DUBAI: The president of the United Arab Emirates scrapped an economic boycott against Israel, allowing trade and financial agreements between the countries in another key step towards normal ties, the UAE’s state news agency reported on Saturday. Israel and the UAE said on Aug 13 they would normalise diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by US President Donald Trump that reshapes the …

JALALABAD: Afghans pushed out of work by the coronavirus pandemic after businesses and schools were shuttered have turned to opium cultivation for cash during this year’s poppy harvest. Afghanistan has long been the world’s top grower of opium, producing more than 80 per cent of the global supply and providing hundreds of thousands of jobs in the perennially cash-strapped economy. …

STOCKHOLM: At least 10 people were arrested, and several police officers injured, in violence which broke out in southern Sweden after an anti-Muslim Danish politician was blocked from attending an extremely offensive rally, police said on Saturday. Protesters threw stones at police and burned tyres on the streets of Malmo late on Friday, with the violence escalating as the evening …

SRINAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is changing held Kashmir’s residency laws for the first time since 1947, in a bid to snuff out any challenge to the occupied territory. Drawing comparisons with Israel’s “settler” tactics in the Palestinian Territories, Modi’s Hindu nationalist government aims to change the demographic makeup and identity of the Muslim-majority region, critics say. The Himalayan former …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has condemned extrajudicial killing of Kashmiris in fake encounters and imposition of restrictions on religious gatherings and processions in occupied Kashmir. “Pakistan strongly condemns extrajudicial killing of four more Kashmiris in staged encounter in Shopian region of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Equally condemnable are the restrictions imposed on religious processions and gatherings during Muharram,” a …

India on Sunday reported the biggest single-day jump in coronavirus infections of any nation in the COVID-19 pandemic, as the epicentre shifts to the south Asian giant. India’s 78,761 cases exceeded the 77,299 recorded in the United States on July 16, a Reuters tally of official data showed. The world’s second-most populous nation is, with 3.54 million cases, the third-hardest …

ISLAMABAD: As the deadline of December 2021 to complete Daducha Dam comes nearer, the affected owners of the land meant for the major water reservoir have approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench seeking an increase in the compensation. The landowners through their counsel Barrister Sardar Abdul Razziq filed a petition in the LHC against the acquisition of their …

ISLAMABAD: Federal Ombudsman Syed Tahir Shahbaz on Saturday voiced concern over unnecessary delay, poor construction work and difficulties in completion of government housing projects in federal capital. Chairing a meeting to review progress in different government housing sectors in Islamabad, he directed the Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA) and Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) to ensure completion of all codal …

ce ISLAMABAD: Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s wife, Sarina Isa, on Saturday alleged that since her confidential and legally-protected income tax and bank records were illegally accessed, she also wanted similar information about those who were provided her details. In a statement, Ms Isa stated that she wanted information about the people who accessed or were provided her confidential information and documents, …

LAHORE: As heavy rainfall lashed the village of Sudhra, near Gujranwala, rickshaw driver Muhammad Shafi’s life changed forever. He was saving up to fix the dilapidated roof of his rented house, but the rains did not wait. On Friday morning, tragedy struck when the roof suddenly caved in, killing both his children — eight-year-old Nayab and 10-year-old Atiqur Rehman — …