At least 12 policemen died, and 40 others were injured, during a terror attack at the Counter Terrorism Department in Swat’s Kabal on Monday. PM Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and directed authorities to submit a report on the blast.
A seven-member delegation of South Korea’s Coast Guard will participate in a high-level meeting with the Indian Coast Guard in New Delhi today. The meeting aims to bolster interoperability and capacity building.
Director of the UN Population Division, John Wilmoth, revealed that India overtaking China as the world’s most populous country by the end of April is mainly due to historical trends of the countries’ respective fertility rates. While both countries had similar fertility rates of just under six births per woman in 1971, China halved this rate by the late 1970s, whereas India did so only by the early 2000s. During a press conference in New York, Wilmoth further explained that China’s population peaked in 2022, and is now declining. “Projections indicate that the size of the Chinese population could fall below one billion before the end of the century,” he added.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) share of Indian oil imports fell to its lowest in at least 22 years in the 2022-23 period, Reuters reported on Monday. The period saw OPEC’s share of the Indian oil market shrink to 59% compared to 72% during the previous year. According to the agency, the development is due to India buying discounted oil from Russia.
A day after Israeli forces arrested a Jordanian parliamentarian for smuggling over 200 guns and gold into the West Bank, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said on Monday that Amman was not responsible for the act of one MP. “I don’t think that the episode is connected to Jordan in general, but to an irresponsible criminal act,” he noted. However, Cohen stressed that Israel is viewing the smuggling attempt as a “serious incident” and examining it “in depth.”
China on Monday asserted that it “respects the status of the former Soviet republics as sovereign countries” as well as their “sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.” The statement comes after the Chinese ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, triggered controversy after saying that erstwhile Soviet countries, such as Ukraine, “don’t have effective status under international law” as there is “no international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations.”
Singapore and China will hold a joint military exercise from 28 April to 1 May — their first combined drills since 2021. Singapore said that its “regular bilateral and multilateral exercises with foreign navies” aim “to enhance mutual trust and cooperation with other countries.”
On Monday, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on four Iranian officials involved in violently suppressing protests and perpetrating serious human rights abuses in Iran. The US State Department is also considering imposing visa restrictions on 11 Iranian government officials accused of detaining or killing peaceful protestors and infringing on their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to execute a 72-hour nationwide ceasefire beginning at midnight on 24 April. The US will collaborate with regional and international partners and Sudanese civilian stakeholders to form a committee to supervise the negotiations, agreement, and execution of a long-term ceasefire, and provide humanitarian arrangements in Sudan.