International

KARACHI: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has asked the government to check the highhandedness of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) acting against businesses. The apex trade body also demanded a reduction of sales tax from the current 17 per cent to 13pc in the next fiscal year’s budget to …

A group of international journalists, mostly based in India, as well as the ambassadors and defence attachés of various countries on Wednesday visited the impact site of the Feb 26 Indian airspace violation near Jabba, Balakot, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani military, announced late evening. Director General (DG) ISPR Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor briefed the delegation on …

  Organisers of nationwide protests against Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir called on Khartoum residents on Thursday to mass at army headquarters as state media said the army would make an “important statement”. “We call on our people from across the Khartoum capital and the region around to immediately go to the sit-in area and not leave from there until our …

European leaders agreed with Britain on Thursday to delay Brexit by up to six months, saving the continent from what could have been a chaotic no-deal departure at the end of the week. The deal struck during late night talks in Brussels means that, if London remains in the EU after May 22, British voters will have to take part in European …

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday endorsed the demand that the British government apologise for the empire’s role in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the famine of Bengal in the run-up to the 100th anniversary of the massacre. “Fully endorse the demand that [the] British empire must apologise to the nations of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh on Jallianwala massacre and Bengal famine. …

NEW YORK: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a public health emergency in parts of Brooklyn on Tuesday in response to a measles outbreak, requiring unvaccinated people living in the affected areas to get the vaccine or face fines. The city’s largest measles outbreak since 1991 has mainly been confined to the Orthodox Jewish community in the borough …

KABUL: Taliban fighters stormed army checkpoints in southern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border overnight, killing 20 troops, an official said on Tuesday. Eight other security forces were also wounded in Monday night’s attack in Shorabak district, Mohammad Yousof Younosi, a provincial council member in Kandahar, said. An official from the provincial governor’s office, who was not authorised to speak with …

India’s Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi has filed his nomination for another term as a member of Parliament from Amethi, a family bastion in the vote-rich state of Uttar Pradesh. Gandhi’s mother, Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who is running for a seat from Rae Bareli, another city in Uttar Pradesh, joined her son …

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has won the Israeli national election, securing a record fifth term in office despite running neck-and-neck with his challenger Benny Gantz, the country’s three main television channels said on Wednesday. With 97 per cent of the votes counted, neither of the candidates’ parties had captured a ruling majority, but Netanyahu was clearly in a strong position to …

The Indian Election Commission has sought a report on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks at a rally in Maharashtra yesterday asking first-time voters to dedicate their ballots to the armed forces Times of Indiareported on Wednesday. “I want to tell the first-time voters: can your first vote be dedicated to the soldiers [who carried out the air strike in Pakistan? Can …