WORLD
US House passes gun package
The package, dubbed the Protecting Our Kids Act, was passed late Wednesday in a 223-204 vote, largely along party lines, reports Xinhua news agency. The legislation would, among other things, raise the minimum age for buying a semi-automatic weapon from 18 to 21 years old and ban bump stocks for civilians. Senators from both sides of the aisle have engaged in gun legislation talks for a consensus on narrower gun legislation.
IMF asks Pakistan government to reopen CPEC deals
The global lender has asked the government to treat the Chinese CPEC power plants at par with the power plants established under the 1994 and 2002 power policies, highly placed sources told The Express Tribune. These plants had been set up under the CPEC framework agreement. The IMF's demand came after China's refusal in the past to renegotiate the terms of agreements with the independent power producers (IPPs).
Hindu temple vandalised in Karachi
According to The Express Tribune report, the incident took place on Wednesday at the Shri Mari Maata temple in the city's Korangi area. After receiving information of the vandalisation, the police reached the area and inspected the temple, while also deploying additional forces in the area. Sanjeev, a Hindu resident of the area, told The Express Tribune that six to eight individuals on motorcycles came and attacked the temple.
Global cases of monkeypox surpass 1,000: US CDC
As of June 6, 1,019 confirmed and suspected cases of monkeypox have been reported in 29 countries, according to the CDC. The UK has recorded the most cases, 302 suspected and confirmed infections, followed by Spain (198), Portugal (153) and Canada (80), CNBC reported. In the wake of rising cases, the CDC also ramped up its alert to a level 2.
World faces largest cost-of-living crisis in a generation: UN report
The Ukraine conflict has trapped the people of the world between a rock and a hard place. The rock is the severe price shocks in food, energy and fertiliser markets, given the centrality of both Russia and Ukraine in these markets. The hard place is the extremely fragile context in which this crisis arrived: a world facing the cascading crises of Covid-19 and climate change, it added.
40 dead in church attack in Nigeria
The incident took place on Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported. Sixty-one others wounded in the brutal attack are being treated in local hospitals, the Governor told the media in Owo, the town where the St. Francis Catholic Church is located, on Wednesday. Akeredolu added that 26 have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.
Ukrainian forces carry out over 1,100 airstrikes against Russian targets
In a statement on Wednesday, the Air Force Command said: "As of today, more than 1,100 group air strikes on columns of equipment, positions, manpower and logistics centres belonging to the Russian occupiers have been carried out by attackers and bombers of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine."
Terrorism deaths down globally, but up in Africa: UN chief
"Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 48 per cent of deaths attributed to terrorist groups globally last year," he told a meeting of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact on Wednesday. Terrorist groups like al-Qaida, the Islamic State and their affiliates are continuing to grow in the Sahel and make inroads into central and southern Africa, he added.
Arctic Council resumes circumpolar cooperation without Russia: Joint statement
Previously, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the US on Wednesday suspended their participation in the Arctic Council against Russia, another founding state of the circumpolar cooperation platform, Xinhua news agency reported. Since March 3, representatives from these states have examined modalities to allow a resumption of the work of the Arctic Council, the statement said.
Canada imposes new sanctions on Russian oil, gas, chemical industries
The Minister said in a news release on Wednesday that these new measures are imposing a ban on the export of 28 services vital for the operation of the oil, gas and chemical industries, including technical, management, accounting and advertising services, Xinhua news agency reported. The banning of the exportation of oil, gas and chemical services is targeting an industry that accounts for about 50 per cent of Russia's federal budget revenues, she added.
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