Sharif-Bhutto Alliance: Dynastic parties set to rule Pakistan again

After a split-verdict in Pakistan’s general election this month, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) announced the coalition late Tuesday, naming former premier Shehbaz Sharif as prime minister and Asif Ali Zardari as president.
21 February 2024

Taking pictures ‘a major sin’

A Taliban official said journalists were committing “a major sin” by taking pictures, Afghan media reported yesterday.
21 February 2024

Pak SC disposes plea seeking annulment of polls

Pakistan’s Supreme Court yesterday disposed of a plea seeking the February 8 general elections to be declared void and null after the petitioner failed to attend two consecutive hearings.
21 February 2024

Taiwan seeking to ‘hide the truth’

China yesterday accused Taiwanese authorities of “seeking to evade their responsibilities and hide the truth” after two Chinese nationals died in a boat incident last week.
21 February 2024

Hunger grips Gaza as truce talks resume in Cairo

Heavy fighting rocked besieged Gaza yesterday as aid agencies warned of looming famine, a day after a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire was blocked by a US veto.
21 February 2024

Indian police use tear gas shells to disperse farmers on 'Delhi Chalo' march

Indian police today used tear gas on a group of young farmers who, demanding a law to ensure minimum support price for crops, were heading towards the multi-layered road barricades put up at the border points at Punjab and Haryana
21 February 2024

Pakistan parties reach power-sharing agreement, Khan loyalists left out

Two Pakistan parties have reached a power-sharing agreement that will return Shehbaz Sharif to the premiership, leaving out politicians loyal to jailed former leader Imran Khan despite winning the most seats in this month's vote
21 February 2024

Pak senators decry alleged rigging in Feb 8 polls

A number of Pakistan senators in the upper house of Parliament yesterday decried alleged rigging in the February 8 elections and berated Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja for his “failure” to ensure transparency in the polls.
20 February 2024

Indian SC overturns earlier result of Chandigarh poll, declares new mayor

India’s Supreme Court today overturned the result of the Chandigarh mayoral poll in which the BJP candidate had emerged an unlikely winner and declared defeated his AAP-Congress alliance rival Kuldeep Kumar as the city’s new mayor
20 February 2024

India farmers reject govt proposal, to resume march to Delhi tomorrow

Farmers' unions protesting at the Punjab-Haryana border yesterday rejected the Indian government's proposal to buy pulses, maize and cotton in unlimited quantity at minimum support price (MSP) for five years, saying it was not in their interest and that they would resume their march towards Delhi tomorrow as part of the agitation.
20 February 2024

India likely to lift ban on onion export

India is likely to lift restrictions on onion export to Bangladesh and some other countries under certain conditions, said a federal minister of the country.
19 February 2024

Post-Polls Pakistan: Imran-backed candidates to join Sunni party

Independent candidates backed by Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister that won seats in inconclusive elections over 10 days ago will join the minority Sunni Ittehad Council Political Party to form a government, the party’s interim chief said yesterday.
19 February 2024

Surrender of town: 3 brigadiers sentenced to death in Myanmar

Myanmar’s junta has sentenced to death three high-ranking officers who oversaw the surrender of a strategic town on the Chinese border to ethnic minority fighters last month, military sources told AFP.
19 February 2024

Bangladesh visa centre to open in Assam's Silchar soon

A Bangladesh visa centre will soon be opened in Silchar, the district headquarters town of north eastern Indian state of Assam
19 February 2024

3 high-ranking Myanmar officers sentenced to death for surrendering town

Myanmar's junta has sentenced to death three high-ranking officers who oversaw the surrender of a strategic town on the Chinese border to ethnic minority fighters last month, military sources told AFP
19 February 2024

2 killed in crush as hundreds queue for passports in Myanmar

Two people were killed in a crush outside a passport office in Myanmar on Monday, a rescue worker said, as thousands rush to leave the country to escape a junta military service law
19 February 2024

25 killed in Afghanistan landslide caused by snow: disaster ministry

A landslide caused by heavy snowfall has killed 25 people and injured eight others in the eastern Afghan province of Nuristan, a disaster management ministry spokesman said Monday, raising an earlier toll
19 February 2024

Greener jet fuel: Flights leaving Singapore to cost more from 2026

From 2026, travellers flying out of Singapore will pay higher airfares because of a levy that the government will impose as part of a move to require flights departing from the city-state to use environmentally sustainable jet fuel
19 February 2024

Pakistan Polls: PTI wants judicial body to probe rigging allegations

A key aide of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s party yesterday commented on Saturday’s press conference by the Rawalpindi commissioner — wherein he made rigging allegations in the country’s February 8 elections.
18 February 2024

China to step up patrols in waters near Taiwan

China yesterday said it would step up law enforcement patrols in waters near Taiwan, after two Chinese nationals died in a boat incident involving Taiwan’s coast guard.
18 February 2024