Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Navy has welcomed People&rsquo;s Liberation Army (Navy) Ship &#39;Daqing&#39; for its participation in the 4th iteration of bilateral &lsquo;Sea Guardian&rsquo; exercise&nbsp;scheduled from March 25 to April 2, the military&#39;s media wing said on Wednesday.&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;Upon arrival, PLA(N) Ship DAQING was accorded a ceremonial welcome and escorted into port by Pakistan Navy ships with traditional zeal,&rdquo; according to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement.&nbsp; It said the exercise, which aims to further strengthen bilateral relations through the mutual exchange of maritime expertise,&nbsp;will include both harbor and sea-phase activities. &quot;The exercise will feature a range of harbour and sea-phase activities, including subject matter expert engagements, a young officers&rsquo; seminar on contemporary topics, gunnery firings, coordinated patrols, and other maritime security operations,&quot; it said. The ISPR said the exercise series underscores the strong strategic partnership between the two countries and is expected to contribute to a stable maritime environment in the region.

Security

Pakistan Navy welcomed Chinese PLA Navy ship 'DAQING' for Sea Guardian exercise from March 25 to April 2, 2026, featuring drills, seminars, and patrols aimed at enhancing interoperability, maritime cooperation, and regional stability.

Pakistan Navy hosts Chinese warship for Sea Guardian exercise

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday condemned attacks targeting Qatar and other Gulf states, calling for restraint and diplomacy during a telephone conversation with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as the widening Middle East conflict continues to escalate.&nbsp;According to a statement from the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office, Sharif expressed condolences over the loss of lives and prayed for those injured in recent attacks, while reaffirming Pakistan&rsquo;s solidarity with Qatar.&nbsp;The outreach comes amid intensifying regional tensions following US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which have triggered retaliatory missile and drone attacks across Gulf countries, including strikes on critical infrastructure and energy facilities.&nbsp;Sharif voiced concern over the deteriorating situation and emphasized the need for de-escalation.&nbsp;&ldquo;The Prime Minister reiterated that disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy,&rdquo; the statement said.&nbsp;He also acknowledged Qatar&rsquo;s restraint in the face of escalating hostilities and briefed the emir on Pakistan&rsquo;s diplomatic efforts aimed at reducing tensions and preventing further conflict.&nbsp;Sheikh Tamim appreciated Pakistan&rsquo;s engagement and efforts to promote peace, with both leaders agreeing to remain in close contact as the situation evolves. In a separate development, Sharif also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/pm-shehbaz-briefs-saudi-crown-prince-on-regional-peace-efforts-agrees-to-remain-in-close-coordination" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman</a>, reiterating Islamabad&rsquo;s support for Riyadh and condemning attacks on the Kingdom. &ldquo;I reiterated Pakistan&rsquo;s strong condemnation of the recent attacks on the Kingdom and reaffirmed Pakistan&rsquo;s unwavering solidarity and unequivocal support for Saudi Arabia in these challenging times,&rdquo; the prime minister said in a statement on X, adding that both sides agreed to remain in close coordination.&nbsp;Pakistan has intensified diplomatic outreach across the region in recent days, positioning itself as a proponent of de-escalation as the conflict spreads across multiple fronts and raises concerns over regional stability and global energy security.

Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani meets Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Doha on March 5, 2023. (File photo: X/AmiriDiwan)

Foreign Affairs

Pakistan steps up diplomatic outreach amid escalating Middle East tensions, expressing solidarity with Gulf states and urging restraint while engaging regional leaders to promote dialogue and coordinated efforts aimed at preventing further deterioration of the security situation.

