ISLAMABAD -- Four people were injured when a blast occurred early Thursday morning at a military compound in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, official sources confirmed to Xinhua.
The explosion took place around 6:55 a.m. local time (GMT 0155) inside the 4 Air Defense (AD) compound, an air defense unit located adjacent to the Naval War College Headquarters in the Naseerabad area of Gulberg III, commonly referred to as Walton Lahore, the officials told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. (Pakistan-Blast-Injury, 1ST LD WRITETHRU)
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KUALA LUMPUR -- Instability and fragmentation of the global climate agenda, caused in part by U.S. tariffs on solar photovoltaic manufacturers in Southeast Asia and the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris Climate Change Agreement, have made it clear that regional leadership to achieve sustainability goals is the way forward, according to the Malaysian Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
Nik Nazmi spoke at a recent forum, stressing the need for cooperation among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in pooling their collective resources to face climate challenges, as the region is subject to increasingly frequent extreme weather events, rising sea levels, biodiversity loss and the economic damage. (Malaysia-ASEAN-Climate)
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ISLAMABAD -- Flight operations at airports of major cities of Pakistan have been temporarily suspended due to operational reasons, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) said on Thursday.
The PCAA officials told Xinhua that flight operations at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Islamabad International Airport, and Sialkot International Airport will remain suspended until further notification. (Pakistan-Airports)
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NEW DELHI -- The Indian armed forces on Thursday launched military operations against air defense systems at multiple locations inside Pakistan, Indian media reports said.
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that "Operation Sindoor", which was started against Pakistani targets on May 7, is still ongoing.(India-Pakistan-Lahore)
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MANILA -- The Philippine central bank has said the country's gross international reserves (GIR) level, based on preliminary data, settled at 104.6 billion U.S. dollars at the end of April from 106.7 billion dollars at the end of March.
In a statement released on Wednesday night, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the April GIR level provides a robust external liquidity buffer, equivalent to 7.2 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. (Philippines-BSP-GIR) ■
