Sabalenka crushes Svitolina to reach Australian Open final

Aryna Sabalenka celebrates after winning her semi final match against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina. Photo: REUTERS MELBOURNE: Aryna Sabalenka swept to her fourth successive Australian Open final with a 6-2 6-3 win over Ukrainian Elina Svitolina on Thursday in a semi-final overshadowed by geopolitical tension. Top-seeded Belarusian Sabalenka will bid for a third crown at Melbourne … Read more

EU to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as terrorist organisation, Kallas says

This file image shows Islamic Revolutionary Guard during a parade. PHOTO: REUTERS European Union foreign ministers on Thursday agreed to include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the bloc’s list of terrorist organisations, putting the powerful guards in a category similar to that of the militant groups Islamic State and al Qaeda, and marking … Read more

Pakistan moves to defuse US-Iran tension as PM Shehbaz speaks to Pezeshkian

FO says stance on Palestine unchanged as joining Board of Peace unrelated to Abraham Accords As threats of a potential United States attack on Iran loom large, Pakistan on Thursday stepped in to defuse the crisis as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke to the Iranian president while Islamabad was also in touch with Washington. Within … Read more

Paris’ last newspaper hawker gets top French award

Pakistan-born newspaper vendor Ali Akbar Akbar has been homeless, experienced extreme poverty French President Emmanuel Macron (L), wearing sunglasses, awards the Chevalier of the French Order of Merit to Ali Akbar, who hawks newspapers around the streets of Saint-Germain-des-Pres in the French capital for 50 years, at the Elysee Palace in Paris on January 28, … Read more

GSP+ key to Pakistan–EU trade, says PM Shehbaz

[ Emphasises critical role of the GSP Plus scheme in enhancing trade between Pakistan and EU European Union’s Ambassador to Pakistan Raimundas Karoblis calls on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif PHOTO: RADIO PAKISTAN Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that Pakistan was committed to working closely with the European Union (EU) on mutually beneficial trade enhancement … Read more