Pakistan PM condemns Gulf attacks in call with Qatari emir

LONDON: The BBC named a former Google executive with no television or journalism experience as its next director-general Wednesday.&nbsp;The long-expected appointment of Matt Brittin to the high-profile role comes as the under-fire British broadcaster faces drastic shifts in the media landscape and a $10-billion lawsuit brought by US President Donald Trump.&nbsp;Brittin, 57, said he was honoured to be appointed at a &quot;moment of real risk, yet also real opportunity&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;Now, more than ever, we need a thriving &nbsp;BBC that works for everyone in a complex, uncertain and fast-changing world,&quot; he added.&nbsp;The British-born executive was president for over a decade of Google&#39;s Europe, Middle East and Africa division, which earns around a third of its revenue. He had previously worked as a consultant for McKinsey.&nbsp;Samir Shah, chairman of the BBC board, said Brittin &quot;brings to the BBC deep experience of leading a high-profile and highly-complex organization through transformation.&quot;&nbsp;He &quot;is an outstanding leader and has the skills needed to navigate the organization through the many changes taking place in the media market,&quot; Shah added.&nbsp;Brittin&#39;s name has been circulating in the UK media for weeks, after the current director-general, Tim Davie resigned in November over the editing of a documentary about Trump.&nbsp;The Times wrote that appointing a tech executive with no broadcasting experience &quot;has raised some eyebrows&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;While his experience in the world of big tech could be an advantage, Mr Brittin will have to quickly demonstrate a commitment to public service broadcasting,&quot; opposition lawmaker Caroline Dinenage told the daily.&nbsp;A columnist at the right-wing Daily Telegraph wrote that Brittin was &quot;just what the BBC doesn&#39;t need: a new Lefty boss&quot;.&nbsp;Davie, who has held the BBC post since 2020, will step down on April 2, and Brittin will take on the challenging role on May 18.&nbsp;The BBC had described it as one of &quot;the most important, high-profile public posts in the UK&quot;.&nbsp;Brittin stepped down from Google last year after 18 years saying he wanted a break.

Europe

Matt Brittin, former Google executive, was appointed BBC director-general, succeeding Tim Davie. His selection sparks debate due to limited media experience amid industry challenges and criticism.

Ex-Google chief Matt Brittin made new BBC director-general

ISLAMABAD: Iran on Wednesday rejected reports of talks with the United States, saying no negotiations have taken place since the start of the war in late February, while also outlining strict conditions for any potential end to the conflict, according to the Iranian media. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei said there had been no contact between Tehran and Washington in recent weeks and dismissed claims by US President Donald Trump about ongoing ceasefire discussions. &ldquo;We made it clear there is no talks or negotiations between Iran and the US,&rdquo; Baqaei said, as quoted by Fars News Agency. He described past engagement with Washington as a &ldquo;catastrophic experience&rdquo; and a &ldquo;betrayal of diplomacy.&rdquo; He said Iran had been attacked twice while engaged in negotiations over its nuclear program, accusing the United States and Israel of launching military strikes during indirect talks. The spokesperson added that despite receiving mediation offers from several countries, Iran&rsquo;s position remains unchanged. &ldquo;Our position is clear: we continue to defend ourselves,&rdquo; he said. Separately, a senior Iranian political-security official told state-run Press TV that Tehran had rejected a US proposal aimed at ending the war, insisting that any ceasefire would only happen on Iran&rsquo;s own terms and timeline. &ldquo;Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met,&rdquo; the official said, adding that Washington&rsquo;s proposals were viewed as unrealistic and disconnected from battlefield developments.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2036746241275482523&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Flogin%2F&sessionId=be1a11138f18e16e801e4493d3fe4de2b7d562ba&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 345px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div></div>According to the official, Iran has set five key conditions for ending the conflict, including a complete halt to attacks, guarantees against future aggression, compensation for war damages, an end to hostilities across all fronts involving allied groups, and international recognition of Iran&rsquo;s authority over the Strait of Hormuz. The official said Tehran had conveyed its stance to mediators and stressed that no negotiations would take place unless all conditions were accepted. Iran also questioned the credibility of US and Israeli calls for talks, saying their actions had undermined trust in diplomatic efforts. The official said the country would continue what they described as defensive operations until its demands are fulfilled, reiterating that the timing of any ceasefire would be determined solely by Tehran. The move comes hours after AFP reported citing two official sources that the proposal from the United States to end the war in Iran had been sent to Tehran through Pakistani intermediaries.&nbsp;Both confirmed that the 15-point plan to stop the fighting, which has spread across the Gulf and Middle East, had been &quot;conveyed to Iran via Pakistan&quot;.&nbsp;Pakistan is being touted as a possible mediator given its longstanding ties with both neighboring Iran and the United States, as well as close contacts in the region. Earlier, Pakistan&rsquo;s &nbsp;Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pitched Islamabad as a potential venue for negotiations between Iranian and US officials.&nbsp;&quot;Pakistan welcomes and fully supports ongoing efforts to pursue dialogue to end the WAR in Middle East, in the interest of peace and stability in (the) region and beyond,&quot; the PM sharif wrote on X.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2036434287206019322&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Flogin%2F&sessionId=93c07cfc0d94a3e9a515aaf5ea5c67a80a1b2e5d&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 321px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>&quot;Subject to concurrence by the US and Iran, Pakistan stands ready and honored to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict.&quot;&nbsp;The statement by Pakistan&#39;s prime minister came after the Tehran foreign ministry suggested on Monday that it had received messages from &quot;some friendly countries indicating a US request for negotiations to end the war,&quot; according to the official IRNA news agency.&nbsp;Iran is a long-standing ally of Pakistan, and Islamabad condemned the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It also sent congratulations to his son and successor, Mojtaba. The development came as tensions across the Middle East continue to surge following US and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets that triggered retaliatory missile and drone attacks across the region, raising fears of a wider conflict involving multiple countries and key global energy routes.

 Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baqaei. (File photo: Press TV)

Americas

Asia

Iran's foreign office spokesperson says despite receiving mediation offers from several countries, Iran’s position remains unchanged: we continue to defend ourselves.


Iran denies talks with US, sets conditions for ending war: State media

ISLAMABAD: The USS Gerald R. Ford, the US Navy&rsquo;s newest and most expensive <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-aircraft-carrier-enters-mediterranean-as-trump-mulls-iran-strikes" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">aircraft carrier</a>, has pulled out of the Middle East and arrived at Souda Bay in Crete, Greece for repairs and resupply.&nbsp;The US Navy said on Monday that the carrier had arrived in Greece for &ldquo;maintenance and repairs&rdquo; after operating in the Red Sea and stressed that it remained &ldquo;fully mission capable.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;The immediate trigger for the move was on last week when fire that broke out in the ship&rsquo;s main laundry spaces.&nbsp;US Naval Forces Central Command said at the time that the blaze was not combat-related, had been contained, and had not damaged the ship&rsquo;s propulsion plant, adding that the carrier remained fully operational.&nbsp;However, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the Ford&rsquo;s problems &ldquo;run a lot deeper&rdquo; than the laundry-room fire, citing a Pentagon assessment that pointed to broader concerns surrounding the warship.&nbsp;Those included questions about key systems and the vessel&rsquo;s ability to sustain prolonged combat operations.&nbsp;Reports have pointed to mounting strain on both the ship and its crew during an unusually long deployment.&nbsp;The Wall Street Journal reported that the carrier&rsquo;s move to Greece was also linked to continuing sewage-system problems, while earlier coverage said the Ford had been nearing one of the longest carrier deployments in recent US Navy history.&nbsp;Business Insider reported that its departure left the USS Abraham Lincoln as the only US carrier in the region for now, even as the Navy insists the Ford&rsquo;s stop in Crete is for assessment, repairs and resupply rather than a full end to its deployment.&nbsp;Taken together, the development suggests that while the Navy is publicly projecting confidence, the Ford&rsquo;s move to Greece has become a focal point for wider concerns over reliability, endurance and operational stress aboard America&rsquo;s flagship carrier.

The world's largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Souda Bay naval base after having been part of Middle East war operations, on the island of Crete on March 23, 2026. (Photo: AFP)

Middle East

USS Gerald R. Ford left the Middle East for repairs in Greece after a fire, but reports say deeper technical, sanitation and readiness concerns also contributed, raising questions about prolonged combat deployment.

US aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford pulled from Middle East amid mounting problems

UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly will vote Wednesday on a resolution designating the transatlantic African slave trade as &quot;the gravest crime against humanity,&quot; in a move advocates say is a step towards healing and justice. Ghana&#39;s President John Mahama, one of the African Union&#39;s most vocal supporters of slavery reparations, visited the United Nations headquarters to promote the &quot;historic&quot; gesture. The resolution, he told the UN on Tuesday, &quot;allows us as a global community to collectively bear witness to the plight of more than 12.5 million men, women and children, whose homes, communities, names, families, hopes, dreams, futures and lives were stolen from them over the course of 400 years.&quot; Calling it &quot;a safeguard against forgetting,&quot; Mahama took aim at recent political moves in the United States to ban books on the subject in order to &quot;stop teaching students about the truth of slavery, segregation and racism.&quot; The draft resolution &quot;declares the trafficking of enslaved Africans and radicalized chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.&quot; The text also highlights the legacy of slavery via &quot;the persistence of racial discrimination and neo-colonialism&quot; in today&#39;s society. Not ranking suffering&nbsp; Amma Adomaa Twum-Amoah, the African Union&#39;s Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Development, said that &quot;to name these atrocities clearly is to remove the last veils of ambiguity from the historical record.&quot; &quot;It is to say that what was done to Africans was not a tragic accident of history, but the result of deliberate policies whose legacies structure today&#39;s inequalities,&quot; she continued. &quot;Justice begins with calling things by their proper names.&quot; But the resolution goes beyond simple acknowledgement, asking nations involved in the slave trade to engage in the process of restorative justice. &quot;The perpetrators of the transatlantic slave trade are known, the Europeans, the United States of America,&quot; Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa told AFP. &quot;We expect all of them to formally apologize to Africa and to all people of African descent.&quot; One pathway toward restorative justice, he said, is that &quot;all the looted artifacts are returned to the motherland.&quot; He also suggested that institutions continue to address structural racism and that &quot;compensation&quot; could be offered to those affected. Okudzeto Ablakwa also acknowledged criticism of the resolution brought by some General Assembly members that the language of it could create a &quot;hierarchy&quot; of suffering. &quot;We are not ranking suffering when we say that the transatlantic slave trade represents a &#39;gravest crime against humanity,&#39; it is not to introduce a hierarchy,&quot; he said. &quot;What we are saying is that if you look at all of the atrocities that have happened in the history of humanity, none have been this systemic, this prolonged, over 300 years, and the lingering consequences of that,&quot; he said. &quot;We are not ranking pain. We are not saying that our pain should be valued more than your pain.&quot;

John Mahama Ghana's President (File Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

The resolution "allows us as a global community to collectively bear witness to the plight of more than 12.5 million men, women and children, whose homes, communities, names, families, hopes, dreams, futures and lives were stolen from them over the course of 400 years."


UN resolution seeks to call African slave trade 'gravest crime' 

RIO DE JANEIRO: Colombia plans to lead the formation of a global coalition of nations at an international meeting in April that want to end the use of fossil fuels, the country&#39;s Environment Minister Irene Velez said Tuesday. The conference, organized by Colombia and the Netherlands, will come as the world is facing an &quot;extreme energy crisis&quot; due to the war in the Middle East, which has driven up oil prices and sparked fears of a global economic crisis, Velez said. Colombia&#39;s goal is to establish a &quot;coalition of those of us who possess the will to eliminate fossil fuels&quot; and are &quot;ready for action,&quot; she said during an online meeting with journalists organized by the Climate Observatory, a Brazilian network of NGOs. Velez said 45 countries had confirmed their attendance at the meeting in the city of Santa Marta on April 28 and 29. She said attendees would include major hydrocarbon producers from Europe and North America, but did not give further details. The gathering was organized during last year&#39;s COP30 meeting in Belem, Brazil, as interested nations sought to bypass a lack of consensus between around 200 participating nations over the transition away from fossil fuels, a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions. Velez said she hoped that California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and a leading figure in the opposition to the dismantling of climate policies spearheaded by US President Donald Trump, will attend the conference. Meanwhile, the Brazilian presidency of COP30 has been developing an international roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels since late 2025. It is due to be presented next November at the next international climate conference, which will be hosted by Turkey.

