Category: World

The Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide car-bomb attack on a police station in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Wednesday which the government said killed 14 people and wounded 145. There has been no let-up in violence in Afghanistan even though the Taliban and the United States appear close to a historic pact for US […]

WASHINGTON: UN Secretary General António Guterres warned on Tuesday the world against rising tensions between nuclear-armed states, as a powerful American newspaper pointed out that tensions in Kashmir were more menacing now than ever before as both India and Pakistan possessed weapons of mass destruction. Also, an international advocacy group — Human Rights Watch — […]

BEIJING: China said on Tuesday that it “will not stand idly by” and will take countermeasures if the US deploys intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region, which Washington has said it plans to do within months. The statement from the director of the foreign ministry’s Arms Control Department, Fu Cong, follows the US’s withdrawal last […]

TOKYO: US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday any Turkish operation into northern Syria would be “unacceptable” and the United States would prevent unilateral incursions, as tensions between Washington and Ankara simmer. On Sunday, President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey, which already has a foothold in northwest Syria, will carry out a military operation in […]

BEIJING: Protesters in Hong Kong must not “play with fire” and mistake Beijing’s restraint for weakness, China said on Tuesday in its sharpest rebuke yet of the “criminals” behind demonstrations in the city whom it vowed to bring to justice. Hong Kong has suffered weeks of sometimes violent protests that began with opposition to a […]

BRUSSELS: The European Union is bracing for tough Brexit talks with Britain but will stand firm as Prime Minister Boris Johnson ramps up his “no-deal” threats, diplomats said on Tuesday. Johnson, who took office late last month, says he wants to leave the EU with a deal but insists the current terms are unacceptable and […]

Former Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj passed away on Tuesday, according to reports by Indian media. According to India Today, the 67-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader passed away “after suffering a heart attack in the evening”. She was hospitalised at All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. Swaraj was rushed in to […]

The Taliban on Tuesday denounced as a sham a presidential election due next month, saying their fighters would do everything they could to block it, while urging people to stay away from rallies that could be attacked. The warning came as both the United States and the Taliban reported progress in talks on a deal […]

The Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, on Tuesday evening passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019, with 367 votes for, 67 against and none abstaining. India’s home minister had earlier hailed as “historic” legislation to bring occupied Kashmir under its direct control, as the lower house of parliament was set to ratify […]

China said on Tuesday it opposed India’s decision to revoke the special status of Kashmir, a disputed region sandwiched among India, Pakistan and China, because it undermined China’s territorial sovereignty. In a move to tighten its grip on the Himalayan region, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government dropped a constitutional provision that allowed the only Muslim-majority region […]