International

Indian security forces on Wednesday killed two Kashmiri youths in occupied Kashmir’s Budgam district, the Kashmir Media Servicereported. The two youths were killed during a cordon and search operation in the Chadoora area of the district. The operation is currently ongoing, according to the KMS. A two-day shutdown is being observed in the occupied territory today as a petition challenging Article 35-A of the Indian Constitution …

The Afghan government on Wednesday announced to launched an investigation into allegations that the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan and a separate complaints commission misused their authority during last year’s parliamentary elections. The October elections were marred by chaos, and the full results have yet to be announced. The investigation was announced a day after the government in Kabul fired 12 …

The Mideast conference in Poland starting on Wednesday offers Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an opportunity to flaunt in public what he has long boasted about happening behind the scenes his country’s improved relations with some Gulf Arab nations. Several Gulf dignitaries are expected to attend in a potential show of force against uninvited Iran. But the Palestinians are urging …

The Pentagon’s top official made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Monday to meet with US commanders and Afghan leaders amid a push for peace with the Taliban. Pat Shanahan, the recently installed acting secretary of defense, said he has no orders to reduce the US troop presence, although officials say that is at the top of the Taliban’s list …

Riyadh does not know the location of dissident Jamal Khashoggi’s body, despite having detained the Saudi team that murdered him, a high-ranking foreign affairs official in the kingdom said in an interview broadcast on Sunday. The dissident journalist was dismembered after his murder Oct 2 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul but his remains have yet to be found. Adel …

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday denied Washington was “covering up” the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and promised further action. “America is not covering up for a murder,” Pompeo told reporters in Budapest when asked about criticism by a senior Democrat. The remarks came after US President Donald Trump missed a deadline set by Congress to reply …

BEIJING: China hit back on Monday at Turkish criticism over its treatment of Uighurs and denied Ankara’s claim that a renowned poet from the Muslim minority had died in custody, calling it an “absurd lie”. Turkey’s foreign ministry had released a statement on Saturday severely criticising China’s mass detentions of its Turkic-speaking Uighurs, and claiming that poet Abdurehim Heyit had …

WASHINGTON: Ilhan Omar, one of the first two Muslim women in the US Congress, drew stern rebukes from Republicans and fellow Democrats on Monday after suggesting US support for Israel is fuelled by money from the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC. The Minnesota freshman has faced criticism for weeks over her positions on the Jewish state, but it boiled over late Sunday …

SOFIA: Britain and Bulgaria are investigating a possible third suspect in the Salisbury chemical attack who has also been linked to a 2015 poisoning in Bulgaria, the British ambassador to Sofia said on Monday. Emma Hopkins made the comments after talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and chief prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov. “We will continue in close partnership together with …

LUCKNOW: India’s powerful Nehru-Gandhi dynasty on Monday unleashed its newest star with thousands turning out to see Priyanka Gandhi Vadra speak at her first rally as the country gears up for a general election. Crowds showered rose petals on the great-granddaughter of India’s founding leader Jawaharlal Nehru as she took an open bus tour through Lucknow, capital of the key …