Author: Finance for Sight

KABUL: Afghanistan’s Supreme Court rejected on Saturday condemnation by the United Nations of the Taliban’s use of capital punishment, a day after four convicted murderers were publicly executed. The executions at sports stadiums in front of large crowds in three provinces on Friday brought to 10 the number of men put to death since the Taliban swept back to power in Afghanistan in 2021, according to an AFP tally. Law and order is central to the severe ideology of the Taliban and public executions were common during their first rule from 1996 to 2001. Supreme Court spokesman Abdul Rahim Rashid…

DUBAI: Iran and the U.S. held “positive” and “constructive” talks in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene next week, both sides said, a dialogue meant to address Tehran’s escalating nuclear programme with President Donald Trump threatening military action if there is no deal. “I think we are very close to a basis for negotiations and if we can conclude this basis next week, we’ll have gone a long way and will be able to start real discussions based on that,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told state television. Araqchi said the talks – a first between Iran and a…

PORT SUDAN: More than 100 people, including 20 children, are feared dead in Sudan following paramilitary attacks on the besieged Darfur city of El-Fasher and two nearby famine-hit camps, the United Nations said on Saturday. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, at war with the regular army since April 2023, launched “coordinated ground and aerial assaults” on Friday on El-Fasher and the Zamzam and Abou Shouk displacement camps, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. In recent weeks, the paramilitaries have stepped up their attacks on El-Fasher – the only state capital in Darfur still outside their control…

MUSCAT: The United States and Iran opened high-stakes talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme on Saturday with President Donald Trump threatening military action if they fail to produce a deal. The two sides entered “indirect” talks – via an intermediary – in the Omani capital Muscat, Iran’s foreign ministry said. The Americans had called for the meetings to be face-to-face. Disagreement over the format indicated the task facing the long-term adversaries, who are seeking a new nuclear deal after Trump pulled out of an earlier agreement during his first term in 2018. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is leading the Iranian delegation…

CAIRO: A Hamas official told AFP that senior leaders from the group are heading to Cairo on Saturday for Gaza ceasefire talks with Egyptian mediators. “We hope the meeting will achieve real progress towards reaching an agreement to end the war, halt the aggression and ensure the full withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza,” the official familiar with the ceasefire negotiations said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter. The delegation will be led by the group’s chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, he said. Abbas urges Hamas to stop giving Israel ‘excuses’ in…

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump insisted Friday that his tariff policy was “doing really well” despite China hiking levies on US goods to 125 percent in the spiraling trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. Investors dumped US government bonds, the dollar tumbled and stocks seesawed after Beijing’s retaliation against Trump deepened concerns on already traumatized global markets. Trump sent financial markets into a tailspin by announcing sweeping import taxes on dozens of trade partners last week, only to abruptly roll them back to 10 percent on Wednesday for 90 days – while raising levies on goods from China. “We…

NEW YORK: Six people including a senior Siemens executive and his family were killed when a sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York. The crash on Thursday killed all those onboard the aircraft: the pilot and the family of Agustin Escobar, the CEO of a unit under global tech firm Siemens. Two of the victims were initially taken to a hospital but died later. “We are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash in which Agustin Escobar and his family lost their lives,” Siemens told AFP on Friday. US media reports, including from NBC News, identified one…

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that five more law firms had agreed to devote a total of at least $600 million in free legal work to causes he supports, marking new concessions offered by major firms facing a White House pressure campaign. The agreements mostly mirror others struck with four firms in recent weeks, requiring them to shun diversity-based employment practices the administration deems illegal and work on pro bono projects approved by the president. Kirkland & Ellis, A&O Shearman, Simpson Thacher and Latham & Watkins are set to provide $125 million in pro bono work each.…

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump pledged Friday that his tariff policy is working and will benefit the United States and the world, despite China hiking tariffs on US goods to 125 percent in a deepening trade war. Traumatised stock markets seesawed, the dollar tumbled and US government bonds faced renewed pressure after Beijing’s retaliation intensified the confrontation between the world’s two biggest economies. In a message Friday on social media, Trump continued to insist that “we are doing really well on our tariff policy.” “Very exciting for America, and the World!!! It is moving along quickly,” he wrote. Trump sent global…

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) will cut 20% of its staff from different countries including Pakistan, as it faces a shortfall of $58 million, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher has told staff after OCHA’s largest donor – the United States – cut funding. “OCHA currently has a workforce of around 2,600 staff in over 60 countries. The funding shortfall means we are looking to regroup to an organization of around 2,100 staff in fewer locations,” Fletcher wrote in a note to staff on Thursday. OCHA works to mobilise aid, share information,…