ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain is in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.
He visited the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah Monday night, where he was received by Saudi officials.
The office of Chairman Senate issued a brief statement confirming that Senate Chairman Mir Sadiq Sanjrani has taken over as the acting president of the country since Hussain departed for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy close bilateral relations; historic trade ties and religious affinity have provided a strong basis of trust between the two brotherly Muslim countries.
The President, during his meeting last week with visiting Saudi Deputy Education Minister Hamad Nasser Al-Mehrej and other Saudi officials in Islamabad, said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy deep historical, religious and cultural ties that are “difficult to emulate.”
Pakistan’s president in Saudi Arabia for Umrah
Pakistan’s president in Saudi Arabia for Umrah
- The president of Pakistan visited the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah Monday night, where he was received by Saudi officials
- Senate Chairman Mir Sadiq Sanjrani has taken over as the acting president of the country since Hussain departed for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah
Kremlin welcomes US sanctions waiver says US and Russia share interest in stable energy markets
DUBAI: Russia sees a U.S. sanctions waiver on its oil as an attempt by Washington to stabilise global energy markets, and the two countries have a shared interest in this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"We see actions by the United States aimed at trying to stabilise energy markets. In this respect, our interests coincide," he said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a temporary authorisation allowing countries around the world to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea on Thursday extending a measure that had previously been granted only to Indian refiners.
Bessent stressed in a post on X that the authorisation would not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.
“This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction,” Bessent said on a post on X.
However, the measure received mix reviews in European capitals, with many fearing it could help replenish Russia's assualt on Ukraine.
"I am concerned that we are further filling Putin's war chest," German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said in Berlin on Friday.
Reiche said that she saw both sides to the United States' decision to issue a 30-day waiver for the purchase of Russian oil products, understanding the increasing ecnomic and political turnout from the oil crisis, particurlarly in South Korea and Japan.
"It seems to me that domestic political pressure in the United States is very, very high," Reiche said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was more direct, saying on Friday that it was wrong to ease sanctions against Russia for whatever reason. The sentiment was echoed by Norway’s Prime Minister, who also said sanctions should not be eased.
Oil prices held gains above $100 Friday and most equity markets dropped after Iran's leader called for the blocking of the crucial Strait of Hormuz and the opening up of new fronts in the war against the United States and Israel.
With the conflict heading towards its third week and showing no signs of ending, investors are growing increasingly worried about an extended crisis that could fan inflation and hammer the global economy.
