Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that insulting Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) does not count as an expression of artistic freedom but is a “violation of religious freedom”, according to state news agency TASS. Putin made these remarks during his annual press conference in Moscow on Thursday, adding that insults to Prophet مزید پڑھیں

At least 37 people were killed when an overcrowded night ferry caught fire in Bangladesh on Friday, police said, as terrified passengers jumped overboard to escape the blaze. The latest maritime tragedy to hit the impoverished low-lying nation happened in the early hours in a river near Jhalokathi, 250 kilometres (160 miles) south of Dhaka. مزید پڑھیں

A suicide bomber was killed at the gate of a passport office in the Afghan capital Kabul on Thursday, a government spokesman said, and several people were injured in the blast, according to unconfirmed reports. A spokesman for Afghanistan’s interior ministry said the attacker was shot and killed while trying to enter the passport office مزید پڑھیں

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised outgoing Chinese Ambassador Li Jinjun for helping to improve relations between Pyongyang and Beijing, state media reported on Thursday, as the envoy left office after seven years in the post. Kim’s comments were conveyed to Li by Choe Ryong Hae, a top official in the ruling Workers’ Party مزید پڑھیں

A three-dose course of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the rapidly-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant, the pharmaceutical company said on Thursday, citing data from an Oxford University lab study. Findings from the study, yet to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, match those from rivals Pfizer-BioNTech, and Moderna which have also found a third مزید پڑھیں

US State Secretary Antony Blinken on Wednesday thanked Pakistan for hosting the extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers to discuss the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan. “The OIC extraordinary session on Afghanistan is a prime example of our collective determination and action to help those most in need. We مزید پڑھیں

President Vladimir Putin warned on Tuesday that Russia was prepared to take military steps in response to “unfriendly” Western actions over the Ukraine conflict, in a sharp escalation of rhetoric. The Russian president has for weeks accused the United States and the Washington-led Nato military alliance of stoking tensions near Moscow’s borders, but these were مزید پڑھیں

The United States is working with various UN agencies to find ways for infusing liquidity into the Afghan economy, the US State Department said. The announcement, made at a news briefing in Washington, followed another statement by a State Department official in Islamabad on Monday, saying that the United States would show greater flexibility on مزید پڑھیں

The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year surged to 375 on Monday, as desperate survivors pleaded for urgent supplies of drinking water and food. The Philippine Red Cross reported “complete carnage” in coastal areas after Super Typhoon Rai left homes, hospitals and schools “ripped to shreds”. The storm tore مزید پڑھیں

On the centenary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China said the country has “achieved considerable progress in developing democracy” to meet the requirements of modernization and the people’s expectations for a democratic set-up. However, the PRC’s information ministry accepted that China still needs to مزید پڑھیں