Opposition leaders in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration of denying or cancelling permissions to hold campaign events, to help his party’s “proxies”. Omar Abdullah, a leader of the largest regional political party, the National Conference, said Modi’s government was trying to sabotage his campaign ahead of voting in the first of IoK’s three seats on Monday. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is skipping elections in IoK for the first since 1996, which analysts and politicians in the region say belies his narrative of integrating the region with the rest of the country and bringing peace and normality…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday received a message from his Qatari counterpart underscoring potential avenues for reinforcing bilateral ties. “Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani has sent a written message to Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, pertaining to bilateral relations and way to support and develop them,” Qatari newswire QNA reported. The message was delivered to PM Sharif by the visiting Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, who is accompanied by a delegation from the Qatar Investment Authority. PM Sharif said his government would like…
PANAMA CITY: Panamanian lawyer Ramon Fonseca, one of the heads of the now-defunct law firm Mossack Fonseca that was at the epicentre of the global “Panama Papers” scandal, died while awaiting sentencing in his money-laundering trial, his lawyer said on Thursday. During the night Fonseca “died while hospitalised”, a member of his legal team said, adding that the health concerns were “why he did not attend the trial” that opened on April 8. No further details were given about the cause of death of Fonseca, 71, who died in hospital in Panama City. Documents leaked from Mossack Fonseca, which were…
KABUL: Several people were killed when a demonstration broke out in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday after Taliban authorities ordered houses cleared to make way for a building construction, a provincial official said. The Taliban authorities had ordered residents to vacate the land on the road between provincial capital Jalalabad and the border with Pakistan to make way for a new customs building, said Arafat Mohajer, the head of the information and culture department for the Torkham border point. “The residents of the area created chaos in response,” said Mohajer, and in clashes one Taliban official was killed as well as…
NEW DELHI: The Maldives pledged “enduring friendship” with India on Thursday ahead of a deadline for New Delhi to withdraw a troop garrison from the luxury tourist destination that has strained ties between the neighbours. Pro-China President Mohamed Muizzu won office last year while campaigning on a promise to downgrade ties with India, and has since reoriented the strategically placed archipelago nation towards Beijing. After coming to power he demanded the withdrawal of at least 89 Indian soldiers who had been stationed in the territory to assist with maritime patrols. This week, the Maldives government said more than half of…
DUBLIN/LJUBLJANA: Ireland and Spain alongside various European Union member states, are considering ‘recognising’ a Palestinian state on the 21 of May, according to a report published by Ireland’s national broadcaster. ‘RTE News’ stated on Wednesday evening that contacts between Dublin and Madrid and between Slovenia and Malta, had ‘intensified with a view to the countries jointly recognising’ Palestinian statehood. The report reveals that countries have been anticipating a vote of the United Nations General Assembly, on May 10. The vote may well lead to the recognition of Palestinians as ‘qualified’ to become a ‘full members of the United Nations’. In…
LONDON: An 18-month-old British girl, born completely deaf, is believed to be the youngest person in history to have had their hearing restored. The girl underwent a ground-breaking new form of gene therapy. Numerous medical teams across the globe (including in China and the United States), have been engaged in trialling similar treatments (with good results), for hereditary deafness that is focused on a rare genetic mutation. However, according to a British ear surgeon, Manohar Bance, Opal became the first person in the world to receive therapy developed by US biotech firm Regeneron. He added the therapy Opal underwent was…
TAIPEI: A US warship sailed through the narrow Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, less than two weeks before Taiwan’s new president takes office, prompting an angry denunciation from Beijing. Taiwanese defence and coast guard officials said on Thursday dozens of Chinese warplanes and ships had been detected around the island, less than two weeks before self-ruled Taiwan’s inauguration for a new president. The Chinese military presence around the island announced by Taipei, which included another 23 warplanes and five naval vessels in the 24 hours leading up to 6 am, also came a day after a US warship sailed through the…
CAIRO: Israeli tanks and warplanes bombarded areas of Rafah on Thursday, Palestinian residents said, after President Joe Biden said the United States would withhold weapons from Israel if its forces mount a major invasion of the southern Gaza city. A senior Israeli official said that the latest round of indirect negotiations in Cairo to halt hostilities had ended and Israel would proceed with its operation in Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip as planned. Israel has submitted to mediators its reservations about a Hamas proposal for a prisoners’ release deal and the Israeli delegation was returning from the Egyptian capital,…
A man shot and wounded two police officers in Paris after he got hold of one of the officer’s weapons while he was being held at a police station, said Paris police chief Laurent Nunez on Friday, confirming earlier media reports. A source close to the case said the incident happened in the French capital’s 13th district shortly before 10:30pm (8:30pm GMT), and that one of the officers’ wounds were life-threatening. The Paris public prosecutor’s office later confirmed the source’s account to AFP. Nunez arrived at the scene around midnight, accompanied by prosecutor Laure Beccuau. Nunez told reporters that the suspect…
