WORLD

According to research, it is predicted that the crop production interruption caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine might result in a rise in carbon emissions and food costs globally, without easing food insecurity.

New research published this week by Jerome Dumortier, associate professor in the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI, and his co-authors use economic simulation models to predict the short-term and long-term effects of the war on climate change, crop prices, and food shortages.

Pakistan is in talks with Russia on the possibility of importing oil on deferred payment, according to a media report on Sunday. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had three meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan's Samarkand city, which concluded last week, the Express Tribune newspaper reported quoting a top government official.

"One was formal and the rest were informal," said the official, who was part of the prime minister's delegation.

After the reentry of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Altaf Hussain Group in Karachi, and Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in Punjab, comes the return of Mullah Aziz to the Lal Masjid of Islamabad.

About 200 people, including teenagers and minors and some gunmen, under the leadership of the former khateeb (prayer leader) of Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz, occupied the mosque in main Islamabad that is just 3 kilometres away from the Prime Minister’s office, media has learnt.

The developments come after reports were received of an armed sit-in carried out by the imam of the mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, with his supporters, demanding the “implementation of Islamic law”.

Commonwealth nations could "rush for the door" of the bloc after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, an expert has warned, media reports said.

In addition to the UK, Charles III now rules in 14 Commonwealth countries that were former dominions of the British Empire, Daily Mail reported.

With republican movements gaining ground from Australia to the Bahamas, the new king also faces a challenge keeping the Commonwealth realms in the royal fold, the report said.

Ukrainian troops expanded their territorial gains Monday, pushing all the way to the country's northeastern border in places, and claimed to have captured a record number of Russian soldiers as part of the lightning advance that forced Moscow to make a hasty retreat.

A spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence said Russian troops were surrendering en masse as "they understand the hopelessness of their situation." A Ukrainian presidential adviser said there were so many POWs that the country was running out of space to accommodate them.