Category: World

JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo has won a second five-year term, preliminary election results showed on Wednesday, in a victory for moderation over the nationalistic rhetoric of his rival, Prabowo Subianto. Vote counts from five independent survey groups showed Widodo with a clear lead over Subianto, a general during the era of the Suharto military […]

An upcoming conference between Afghan representatives and the Afghan Taliban appeared to be in trouble on Wednesday even before it begins, with the militants deriding Kabul’s plan to send 250 delegates — several of whom have already dropped out. President Ashraf Ghani’s administration had announced Tuesday a list of people from all walks of Afghan life, including […]

President Donald Trump on Tuesday vetoed a resolution from Congress directing him to end US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, the second such move of his presidency. The resolution was a harsh bipartisan rebuke to Trump that took the historic step of curtailing a president’s war-making powers — a step he condemned in […]

India’s embattled Jet Airways Ltd is set to temporarily halt operations from Wednesday onward after its lenders rejected the airline’s plea for emergency funds, three sources from inside the company said on Wednesday. The airline, saddled with roughly $1.2 billion of bank debt, has been teetering for weeks after failing to receive a stop-gap loan […]

Prime Minister Imran Khan has been named among the ‘100 Most Influential People‘ of 2019 by Time magazine. The list, unveiled on Wednesday, has chosen the “influential people” under four categories: leaders, pioneers, artists, icons and titans. Journalist Ahmed Rashid wrote the following regarding Prime Minister Khan for Time‘s 100 most influential people issue. “Pakistan is at a […]

The United States government should not restrict Qatar Airways or Air Italy from flying to the US because it may lead to the unraveling of other aviation agreements around the world, three American airlines said in a letter to officials on Wednesday. Washington is scrutinising state-owned Qatar Airways’ acquisition of 49 percent of Air Italy, […]

TEHRAN: Iran’s lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill labelling US forces in the Middle East as terrorist, a day after the US terrorism designation for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard formally took effect, state TV reported. Defence Minister Gen. Amir Hatami introduced the bill authorising the government to act firmly in response to “terrorist actions” by US forces. […]

Sadaf Khadem, who on Saturday became the first Iranian woman to contest an official boxing bout, has cancelled her return to Tehran after an arrest warrant was issued for her there, her representative said on Wednesday. An arrest warrant was also issued against Mahyar Monshipour, the Iranian-born former boxing world champion who set up the […]

Indian election authorities have cancelled voting in a southern region of the country after seizing more than 110 million rupees ($1.5 million) they believe was meant to influence the outcome, officials said on Wednesday. It is the first time a ballot has been cancelled in a national election over attempted vote-buying, officials said. The decision […]

State oil giant Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer, is in talks to buy a minority stake in the refining and petrochemicals businesses of India’s Reliance Industries Ltd, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The Times of India reported earlier that Aramco was in talks to buy a stake of up to 25 per […]