TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saturday a US decision to deploy 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East is a "threat to international peace", state media reported. "Increased US presence in our region is very dangerous and a threat to international peace and security and must be confronted," Zarif told the official IRNA news agency before heading...
COLOMBO: At least 290 are now known to have died in a series of bomb blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, in the worst violence to hit the island since its devastating civil war ended a decade ago. Eight apparently co-ordinated explosions targeted Easter worshippers and high end hotels popular with international guests. The horrific...
RIYADH: Four people died as an attack on a police station in Saudi Arabia’s central Riyadh province was foiled, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television said on Sunday, citing its own sources. The four casualties had helped carry out the attack at the police station in Zulfi, a small city around 250 km (155 miles) northwest of the capital Riyadh, Al Arabiya...
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday slammed the unilateral Indian decision to suspend cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade while rebuffing the allegations of its misuse. Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said in the statement, “the Indian action is based on groundless accusations that this mechanism is being used for smuggling, narcotics, fake currency and ‘terrorism’.” The litany was in line with...
COLOMBO: Easter Sunday bomb blasts at three churches and four hotels in Sri Lanka killed more than 200 people and wounded at least 450, police officials said, the first major attack on the Indian Ocean island since the end of a civil war 10 years ago. Seven people were arrested and three police officers were killed during a security forces...
NEW DELHI: A former female staff member of the Supreme Court of India has accused Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi of sexual harassment and terminating her when she refused his advances, Scroll reported. The 35-year-old woman who used to work as a junior court assistant at the Supreme Court of India wrote to 22 judges of the court on Friday alleging...
BELFAST: An off-duty journalist was killed after shots were fired during rioting in the Northern Irish city of Londonderry overnight, an attack that shocked the province and police said was likely the work of nationalist militants. Rioting erupted in the Irish nationalist Creggan area of the city late on Thursday following a raid by police, who said they were trying...
WASHINGTON: Attorney General William Barr could have buried Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report deep in the recesses of the US Justice Department and simply told the public that President Donald Trump would not face criminal prosecution. “These reports are not supposed to be made public,” he said at a news conference on Thursday morning. By releasing a redacted version...
RAWALPINDI: Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Thursday that no Pakistani soldier and citizen died in Balakot airspace violation by India, contradicting earlier claims of 300 casualties. Indian media quoted Swaraj as saying, "we had told the international community that the armed forces were instructed not to harm any Pakistani citizen or its soldier during the strike, our...
MUMBAI: India’s wealthiest man and its richest banker are backing a politician of Congress, the main opposition party, in general elections, a rare public endorsement by two of the country’s most influential businessmen. Results in the seven-phase general election, which began on April 11, are due on May 23. Mumbai, the financial capital, goes to the polls on April 29....
Voters cast ballots in restive Indian-occupied Kashmir Thursday, where authorities deployed tens of thousands of security forces as the second round of the country´s enormous national election kicked off. Troops, paramilitaries and police have poured into Srinagar, one of 95 constituencies taking part in the latest vote. IoK surged into Prime Minister Narendra Modi´s campaign after a February suicide bomb...
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Wednesday said Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit China from April 25 to 28. "On the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Imran Khan is visiting China from April 25 to 28 to attend the 2nd Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. The forum will be inaugurated by President Xi Jinping on April 26,"...
Afghanistan published on Tuesday a lengthy list of delegates who will meet with the Taliban in Doha this week, including government officials, in what could become the highest-level dialogue between the sworn enemies in years. A massive roster published by the presidential palace comprises 250 names, including President Ashraf Ghani's chief of staff, Abdul Salam Rahimi, as well as his...
PARIS: Notre-Dame Cathedral went up in flames on Monday in a roaring blaze that devastated the Parisian landmark, one of France’s most visited places. Flames burst through the roof of the centuries-old cathedral and quickly engulfed the spire, which collapsed. A huge plume of smoke wafted across the city and ash fell over a large area. “Everything is collapsing,” a...
NEW DEHLI: Pakistan's outgoing high commissioner to India, Sohail Mahmood said on Sunday hopeful of "re-engagement" of Pakistan-India dialogues after the elections as communication and dialogues are the only way of resolving reservations between both nations. In an interview to The Times of India, the Commissioner said diplomacy and dialogues are indispensable as communication between the countries will help laying...
KATHMANDU: A small plane operated by a private airline in Nepal hit a parked helicopter on Sunday while preparing to take off in a mountainous area near Mount Everest, killing three people including a co-pilot, an airport official said. The Twin Otter aircraft crashed into the helicopter at Tenzing Hillary Airport at Lukla, known as the gateway to the world’s...
New-Delhi: On Saturday, Indian National Congress (INC) leader Kapil Sibal alleged that the current BJP-led government was involved in a money laundering scam during the 2016 demonetisation drive, Hindustan Times reported. Sibal, speaking a press conference that was blanked out by Indian media channels, said there was a “sting operation” during which old currency notes were exchanged post-demonetisation for a...
