Blinken meets Russian FM Lavrov, urges engagement with Ukraine: Reports

New Delhi (IANS) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov briefly during which he is learnt to have "pressurised" the Russian minister on Ukraine, according to reports.

Both the leaders met…

West was arming Ukraine since many years, says Russia's Lavrov

New Delhi (IANS) Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday said that the country's war with Ukraine has been termed as an "invasion" by the West, because it was the Western bloc which was preparing for a war since many years, and…

G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting fails to come out with joint communique amid differences over Ukraine

New Delhi (IANS) The G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting here on Thursday failed to come out with a joint communique, owing to deep differences over the Ukraine conflict.

The lack of consensus among the G20 nations to come out with a joint communique…

32 dead, over 80 injured in Greece train collision

Athens (IANS) At least 32 people were killed and more than 80 others injured in a horrific head-on collision between two trains in central Greece, authorities said on Wednesday.

The accident took place late Tuesday night in Tempi, near the…

Sweden's largest n-reactor to be taken off-grid due to damage

Stockholm (IANS) The largest nuclear reactor in Sweden will be taken off the grid for eight days due to a damaged fuel rod.

Unit 3 at the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in the southeast of the country will be disconnected from the grid on March…

Cambodia creates safe zones for rare Mekong River dolphins

Phnom Penh (IANS) Cambodia has created Irrawaddy dolphin conservation and protection zones covering a 120-km-long stretch of the Mekong River in the Stung Treng and Kratie provinces, according to a sub-decree.

Signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen,…

First Israeli flight flies over Saudi-Omani airspace

Jerusalem (IANS) Israel's national air carrier El Al began operating a new time-saving route via the airspace of Oman and Saudi Arabia, the company has said.

El Al Flight 083 departed from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday evening…

China peddles fake news, says running freight train to Kathmandu

Kathmandu: Ji Rong, Counsellor at the Department of Asian Affairs of Chinese foreign ministry on Wednesday tweeted that the first South Asia-bound freight train from Chinese city Lanzhou departed for Kathmandu. In her tweet, the Chinese official further…

Addicted to IMF bailouts since 1958, Pak 'unwillingly' accepts agency's terms

Washington (IANS) Pakistan has had more than 20 bailouts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and is reportedly preparing to seek another one, even as it has still to receive the last tranche from the bailout programme currently underway.

6.1-magnitude quake jolts Japann's Hokkaido island

Tokyo (IANS) An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 struck off coast Kushiro of Hokkaido, the northern main island of Japan, the country's weather agency said here on Saturday.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA),…