World

Economic sanctions on Afghanistan must end, says Chinese FM Wang Yi

Wang Yi said that Afghanistan's foreign exchange reserves are national assets that should belong to country's people and be used by its own people, and not be used as a bargaining chip to exert political pressure on country.

Published

2 months ago

Sep 23, 2021 12:49 PM

Mehak Javed

Economic sanctions on Afghanistan must end, says Chinese FM Wang Yi

Beijing: China's State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the various unilateral sanctions and restrictions on Afghanistan should be lifted as soon as possible.

On Wednesday, at a virtual G20 foreign ministers meeting on Afghanistan, the Chinese foreign ministry said, “Economic sanctions on Afghanistan must end”.

The G20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union and works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development.

The Chinese diplomat further added, “Afghanistan’s peaceful reconstruction and medium- and long-term development cannot do without financial support from the international community”.

“International financial institutions should also provide financing support for Afghanistan’s poverty reduction, sustainable development, people’s livelihood, and infrastructure projects,” he stated.

Wang Yi also called on the Group of 20 (G20) to speed up their efforts to provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.

He further said that Taliban has announced the establishment of an interim government—meaning their domestic and foreign policies were still being adjusted and have not yet been fully finalised.

Earlier this month, China announced that it had decided to provide 200 million yuan ($30.96 million) worth of grains, winter supplies, vaccines and other medicines to Afghanistan, including an initial 3 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

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Mehak Javed

Mehak Javed is immensely creative and an enthusiastic journalist, contributing in the publication of timely and accurate news. She is a skilled writer along proven history of achievement in the field with several years of professional experience. Mehak is working with GNN since 2020.

Pakistan

Pakistan continues to report decline in COVID cases, deaths

Around 475 fresh coronavirus cases emerged while 10 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 28,728.

Published

1 hour ago

Nov 30, 2021 08:22 AM

Mehak Javed

Pakistan continues to report decline in COVID cases, deaths

Islamabad: Amid a steady decline in Covid-19 infections, Pakistan's coronavirus positivity ratio further fell to 1.1% with 475 new cases.

According to the latest figures issued by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 475 persons were tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

The total number of cases has reached 1,284,840.

As many as 1,242,236 patients have recovered from the disease.

Punjab

The number of patients swelled to 443,094 in the province with 13,023 causalities.

Sindh

The number of infections has surged to 475,616 in the province, while the death toll has reached 7,621.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The confirmed cases have surged to 179,995 in the province with 5,842 casualties.

Balochistan

There are 33,479 confirmed cases while 360 patients have died from the infection so far.

AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan

There are 34,556 coronavirus cases in the AJK while the death toll has reached 742. On the other hand, there are 10,411 cases in GB with 186 coronavirus deaths.

Islamabad

There are 10,411 cases in the capital city while 954 people have lost their lives.

Business

'Saudi package': Bulls dominate PSX as benchmark index adds 1,200 points

The benchmark KSE-100 index surged 1,215.89 points, or 2.76%, to close at 45,330.05.

Published

14 hours ago

Nov 29, 2021 07:42 PM

Faisal Ali Ghumman

'Saudi package': Bulls dominate PSX as benchmark index adds 1,200 points

Karachi: Bulls dominated the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday as investors showed their interest after burshing aside the uncertanity regarding the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme and $3 billion funds from Saudi Arabia.

The Friday's visit to PSX of Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin also turned out to be a a psoitive indicator for positive atmosphere at the first trading day.

Investor optimism about the Saudi package was reflected at the bourse as market players took fresh positions on the back of an agreement that was signed between the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD).

Also fuelling the bullish sentiment was a decline in global oil prices as the benchmark KSE-100 index once again crossed the 45,000-point mark.

At the end, the benchmark KSE-100 index soared 1,215.89 points, or 2.76%, to close at 45,330.05.

Sectors contributing to the performance included commercial banks (+283 points), cement (+211 points), exploration and production (+139 points), fertiliser (+100 points) and oil marketing companies (+76 points).

Shares of 358 companies were traded during the session. At the close of trading, 263 scrips closed in the green, 76 in the red, and 19 remained unchanged.

Overall trading volumes dropped to 268.2 million shares compared with Friday’s tally of 289.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs10.9 billion.

Fauji Foods, TPL Properties and WorldCall Telecom were the volume leaders with 14.8 million shares traded, 14.7 million shares, and 13.7 million shares respectively.

Fauji Foods lost Rs0.31 to close at Rs0.82, TPL Properties gained Rs2.57 to close at Rs45.80, while WorldCall Telecom gained Rs0.01 to close at Rs13.7.

Sports

Green shirts on firm footing for victory against Bangladesh in first test match

Setting a target of 202, the green shirts reached 109-0 at stumps and need only 93 runs on the final day on Tuesday.

Published

14 hours ago

Nov 29, 2021 08:02 PM

Faisal Ali Ghumman

Green shirts on firm footing for victory against Bangladesh in first test match

CHITTAGONG: Both Pakistani openers Abid Ali and Abdullah Shafique smashed an unbeaten fifty on Monday to put the Men In Green in a commanding position in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong.

Ali was batting on 56 at the end of the day's play, adding to his first-innings score of 133, while debutant Shafique was unbeaten on 53.

Fast bowler Shaheen Afridi earlier claimed 5-32 to help Pakistan bowl out Bangladesh for 157 runs in their second innings despite wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Das making a fighting fifty.

Resuming on 39-4, Bangladesh looked down and out once they lost Mushfiqur Rahim in the first over of the day, before Liton, who struck a hundred in the first innings, hauled the hosts back to respectability with 59 off 89 balls.

Afridi trapped Liton leg-before and then had Abu Jayed out for a duck to complete his fourth five-wicket Test haul.

Off-spinner Sajid Khan, who finished with 3-33, wrapped things up by dispatching Taijul Islam.

The hosts had got off to a positive start with Mushfiqur hitting a boundary off the first ball of the morning, bowled by Hasan Ali.

But two balls later he left a wrong delivery and departed for 16 after Hasan struck off-stump.

Liton joined overnight batsman Yasir Ali to prevent further collapse.

Just when they looked ready to prosper, Afridi's low bounce hit the helmet of Yasir, who retired hurt after making 36.

Liton survived on 26 when he was given out, caught at short leg off Sajid Khan.

The replay showed that the ball only hit his pad and was going down the leg.

Sajid was rewarded for his persistence as he trapped Mehidy Hasan leg-before for 11.

Substitute Nurul Hasan replaced Yasir after Mehidy's dismissal and barely survived a strong caught-behind appeal just before lunch.

Nurul heaved one at long-on to Faheem Ashraf off Sajid after the break, getting dismissed for 15, and Pakistan took little time to take the remaining wickets.

Bangladesh have failed to defeat Pakistan in any of their 10 previous encounters.

SOURCE: AFP