International news brief: President Ranil invites Sri Lankan parties to form national government

Colombo, July 30: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has written to members of Parliament, inviting them to form an all-party national government to help the bankrupt country to recover from the worst economic crisis.

"The government is currently engaged in great efforts to gradually restore normalcy to the political and social unrest created by the economic crisis that the country is facing today,'' Wickremesinghe said in the letter on Friday.

Spain reports 2nd death from monkeypox

Spain reported Saturday a second death in as many days from monkeypox. These are believed to be the first confirmed fatalities from the disease in Europe since its recent spread beyond Africa. The ministry based in Madrid said both fatalities were young men. It reported its first death on Friday, the same day that Brazil also reported its first death from monkeypox.

Taliban say 2 died in Friday explosion at Kabul cricket game

The Taliban on Saturday raised the casualty toll from a hand grenade explosion during a cricket game in the capital of Kabul the previous day, saying two civilians at the stadium died from the blast. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the explosion but the blame is likely to fall on militants from the Islamic State group - the Taliban's chief rivals since they took over the country a year ago as U.S. and NATO forces pulled out of Afghanistan after 20 years of war.

Pak Army chief Bajwa holds talks with top US commander

Pakistan values its relations with the US and earnestly looks forward to enhance mutually beneficial multi-domain relations, Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Saturday as he held telephonic talks with top US commander General Michael Erik Kurilla. During the call, Gen Bajwa and Gen Kurilla, Commander United States (US) CENTCOM discussed matters of mutual interests, regional stability as well as defence and security cooperation in detail, according to a statement by the Pakistan Army. The Pakistan Army chief said that his country was looking forward to deepening ties with the US.

Pak PM Shehbaz urges Imran Khan to sue Financial Times for its report on his political rise

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged Imran Khan to file a defamation case against the British newspaper Financial Times for publishing a damning report that alleges how funds collected through charity cricket matches were used for the rise of the ousted premier's political party. The Financial Times on Thursday published the story titled 'The strange case of the cricket match that helped fund Khan's political rise'.