Ahsan Iqbal: Progress on CPEC expedited by new govt

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal says progress on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has been expedited since the new government came into power.

Talking to the Chinese Charge d’ Affairs to Pakistan, Pang Chunxue in Islamabad, he said regular meetings are being held for implementation of the CPEC projects.

The Minister for Planning said his top priority is to expedite the CPEC projects to restore confidence of the Chinese investors.

He said the incumbent government will maintain a lasting working relationship with China in the same spirit as it was in 2013.

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Fears of Ukraine war expanding after Moldova blasts

Concerns that the Ukraine war could escalate into a wider conflict grew on Tuesday as Kyiv accused Moscow of trying to create unrest in a Russian-backed separatist region of Moldova.

The United Nations and United States warned of rising tensions in the Transnistria region of Moldova, as UN chief Antonio Guterres met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and pleaded for peace.

Read more: US sends artillery to Ukraine against Russian forces

Russian forces have been in Transnistria for decades after the predominantly Russian-speaking region seceded from the former Soviet republic.

Blasts this week targeting the state security ministry, a radio tower and military unit came after a Russian commander claimed Russian speakers in Moldova were being oppressed.

The claim triggered alarm that Moldova could be Russia s next target as Moscow used the same "false flag" argument after launching its bloody invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

"Russia wants to destabilise the Transnistrian region," Mykhaylo Podolyak, a Ukraine presidential aide wrote on Twitter.

"If Ukraine falls, tomorrow Russian troops will be at Chisinau s gates," he said, referring to Moldova s capital.

Guterres "is following with concern reports of new security incidents in the Transnistrian region of Moldova," a UN spokesman said.

The United States echoed similar concerns, stopping short of backing Kyiv s contention that Russia was responsible.

 

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Blaze destroys factory in Kasur

According to details, fire broke out in a factory located at the Qalandri Chowk in Rukanpura area of Kasur on late Tuesday night.

The blaze spread and engulfed the entire factory very quickly. Fire brigade vehicles and rescue teams reached the spot after being informed and brought the fire under control after a hectic effort.

Read more: Oil factory catches fire in Multan

The rescue sources said that no one died or wounded in the blaze. However, valuables worth millions of rupees were reduced to ashes by the fire. Sources further said that the cause of fire is still not known.

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Fawad Chaudhry: Three to five thousand people attended Maryam's public meeting

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) central leader Chaudhry Fawad Hussain has said that only three to five thousand people attended Maryam Nawaz s public meeting in Lahore on Tuesday.

Reacting to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice-president Maryam Nawaz s public meeting on Twitter, Fawad Chaudhry said that only three to five thousand people were present in the PML-N rally while Maryam Nawaz was pretending that if she was addressing a public meeting at the Minar-e-Pakistan.

Read more: Sheikh Rashid warns 'chaotic' May could result in resignations

Fawad Chaudhry questioned that for how long the imported and illegal government would last?

Targeting the PMN-L supremo Nawaz Sharif, the PTI leader said that an absconder from the court and a person who fled the country will only be called a fugitive.

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Govt committed to eradicate all forms of polio, PM Shehbaz Sharif assures Bill Gates

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday spoke on the telephone with Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) Bill Gates and reiterated his government’s commitment to eradicate all forms of polio from the country.

The telephonic interaction came after Pakistan recently reported a polio case in a child in North Waziristan, after a hiatus of 15 months.

Read more: Four, including three Chinese nationals, killed in Karachi University blast

While noting that only one case of polio was recorded in 2022, the prime minister stressed that his government remained committed to eradicating all forms of polio from the country.

He expressed grave concern on the first case of poliovirus in 2022, after 15 months, which was recently confirmed in a child in North Waziristan.

He noted that a special emergency response plan for South Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province was already under implementation to scale up and improve the quality of the polio eradication programme and increase security of frontline health workers.

During the telephonic conversation, the ongoing public health and social sector programmes supported by BMGF in Pakistan were discussed, including polio eradication and the Foundation’s support towards improving immunisation, nutrition and financial inclusion services in Pakistan.

The prime minister underscored that Pakistan deeply valued its cooperation with BMGF. He reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to further solidifying its fruitful partnership with the Foundation in all the ongoing areas of work.

Pakistan has maintained progress towards polio eradication and appreciated the invaluable assistance provided by BMGF in that regard, he added.

Bill Gates acknowledged the positive progress and reiterated the Foundation’s continued support to Pakistan for ensuring that no child was at risk of paralysis due to poliovirus.

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Asian markets mixed but China, Fed keep confidence in check

Asian markets were mixed Tuesday as investors scrabbled to recover from the previous day’s rout but fears over the impact of China’s Covid-induced lockdowns and the Federal Reserve’s plan to hike interest rates quickly continue to drag on sentiment.

The Omicron flare-up across China has led authorities to impose strict containment measures in its biggest cities, shutting off millions of people and threatening to deal a hammer blow to the world’s number two economy.

Read more: Ogra dismisses reports of fuel shortage in country

While Shanghai -- the largest city -- has been in lockdown for weeks, Beijing has launched mass testing for nearly all its 21 million residents with many in the capital now fearing the same fate as the financial hub.

The measures have dealt a severe blow to the economy, leading to concerns about the likely knock-on effects for the rest of the world owing to its reliance on goods from China.

The China crisis comes as traders grapple with a hawkish Fed, which is struggling to control inflation, which is sitting at a more than 40-year high.

"For the time being, the spectre of more severe restrictions in China is not being traded from the inflationary side, but rather as a detriment to the global recovery and as a demand-negative shock," said BMO Capital Markets strategists Benjamin Jeffery and Ian Lyngen.

They added that they were "less convinced that the situation will be enough to materially shift" the Fed’s plans to aggressively hike interest rates to tame runaway inflation.

US central bank policymakers have said they are keen to lift rates several times this year to get a grip on prices, with boss Jerome Powell indicating a half-point rise next month followed by more before January.

The Fed and China issues are being compounded by the war in Ukraine and all the uncertainty that has brought, while investors are nervously awaiting results and forecasts from the world’s biggest companies, hoping for an idea about the impact on their bottom lines.

While Asia suffered a torrid day Monday, Wall Street managed to end on a positive note, helped by news of Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter.

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Russia warns of WWIII after top US officials visit Kyiv

Russia on Monday warned the Ukraine conflict risked escalating into a third world war and accused Kyiv of playing at peace talks a day after visiting US officials said Ukrainian forces could beat back Moscow s invasion.

The conflict has triggered an outburst of support from Western nations that has seen weapons pour into Ukraine to help them wage war against Russian troops.

Read more: Lankan students mob PM’s home over economic crisis

Speaking to Russian news agencies, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticised Kyiv s approach to floundering peace talks, saying the risk of a World War III "is serious".

"It is real, you can t underestimate it."

While he said talks with Kyiv would continue, Lavrov accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of "pretending" to negotiate, adding: "You ll find a thousand contradictions."

For months, Zelensky has been asking Ukraine s western allies for heavy weapons -- including artillery and fighter jets -- vowing his forces could turn the tide of the war with more firepower.

The calls appear to be resonating now, with a host of NATO countries pledging to provide a range of heavy weapons and equipment, despite protests from Moscow.

"The first step in winning is believing that you can win," Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin told a group of journalists after he and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Zelensky in Kyiv.

"We believe that we can win -- they can win -- if they have the right equipment, the right support."

The highly sensitive US trip by two of President Joe Biden s top cabinet members came as fighting continued across Ukraine, casting a long shadow over Easter celebrations in the largely Orthodox country.

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