KABUL: Preliminary results from Afghanistan’s delayed presidential polls will be announced in the coming days, an election official said on Thursday, after a main candidate ended his boycott of a recount. The country has been stuck in political limbo since the vote, with the two top candidates — President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah — locked in a …

ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan’s civilian and military leadership on Thursday cautioned the world community about India’s aggressive and provocative design after New Delhi deployed missile launchers along the Line of Control in the disputed region of Kashmir. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he had written to the United Nations recently, warning the world body of actions by New Delhi such as …

KUALA LUMPUR: Muslim nations need to do more business among themselves, trade in each other’s currencies and keep up with non-Islamic countries to stop being left at their mercy, their leaders said on Thursday at a summit boycotted by Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said on Wednesday it was against the interests of the Muslim world to hold …

NEW DELHI: Three persons were killed in police firing on Thursday and several were injured as protests swept at least 10 states against India’s new law on citizenship. Permission for protests was denied in almost all states but the protesters defied police and a lockdown across Uttar Pradesh, parts of Delhi, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. In Mangaluru, where curfew has been …

Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has cancelled a meeting with senior members of the United State’s Congress this week over Kashmir criticisms, the Washington Post has reported. According to the report published on Thursday, US lawmakers had refused demands to exclude from the meeting a congresswoman, Pramila Jayapal, who had criticised the Indian government’s actions and policies in the occupied valley. …

HYDERABAD: Most sugar mill owners have suspended the crushing of sugar cane over the past 24 hours in Sindh, jeopardising the crushing season once again. Uncertainty had already been looming large over the sugar cane sector as farmers kept claiming that they had been told by factory managements not to harvest the crop. Growers like Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) …

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Thursday launched the draft advertisement policy and announced bringing reforms to the Press Information Department (PID) to tackle corruption and mismanagement in the grant of government advertisements. Addressing a ceremony, she said: “The reforms in the PID and the draft advertisement policy will eventually help media …

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday disposed of contempt proceedings against IHC Bar Association (IHCBA) Secretary Umair Baloch. The contempt notice was issued against Mr Baloch after he disrupted the court proceedings to observe a strike against the arrest of lawyers following the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) incident. Subsequently, the IHCBA also withdrew its call for boycott of the …

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Thursday passed the Sindh Women Agriculture Workers Bill, 2019, providing rights to women who carry out agriculture and livestock activities. The law concerns their pay and minimum wages, gives them recognition and ensures measures for promotion and protection of their rights. The bill was presented by the chairman of the standing committee on labour and …

PESHAWAR: A lawyer on Thursday moved the Peshawar High Court against a provision of the high treason law that empowers only the federal government to authorise a person to file a complaint of high treason. In the petition, Ali Azim Afridi prayed the court to declare unconstitutional Section 3 of the High Treason (Punishment) Act, 1973, to the extent of …