BEIJING: After some setbacks on the post-COVID 19 recovery path, the Chinese economy has once again shown its resilience and great potential as it regained momentum in the third quarter, expanding by a higher-than-expected 5.2 percent. Against the backdrop of multiple uncertainties in the global economy, many international institutions have recently upgraded China’s economic growth forecasts, with the figures for …

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a congratulatory letter to the 2023 Understanding China Conference (Guangzhou) held in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong Province. Today, confronted with a weak global recovery and escalating geopolitical conflicts, humanity has once again come to a crossroads in history. It is all the more important that countries work together to meet various global …

ISLAMABAD/JINAN: Muhammad Talha is one of 11 Pakistani engineers who have recently attended a technical training program in China’s State Grid technical college of Tai’an city in east China’s Shandong province. Talha is serving as a supervisor of a converter station at ±660kV Matiari-Lahore high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The training program focused …

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent inspection tour in Shanghai sent a clear message that China will continue to promote finance to better serve the real economy, strengthen scientific and technological innovation and adhere to the people-centered approach in urban development. During his tour from Tuesday to Wednesday, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee …

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday filed a corruption reference against former prime minister Imran Khan, his wife and other suspects in the £190 million settlement case. The reference was filed by NAB’s Deputy Prosecutor General Muzafar Abbasi, along with investigative officer Umar Nadeem, in an accountability court in Islamabad. The registrar office is examining the reference. Apart …

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said Friday that the much-anticipated schedule for general polls would be issued 54 days ahead of the February 8 elections expected to fall in the third week of December as the political temperature in the country soars. In June, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government amended Section 57 of the Elections Act to …

PESHAWAR: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday issued a list of female terrorists who had been involved in different natures of unlawful activities in the province since 2014. According to the list, 30 females were involved in incidents of terrorism, 13 in kidnapping, two in extortion and three each in targeted killing and terror financing. CTD DIG Imran …

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa on Friday ordered the auction of two luxury vehicles allocated for his use by the federal and Punjab governments, saying this is an “inappropriate splurge of scarce public resources”. In a letter sent by the SC registrar to the federal government cabinet secretary and Punjab chief secretary, the bureaucrats were told that …

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday appointed former cricketers Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal and Rao Iftikhar Anjum as “consultant members” to chief selector Wahab Riaz. In a statement, the PCB said that the trio have taken charge of their responsibilities in the selection panel with immediate effect. “Their first assignment as consultant members to the chief selector includes …

Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti believes summoning former army chief (retd) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and former Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) director general (retd) General Faiz Hameed for investigation in the 2017 Faizabad sit-in case would not be beneficial for the country. “Moving forward is always in the interest of Pakistan,” he said during an interview on Dawn News show ‘Doosra …

Pakistan’s headline inflation clocked in at 29.2% on a year-on-year basis in November, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said on Friday, higher than the reading in October when it stood at 26.9%. On a month-on-month basis, the reading was up 2.7%. This takes July-November’s average inflation to 28.62% compared to 25.14% in the same period of the previous year. …

NANNING: Having savored tea for over 2,000 years, Chinese tea enthusiasts are now welcoming innovations in this age-old beverage, with trends ranging from fruit tea and bubble tea to blended drinks like chai latte, sparking a thriving market. Peng Yonghua, a veteran engineer at the research and development center of an esteemed tea company in China’s Jiangxi Province, is one …

NEW YORK: Kinnan Abdalhamid, one of the three 20-year-old Palestinian-American students shot Saturday night in Burlington, the U.S. State of Vermont, recalled seeing a gunman open fire without saying a word, in a U.S. television interview Wednesday. “On the way back, we see this man on his porch essentially looking away from us. He turns around, looks at us, and …

SHANGHAI: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday inspected the command office for the East China Sea area of the China Coast Guard under the People’s Armed Police Force. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed improving the capability of protecting maritime rights and carrying out maritime law …

NAIROBI: Realizing the HIV/AIDS elimination goal in Africa by 2030 will be dependent on greater support for community-led prevention and treatment interventions, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said Thursday ahead of World AIDS Day, which falls on Friday. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO regional director for Africa, said that optimal involvement of local communities is key to promoting early diagnosis, …

BEIJING: China’s service trade value grew 8.7 percent year on year in the first 10 months of this year, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed Friday. The service trade value exceeded 5.34 trillion yuan (about 751.65 billion U.S. dollars) during the January-October period. Of the total, service imports climbed 23.5 percent year on year to over 3.16 trillion yuan, …

HONG KONG: Members of a visiting delegation of China’s manned space program, who have met with hundreds of university teachers and students in Hong Kong, encouraged the young people to pursue their dreams persistently. The delegation, in separate groups, visited the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) on Thursday and briefed …

KABUL: Afghanistan’s caretaker government has asked Washington to set free the only Afghan prisoner still held in the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the local Tolonews TV channel reported Thursday. “We are in contact with the United States to release Abdul Rahim. He is the only Afghan who has been languishing in Guantanamo. He is innocent and should be freed,” …

KOH KONG, Cambodia: The project of the Chinese-invested Cambodia Upper Tatay Hydropower Station will increase the reliable source of clean energy in Cambodia, contributing further to socioeconomic development and poverty reduction, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Thursday. With a designed capacity of 150 megawatts (MWs), the project is expected to generate 527 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year …

KUNMING: Chinese scientists have found that orchid mantises, hailed as a classic example of flower mimicry, use their petal-shaped legs for gliding. The study led by the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences challenges the long-held belief that these winged legs, or femoral lobes, mimic flowers to attract their pollinating prey. The study was published …

