Indian Sub-continent

ISLAMABAD, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Pakistan's jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan, whose party isn't allowed to hold public rallies, used an audio clip generated by artificial intelligence (AI) late Sunday to address a virtual rally in the first event of its kind in the country.

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has proved to be a corridor of opportunities for Pakistan, advancing the goals of economic development, regional connectivity, and shared prosperity, said Pakistani experts during a seminar.

CPEC has served to promote bilateral relations between China and Pakistan, regional integration, and overall development, said the experts and academics at the recently held seminar organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), an Islamabad-based think tank.

COLOMBO, Dec 16 (NNN-XINHUA) – Air Arabia has been operating direct flights between Abu Dhabi and Colombo, every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said, yesterday.

The ministry said, Air Arabia launched its first direct flight from Abu Dhabi to Colombo on Dec 8, this year, from the Abu Dhabi International Airport.

The first flight from Abu Dhabi to Colombo was welcomed by a water cannon salute, upon arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA).

ISLAMABAD, Dec 15 (Reuters) - A Pakistan court has banned media from reporting on proceedings in a closed-door trial of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan on charges of leaking state secrets, raising concerns about transparency ahead of national elections in February.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Taliban officials are sending Afghan women to prison to protect them from gender-based violence, according to a U.N. report published Thursday.

Before the Taliban seized power in 2021, there were 23 state-sponsored women protection centers in Afghanistan where survivors of gender-based violence could seek refuge. Now there are none, the U.N. report said.

Officials from the Taliban-led administration told the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan that there was no need for such shelters or that they were a Western concept.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle at a police station’s main gate in northwest Pakistan early Tuesday, killing at least 22 officers and wounding 32 others, and causing a part of the building to collapse upon impact, officials said, in one of the deadliest attacks in recent months.

Some militants also opened fire and a shootout ensued for hours between them and security forces before three attackers were gunned down, local police officer Kamal Khan said.

COLOMBO, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka experienced a countrywide power failure due to a breakdown in the transmission line on Saturday, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said.

The CEB, the country's power supplier, said it would take a few hours to restore power supply throughout the country, adding that it regretted the inconvenience caused to consumers.

Local media said the widespread power failure occurred at around 5 p.m. on Saturday, and power supply has been restored to several areas.

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) of Pakistan has announced that it has discovered gas and condensate reserves in the country's southern Sindh province.

In a letter to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the leading state-owned company of Pakistan said on Friday that the discovery was made at the West Well No. 2 in the Tando Allahyar district of the province.

KARACHI, Dec 08 (APP): Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Friday said that the investors had regained confidence after the successful signing of a standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the execution of the annual budget 2023-24 and improvement in the fiscal and external accounts.