ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked the Frontier Works Organisation to defer the implementation of axle load condition in a move to appease the agitating traders protesting against the government’s documentation drive. Chairing a meeting of his economic team, the premier also tasked Finance Adviser Dr Hafeez Shaikh and Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Shabbar Zaidi to work out …

ISTANBUL: Turkey will clear north-east Syria of Kurdish YPG militia if Russia does not fulfil its obligations under an accord that helped end a Turkish offensive in the region, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. Under the deal hammered out by Erdogan and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, Russian military police and Syrian border guards are meant to clear the …

United States President Donald Trump’s top negotiator for Afghanistan was in Kabul on Sunday to brief the Afghan president on peace efforts on his first trip back since Trump ended talks with the Taliban aimed at ending America’s longest war. The visit by Zalmay Khalilzad comes after a flurry of low-key meetings that he has held, including with the Taliban this month …

NEAR BARISHA, SYRIA: Daesh supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the world’s most wanted man, was believed on Sunday to have been killed in a US special operation in northwestern Syria. The elusive chief of Daesh was thought to be dead after a US military raid in the Idlib region, US media reported early on Sunday. The White House announced President Donald …

KAULA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s mammoth palm oil sector faces a new threat after Indian traders were asked to halt purchases amid a diplomatic row over Kashmir, piling further pressure on the industry as Europe also plans cutbacks. The Southeast Asian nation is the second-biggest producer after Indonesia of the oil, used in everything from food to cosmetics, in a sector long vilified by environmentalists who blame it for fuelling deforestation. With Western companies reducing use of the commodity as green groups ratchet up pressure, the top two growers have increasingly come to rely on demand from India, the world’s biggest buyer of edible oils, and China. But a speech by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at the United Nations General Assembly last month, in which he said New Delhi had “invaded and occupied” Kashmir, has sparked a backlash in India that could badly hit the sector. There has been sympathy in Malaysia for Kashmiris after the Hindu nationalist government in New Delhi revoked the Muslim-majority region’s autonomy in August, and imposed a lockdown to quell unrest. Mahathir’s comments prompted calls for Indians to shun Malaysian products — with social media users posting angry messages alongside the hashtag #BoycottMalaysia — while rumours swirled New Delhi may hike tariffs on Malaysian palm oil. Earlier this week, a major Indian vegetable oil trade body called on its 875 members to avoid buying palm oil from Malaysia, noting the government was mulling retaliatory measures. “In your own interest as well as a mark of solidarity with our nation, we should avoid purchases from Malaysia for the time being,” said Atul Chaturvedi, president of the Solvent Extractors´ Association of India. ‘We speak our minds’ Tensions have also risen between India and Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the UN General Assembly that Indian occupied Kashmir was “besieged”. Reports have since said that Modi had cancelled a planned visit to Turkey as a result, and that India could axe a $2.3 billion order with a Turkish shipyard. India’s foreign ministry, however, denied that any such visit was planned. Also read: Turkish President Erdogan raises Kashmir issue in UN speech New Delhi has yet to take any formal measures against Malaysia or Turkey but Bloomberg News reported last week that India was considering placing curbs on some imports from both countries, citing people familiar with the matter. Despite the furore, Mahathir has been unapologetic, reportedly telling journalists last week: “We speak… our minds and we don’t retract and change.” “Sometimes what we say is liked by some and disliked by others,” added the famously outspoken 94-year-old. And with nationalistic anger growing in India, the row appears unlikely to end soon. “It’s not purely a palm oil issue,” James Chin, a Malaysia expert at the University of Tasmania, told AFP. “It ties in with egos… and nationalism.”

WASHINGTON: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,  the leader of the Islamic State (IS) militant group ,   has been killed in  a US special operation in Syria, confirmed President Donald Trump on Sunday. Addressing a press conference, the US leader said Baghdadi died after exploding a suicide ´vest’. Trump thanked Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iraq for help in conducting raid against Baghdadi. Baghdadi …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Asif Ali Zardari  is suffering from intense bladder pain, the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) said on Sunday. The doctors at PIMS have diagnosed that the former president’s bladder gland has grown unusually. Doctors claimed that this could become dangerous and further complicate Zardari’s health. The board has decided to conduct more tests …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan  on Sunday planted “Kashmir Freedom Tree” in Islamabad on the occasion of Kashmir Black Day. Earlier in his  message  , the prime minister said  through the deployment of additional troops and an unprecedented media and communications blackout, that has continued for almost three months, Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K) has been turned into the …

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s condition is slightly better and his platelet levels are stable, Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) Principal Prof Dr Mahmood Ayaz said on Sunday. Speaking to media, Dr Ayaz said that the former premier will remain in the hospital until his treatment is complete, adding that Nawaz has not yet expressed a desire to be …

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has issued a warning that a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (VSCS) “Kyarr” is developing in the east central Arabian Sea. The PMD in its advisory on Saturday made it clear that currently “none of the Pakistan coastal area is under direct threat from this system”. “However, under the influence of this system, scattered rain is expected in …