NEW DELHI: Thousands of tractors lined up on the outskirts of New Delhi on Monday, ready to swarm the Indian capital in a protest against new agriculture reform laws that have triggered a growing farmer rebellion that has rattled the government. Tens of thousands of farmers have been blocking key highways connecting New Delhi with the country’s north for almost …

KARACHI: The federal government has issued at least seven special permits to the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, and other members of the royal family to hunt the internationally-protected bird species houbara bustard during the 2020-21 hunting season, it has been learnt. According to sources, other hunters include the crown prince and deputy supreme …

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping warned global leaders at an all-virtual Davos forum on Monday against starting a “new Cold War”, and urged global unity in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Having largely curbed the spread of the pandemic within its borders, Xi wants to position China as a key player in a new multilateral world order as the …

WASHINGTON: Saima Mohsin, a Pakistani-American, will become the first Muslim US attorney next week, when she replaces the current attorney in Detroit, Michigan, the US media reported on Monday. In the United States, US attorneys are the chief federal law enforcement officers in their districts and are also involved in civil litigation where the US government is a party. The …

MOSCOW: Russia formally protested to the US embassy in Moscow on Monday over social media posts it said promoted anti-Kremlin demonstrations and accused US tech giants of interfering in its internal affairs. On Saturday, tens of thousands rallied in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Russia’s deputy foreign minister held talks with the US ambassador to register dissatisfaction over …

Pakistan has warned that attempts by the aspirants of permanent seats on the UN Security Council (UNSC) — India, Brazil, Germany and Japan — to railroad efforts to reform the 15-member body would kill the consensus-based process to make it more effective, representative and accountable. “Inter-governmental negotiations (IGN) remain the only credible platform for a comprehensive reform of the council,” …

Thousands of Indian farmers, many on tractors, breached police barricades to launch a protest march into New Delhi on Tuesday as the government held its main Republic Day military parade. Police imposed one of their largest security operations in years to stop the demonstrators, who oppose agriculture reforms they say will decimate their livelihoods. Authorities had agreed to let tens …

GILGIT: A three-member K2 winter expedition team consisting of Pakistani mountaineer Mohammad Ali Sadpara, his 22-year-old son Sajid Ali Sadpara and Iceland’s John Snorri had to return to the base camp on Monday forced by the bad weather. However, the team announced another attempt to scale the world’s second highest peak before end of winter. On Sunday evening, the team …

ISLAMABAD: The opposition-dominated Senate on Monday rejected a bill proposing to give powers to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regularity Authority (Pemra) to look into the complaints of violation of contractual obligations by private TV channels. The Pemra (Amendment) bill — twice cleared by the Senate Standing Committee on Information — was moved in the house by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Senator Faisal …

LAHORE: The Punjab government has started working on shifting the Walton airport to a far-off piece of government land owing to potential safety risks at the existing site that may also be used to promote business activities. Prime Minister Imran Khan has personally directed the Punjab government to ascertain viability of shifting Walton airport, the way forward for Abu Dhabi …