments will be made.
27 April 2022, 16:08 PM

World Bank to provide Sri Lanka $600 million aid

The World Bank has agreed to provide Sri Lanka with $600 million in financial assistance to help meet payment requirements for essential imports, the Sri Lankan president's media division said in a statement on Tuesday.
27 April 2022, 06:02 AM

3 Chinese nationals, one Pakistani killed in Karachi University suicide bomb attack

A suspected female suicide bomber killed three Chinese teachers in Karachi on Tuesday, police and officials said, in the first major attack this year against nationals of long-time ally China working in Pakistan.
26 April 2022, 18:47 PM

Four killed by female suicide bomber near China institute in Pakistan

A woman suicide bomber from a Pakistan separatist group killed four people, including three Chinese nationals, in an attack on a minibus carrying staff from the Confucius Institute at Karachi University yesterday.
26 April 2022, 18:00 PM

Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif issued green passport

Pakistani former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s name has been removed from the exit control list (ECL) and he has finally been issued a green passport by the government, led by his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif.
26 April 2022, 07:38 AM

‘Failed state’

Sri Lanka’s beleaguered government yesterday faced new pressure to resign from influential Buddhist leaders over a crippling economic crisis, as the island nation’s stock market halted trading after a nearly 13 percent plunge.
25 April 2022, 18:00 PM

India suggests IMF, World Bank to reclassify Sri Lanka as lower-income country temporarily

India has suggested to the IMF and World Bank to temporarily give Sri Lanka – grappling with its worst financial crisis – the tag of a lower-income country to help the island nation restructure its debt.
25 April 2022, 05:36 AM

Sri Lanka lesson for S Asia

Sri Lanka’s financial crisis is a classic example of what populist policies, corruption and mismanagement can cause, economists and political analysts from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka told a webinar yesterday.
24 April 2022, 18:00 PM