US government-funded news agency has launched direct-to-home satellite-delivered television channel for Afghanistan

HT Daily News Wrap

External affairs minister defended India’s decision to obtain good deals for energy supplies amid volatility, Los Angeles police offered to arrest actor Will Smith for slapping presenter Chris Rock, Pakistan PM Imran Khan during his address said an independent foreign policy doesn't mean being anti-India & other top news in this bulletin.
The United States on Thursday said every country has its own relationship with the Russian Federation and the US is not seeking any change in that, state department spokesman Ned Price said on Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to New Delhi amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. “Different countries are going to have their own relationship with the Russian Federation. It’s a fact of history. It’s a fact of geography. That is not something that we are seeking to change. What we are seeking to do, whether it is in the context of India or other partners and allies around the world, is to do all we can to see to it that the international community is speaking in unison,” Ned Price said. “Speaking loudly against this unjustified, unprovoked, premeditated aggression, calling for an end to the violence, using the leverage that countries, including India, have to those ends. There are countries that by dint of their long-standing relationships with the Russian Federation are going to have in some ways even more leverage than countries closer to us will,” he said. External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Thursday defended India’s decision to obtain “good deals” for energy supplies amid volatility in the global markets while pointing out that European nations were among the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas. Jaishankar made the remarks at a conversation with his British counterpart Liz Truss at the India-UK Strategic Futures Forum. Truss was on a day-long visit to India as part of a wider diplomatic push on the Ukraine crisis. The ministers were responding to a question on India taking up Russia’s offer of crude oil at discounted prices. “It is interesting because we have seen for some time what looks almost like a campaign on this issue,” Jaishankar said, noting there was a report that Europe has bought 15% more oil and gas from Russia in March than in February. “When the oil prices go up, I think it is natural for the countries to go out into the market and look for what are good deals for their people,” he said. Los Angeles police were present at the Dolby Theatre and offered to arrest actor Will Smith for slapping presenter Chris Rock, the producer of the Academy Awards said on Thursday. The authorities, however, did not any action because Rock declined to press charges against Smith, producer Will Packer said. “They were saying, you know, this is battery, was a word they used in that moment,” Packer said in excerpts from an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” that will air on Friday. “They said, we will go get him. We are prepared. We’re prepared to get him right now,” Packer added. During the award ceremony, Smith walked up to the stage and slapped the comedian after he made a joke about the appearance of the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia, a medical condition that causes hair loss. After the Taliban banned Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts from terrestrial television, the US government-funded news agency has launched a 24/7 direct-to-home satellite-delivered television channel for Afghanistan, local media reported. The channel carries uncensored news and information in both the Pashto and Dari languages of the country, according to Voice of America (VOA). VOA’s programs were ordered off affiliated television stations in Afghanistan effective on March 27, as part of a broad ban on content regarded as undermining Taliban policies, including prohibiting women from anchoring newscasts with men. VOA’s new TV stream, identified as “VOA Afghanistan,” is on the Yahsat Y-1A satellite (52.2 degrees East), Transponder 12 (downlink frequency 11.938 GHz), Channel 469. The Yahsat satellite is Afghanistan’s most popular platform, ensuring the Afghan audience will have access to VOA’s programming despite the Taliban censorship, reported VOA. Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan during his address to the nation on Thursday said an independent foreign policy doesn’t mean being anti-India. “I decided that my foreign policy will be independent. An independent foreign policy is one which is meant for Pakistanis. It doesn’t mean we are anyone’s enemies. It doesn’t mean we will be anti-Americans, anti-India or anti-European’,” Khan said amid the political drama due to the no-confidence motion against his government which will be put to vote on Sunday. “When India revoked the special status of Kashmir, I opposed them on all platforms. But I tried my level best to maintain friendly relations with India,” Khan said.

That’s all from us for now. We will be back with the evening news bulletin.