Category: World

Indian forces went on high alert across Kashmir to head off protests after Friday prayers in mosques as tensions remained high over the ending of the disputed region’s autonomy, residents and reports said. A five-day-old lockdown with no internet or phone communications appeared tighter than ever though the region’s police chief told AFP the curfew would be eased so […]

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for India “to refrain from taking steps that could affect the statusof Jammu and Kashmir”. “The secretary general has been following the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with concern and makes an appeal for maximum restraint,” his spokesperson said. “The position of the United Nations on this region […]

Britain’s economy shrank for the first time since 2012 in the second quarter, an unexpectedly severe hangover from a pre-Brexit stockpiling boost in early 2019 and boding poorly as the country prepares to leave the European Union on Oct 31. Gross domestic product (GDP) fell at a quarterly rate of 0.2 per cent in the […]

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Thursday took a step closer to sparking a currency war in the escalating conflict with China, saying he is not happy with the strong US dollar. Trump has pursued a policy of maximum pressure, including subjecting all Chinese goods to punitive tariffs as of September 1, and accusing Beijing of […]

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham spoke with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the “growing crisis in Kashmir” and expressed hope that the Trump Administration would help de-escalate the current crisis. “Just spoke with the Pakistani foreign minister about the growing crisis in Kashmir. India’s decision to change the status quo must be addressed before it […]

Washington on Thursday warned US citizens to “exercise increased caution” when travelling to Hong Kong, as protesters announced three days of new demonstrations at the city’s airport. The financial hub has been rocked by two months of unrest, initially triggered by opposition to a planned law that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. The […]

MAKKAH: More than 2.5 million pilgrims will begin the Haj rites on Friday against a backdrop of tensions in the Gulf. Crowds of worshippers have already begun to gather in Makkah in the days ahead of Haj. “It’s the first time I’ve felt something so strongly — it’s striking,” said 40-year-old Indonesian pilgrim Sobar in […]

WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday informed Pakistan that it has removed a 25-mile travel ban and other restrictions imposed last year on Pakistani diplomats and diplomatic staff stationed in the country. Diplomatic observers in Washington told Dawn that Islamabad also has restored the facilities that US diplomats had enjoyed in Pakistan until last year. The Trump […]

LONDON: Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said he has expressed concern to his Indian counterpart about the situation in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. “I have spoken to the Indian foreign minister,” he said on Wednesday. “We’ve expressed some of our concerns around the situation and called for calm, but also had a […]

DAYTON: US President Donald Trump met in Ohio on Wednesday with victims and first responders from one of last weekend’s two deadly mass shootings that shocked the country, even as critics and protesters accused him of inflaming tensions with anti-immigrant and racially charged rhetoric. Trump visited Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, where the victims […]