Asia

Pakistan’s official election results were announced by the election commission on Sunday, with independent candidates affiliated with former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party securing the most seats in the parliament.

Pakistan temporarily shut some of its land borders and suspended mobile phone services on Thursday as it beefed up security for voters in a general election that has seen a surge in militant violence in the Asian country.

Two blasts near electoral candidates' offices in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan killed 26 people and wounded dozens on Wednesday, officials confirmed, raising concerns over security on the eve of a general election.

Companies based in Taiwan have sold Russia more than $20 million in advanced equipment that can be used for weapons production, the Washington Post daily has reported, citing “trade records and Russian tax documents”. The newspaper noted that Moscow’s defense sector has ramped up purchases in recent months.

A court in Pakistan has jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi for seven years, ruling their 2018 marriage violated the Islamic law.

Moscow does not break any international commitments by interacting with Tehran and Pyongyang, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife have been sentenced to 14 years in jail in a corruption case. This comes after another court ruling in which Khan was given ten years for leaking state secrets.

A Pakistan court has sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his close aide, former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, to 10 years in prison in a case related to the leaking of state secrets.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani say Tehran and Islamabad have agreed to put in place an advisory mechanism and deploy officers on borders in order to fight terrorism.

Iran and China believe that the recent developments in the Red Sea are attributed to the spillover from the cruelty being inflicted on Gaza, Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Nasser Kanaani has stated. He was responding to a recent report claiming that China had asked Iran to help rein in Yemeni strikes on ships or risk harming business ties with Beijing.

The United Nations has published a quarterly report detailing concerns about the human rights situation in Afghanistan, specifically focusing on the limited rights women are awarded under the Taliban rule.

The Iranian and Pakistani Foreign Ministries announced in a joint statement on Monday that Tehran and Islamabad have agreed to send back their ambassadors to the capitals of the two countries within days.

A Russian business jet has disappeared off the radar in a mountainous area of Afghanistan, Russia’s federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsia, has confirmed.

Pakistan and Iran "agreed to de-escalate" tensions Friday, Islamabad has announced, after the two countries traded deadly airstrikes. The rare military actions have stoked regional conflict already enflamed by the Israeli war on Gaza.

Pakistani President Arif Alvi on Thursday said Islamabad fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states and expects the same from other nations, as Islamabad conducted military strikes on "terrorist hideouts" inside Iran after a similar attack by the neighboring country.

Pakistan has recalled its ambassador from Tehran and the Iranian envoy to Islamabad who is visiting Iran will not be allowed to come back, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday.

Pakistan's Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq has called for joint Iran-Pakistan fight against terrorism.

The Pakistani government has condemned an Iranian missile and drone strike in the Balochistan province on Tuesday, claiming it has caused civilian casualties. Islamabad stressed it would lodge a protest with Tehran over the “unilateral action” and "violation of its sovereignty". Tehran hit the bases of a terrorist anti-Iran group during the raids.

A Pakistani court has indicted imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife on graft charges of retaining state gifts from when Khan was in power, including jewelry from Saudi Arabia's government, authorities announced.

Deputy prime minister of the Taliban administration for political affairs, Mohammed Abdul Kabir, has denounced the Daesh terrorist group as the common enemy of Afghanistan and Iran.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has declared that the reunification of Taiwan and the Chinese mainland is a “historical inevitability”. He made the comments as the island prepares to hold contentious parliamentary and presidential elections.

Pakistan’s election body rejected former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s nomination to contest the 2024 parliamentary elections, with the Tahreek-e Insaf (PTI) party accusing authorities of stopping most of its candidates from participating in the elections due in February.

The foreign minister of the caretaker government in Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi visited representatives of Afghan migrants in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad on Monday, calling on all Afghans in Iran to return to their homeland as he said the conditions are back to normal.

Amir Khan Mottaghi, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, expressed the nation's commitment to creating an environment conducive to the repatriation of Afghan immigrants.

The goal of bringing Russia-China trade to the $200 billion mark has already been achieved ahead of schedule as bilateral trade reached $218.28 by the end of 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping stated on Wednesday.