SHANGHAI: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday stressed efforts to make new major breakthroughs in the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and enhance the region’s leading and exemplary role in pursuing Chinese modernization. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while chairing …

Bollywood contemporaries and real-life cousins Rani Mukerji and Kajol opened up on their years-long cold war for the first time. In the recently-dropped new episode of Karan Johar’s ‘Koffee With Karan’ season 8, featuring A-list actors and off-screen cousins Kajol and Rani Mukerji, the two addressed their equation off camera, which has been the topic of tabloid headlines for years. …

With five wins from their six games, Uganda have ensured a top-two finish in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier and booked their tickets for the T20 World Cup 2024 in West Indies and USA. This will be their first-ever appearance in an ICC World Cup event as they will become only the fifth African nation to feature …

Mercury levels significantly dropped across the United Kingdom throughout the month as it experienced the coldest November in the last 13 years. The lowest temperature was recorded in Aonach Mor in the Scottish Highlands, plummeting to a frigid -8°C (18°F). Similarly, Prestwick recorded -5.5°C (22°F), and Keswick -6.1°C (21°F) temperature. Furthermore, Scotland, eastern England, and Norfolk received heavy snowfall in …

Pakistan’s GDP is expected to decrease by a minimum of 18 to 20 percent by 2050 due to severe climate-related occurrences, environmental deterioration, and air contamination, says the World Bank. The Bank in a special note ‘Climate Silence in Pakistan’ stated that climate change has profoundly affected Pakistan, manifesting in altered weather patterns and devastating floods. Overall, 8 in 10 …

Pakistan test cricket team departed to Australia from Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore (AIIP) under the supervision of test skipper Shan Masood. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Cricket Australia’s National Selection Panel (NSP) named the men’s squad for the Prime Minister’s XI match against Pakistan in Canberra. The four-day fixture against Pakistan begins on Wednesday, December 6 at Manuka Oval, …

The BJB-led Modi government has continued its international ‘terrorism’ agenda to kill opponents on foreign soil as an Indian national has been charged with plotting to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader on US soil. This is the second such incident after Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing in Canada by Indian government. The United States (U.S.) Justice Department said on Wednesday Indian …

Israel and Hamas struck a last-minute agreement on Thursday to extend their ceasefire for a seventh day, and Washington said it hoped the truce could be extended further to free more hostages and let aid reach Gaza. The truce has let some humanitarian aid into Gaza after much of the coastal territory of 2.3 million people was reduced to wasteland …

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, known for his influential role in shaping post-World War II global dynamics, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 100, as announced by his consulting firm. “Dr. Henry Kissinger, a respected American scholar and statesman, died today at his home in Connecticut,” Kissinger Associates announced in a statement late on Wednesday. While …

PTI Chairman Imran Khan submitted a post-arrest bail petition with the accountability court of Islamabad in the 190-million-pound scandal case. The NAB chairman and director general have been made parties in the petition that was submitted on behalf of Imran Khan through lawyers Latif Khosa, Intezar Panjotha and Ali Ijaz. Accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir issued notices to the parties …

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari blamed on Thursday the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for ballooning inflation. Addressing the party’s foundation day gathering in Quetta, Bhutto-Zardari recounted the party’s origins and the visionary political approach initiated by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. “Departing from the conventional coordination room politics, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto  embraced a style of politics centered on the people,” …

NANJING: A freight train loaded with 100 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo departed from Xuzhou City, east China’s Jiangsu Province, on Wednesday, marking that the province had seen 2,000 freight trains launched this year. The train will leave China via Horgos Port in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, heading for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. As of Wednesday, the number …

BEIJING: The Chinese people will remember Henry Kissinger for his sincere devotion and important contribution to China-U.S. relations, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Thursday. Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger died on Wednesday local time at home in Connecticut at the age of 100, Kissinger Associates, Inc said in a statement. “Dr. Kissinger long cared about …

UNITED NATIONS: The two-state solution is the only way to fundamentally resolve the Palestinian question, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday. When meeting the press after presiding over a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, stressed that the …

BEIJING: An article on farmland protection and the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will be published on Friday. The article by Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will be published in this year’s 23rd issue of the Qiushi Journal, a flagship …

NAIROBI: FiberHome International Technologies, a Chinese telecom firm, has signed an agreement with Kenyan-based CP Cables to boost the supply of high-speed internet products in the East African market. Bruce Wang, the deputy chief executive officer (CEO) of FiberHome International Technologies, told journalists in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, Tuesday evening that under the two-year pact, CP Cables will become …

NANJING: Forty tombs, some stilt-style buildings, and wells, dating back to about 4,500 years to 5,500 years ago, have been recently found in Changzhou City, east China’s Jiangsu Province. The ruins, with multiple relics, including pottery, jadeware, and stoneware, were discovered at the Sidun Site in today’s Tianning District of Changzhou. The site is centered on an oval mound, surrounded …

BEIJING: When the second stage of the 2023-24 Chinese Basketball Association league’s regular season commences on Friday, all 20 teams will know how much significance this phase holds in their contention for a berth in the playoffs. With 29 rounds of matches in this stage, which account for more than half the regular season schedule, the route toward the playoffs …

MANILA: The Philippines’ only elephant has died inside the Manila Zoo, home to the female pachyderm for 46 years, Manila City Mayor Maria Sheilah Honrado Lacuna-Pangan said. The mayor said in a video post on her social media that Mali died on Tuesday afternoon at the age of 49. The city was conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of …

BEIJING: The supply chains of China and the United States are intertwined, thereby presenting broad prospects for their cooperation, said an entrepreneur here Tuesday at the first China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE). China and the United States have vast common interests and broad opportunities in business, said Chris Pereira, founder and CEO of iMpact, a communications and business consulting …