Irene Velez Colombia's mines and energy minister (File Photo: X account)

Colombia will host an April meeting to form a coalition of about 45 countries committed to phasing out fossil fuels amid a global energy crisis. 

Colombia seeks fossil fuel phase-out coalition amid Middle East crisis

ISLAMABAD: Iran&rsquo;s military said Wednesday that the United States is failing in its war and &ldquo;negotiating with itself&rdquo; to save face, dismissing claims that talks are underway to end the conflict. According to reports widely covered in international media, the spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters (the unified command of Iran&rsquo;s armed forces), Second Brigadier General Ebrahim Zolfaghari,&nbsp;said in a video published by Iranian outlets that the US should not call its setbacks an agreement. &ldquo;Has the level of your internal conflict reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?&rdquo; he asked. He said that energy and oil prices would not return to previous levels until regional stability is guaranteed by &ldquo;the powerful hand of our armed forces.&rdquo; The statement came a day after US President Donald Trump said Washington is speaking to the &ldquo;right people&rdquo; in Iran, which he said wants a deal &ldquo;so badly,&rdquo; during an oath-taking ceremony at the White House. Trump also said Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were &ldquo;in negotiations right now,&rdquo; according to CNN. Iranian officials have not confirmed any talks, saying only that messages had passed through intermediaries. Zolfaqari mocked US leadership, saying, &ldquo;someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you. Not now, not ever,&rdquo; according to the BBC. He described Washington&rsquo;s prior strategic power as &ldquo;turned into a strategic defeat&rdquo; and warned that previous oil prices and the regional order would not return until US leaders abandon the idea of attacking Iran, reported CNN.

The Spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the unified command of Iran’s armed forces, Second Brigadier General Ebrahim Zolfaghari speaking on March 25, 2026. (Tasnim News Agency)

The spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said the US is failing in its war, dismissing claims that talks are underway to end the conflict.

Iran military says US ‘negotiating with itself’ over peace talks reports

WASHINGTON: The four astronauts selected for the Artemis 2 Moon mission will be the first to travel there in more than five decades. In doing so, they will become the new faces of American space exploration. Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch will make the voyage with their Canadian colleague Jeremy Hansen, and are now preparing to take off as soon as April 1. The journey, set to last around 10 days, will take the astronauts on a loop around the Moon, though they will not land on its surface. The crew comprises the first woman, the first person of color and the first non-American to take part in such a journey. Those are key differences from the Apollo era, which included the first and to this day the only humans to travel to the Moon. Here is a closer look at the crew: Reid Wiseman&nbsp; At 50 years old, Reid Wiseman is the mission&#39;s commander. The native of Baltimore joined NASA in 2009 following a 27-year career in the US Navy. &quot;I never thought I&#39;d be an astronaut,&quot; he said on a NASA podcast. &quot;I mean, come on, it&#39;s like an unobtainable dream.&quot; Until it&#39;s not: in 2014, Wiseman traveled to space for a 165-day mission aboard the International Space Station, and later served as NASA&#39;s chief of the astronaut office. After losing his wife to cancer in 2020, he raised his two daughters now teenagers on his own. In January, he said he aimed for transparency in explaining to them the inherent risks of his career and his coming journey. &quot;I told them, &#39;here&#39;s where the will is, here&#39;s where the trust documents are,&#39;&quot; he said. &quot;And if anything happens to me, here&#39;s what&#39;s going to happen to you.&quot; &quot;And that&#39;s just that is a part of this life.&quot; Victor Glover Victor Glover, 49 and also a Navy veteran, will serve as pilot of the Orion spacecraft. The native of California and father of four daughters was working as a legislative advisor in the US Senate when NASA selected him in 2013. He has recounted youthful dreaming of becoming a police officer like his father. But watching a Space Shuttle launch on his family&#39;s television set changed his perspective: &quot;I thought, &#39;I really want to drive one of those.&#39;&quot; &quot;And yes, I said drive, because I didn&#39;t know any pilots or engineers.&quot; He will become the first Black man and person of color, period to travel to the Moon. In 2020, he became the first African American to take part on a long-duration mission to the ISS. He emphasized at the time that the historic first was made possible thanks to those who came before him, paying tribute to figures including Guion Bluford, the first African American to travel to space in 1983. Christina Koch&nbsp;American astronaut Christina Koch, 47, will become the first woman to take part in a lunar mission. Like Glover, she was also chosen by NASA in 2013. Her background is particularly eclectic: an engineer by training, she is a seasoned explorer who has worked in extreme environments including Antarctica. She long dreamed of becoming an astronaut, she has said, noting the poster of the iconic &quot;Earthrise&quot; image plastered to the wall of her childhood bedroom. That photograph was taken during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968. &quot;I always say to people, do what scares you,&quot; she says of her personal motto. &quot;And that means I have to follow my own advice.&quot; Koch already holds the record for longest spaceflight by a woman &nbsp;328 days and also participated in the first spacewalk performed entirely by women, alongside her colleague Jessica Meir. Jeremy Hansen&nbsp; Canadian Jeremy Hansen, 50, rounds out the crew and will be the first non-American to fly around the Moon. Following his career as a fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Canadian Space Agency brought him into its ranks in 2009. Post-training he served for several years as a liaison between Earth and the ISS, after which he was entrusted with training a new class of astronauts. He has said that as a child he found a photograph of Neil Armstrong on the Moon, a moment that sparked his passion for space exploration. The Artemis 2 mission will be his first journey away from Earth and with that, the father of three will fulfill a lifelong dream.

The Artemis II crew is shown inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in front of their Orion crew module on Aug. 8, 2023. From left are: Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist; Victor Glover, pilot; 

Artemis II mission will send astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen on a historic 10-day crewed flight around the Moon, marking the first such journey in over 50 years.

Meet the four astronauts set to voyage around the Moon

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that he had spoken with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, briefing him on Islamabad&rsquo;s diplomatic efforts for regional peace and stability.&nbsp;In a statement on X, the prime minister said, &quot;We agreed to remain in close coordination.&rdquo; He reiterated Pakistan&rsquo;s &ldquo;strong condemnation of the attacks on the Kingdom&rdquo; during the recent escalations in the Middle East.<div class="fr-embed"> </div><div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 369px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2036666106379923927&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Flogin%2F&sessionId=8aef35655681d935007d2517e17b1c834b51d6b6&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> He reaffirmed Pakistan&rsquo;s &ldquo;unwavering solidarity&rdquo; and support for Saudi Arabia.&nbsp;&ldquo;I reiterated Pakistan&rsquo;s strong condemnation of the recent attacks on the Kingdom and reaffirmed Pakistan&rsquo;s unwavering solidarity and unequivocal support for Saudi Arabia in these challenging times,&rdquo; he added.&nbsp;While appreciating the Kingdom&rsquo;s restraint against the attacks, the prime minister stressed the &ldquo;urgent need&rdquo; for de-escalation, an end to hostilities, and unity in the ranks of the Ummah.&nbsp;The prime minister also conveyed Eid-ul-Fitr greetings to King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Royal Family, and the people of Saudi Arabia, as per the statement.&nbsp;The statement comes on the heels of an earlier one from the prime minister on Tuesday, in which he said that Islamabad is prepared to host talks to help resolve the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.&nbsp;&ldquo;Subject to concurrence by the US and Iran, Pakistan stands ready and honoured to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict,&rdquo; the premier had said.

The prime minister reiterates Pakistan’s strong condemnation of the recent attacks on the Kingdom and reaffirms unwavering solidarity and unequivocal support for Saudi Arabia

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