Russia keeps up Syria bombing as UN urges Aleppo evacuations

MOSCOW: Russia on Thursday said it would press on with a bombing campaign in Syria, ignoring US threats, as the United Nations pleaded for medical evacuations from the war-ravaged city of Aleppo. Speaking at the UN Security Council, aid chief Stephen O’Brien said that Aleppo had now descended into a “merciless abyss of humanitarian catastrophe unlike any we have witnessed in Syria”. The United States has threatened to pull the plug on any more...

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Saudi warns of 'disastrous consequences' over US 9/11 law

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has warned of “disastrous consequences” from a United States (US) law allowing 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom, in a major spike in tension between the longstanding allies. The warning came after the US Congress voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to override US President Barack Obama's veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA). JASTA allows attack survivors and relatives of terrorism victims to pursue cases...

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United Nations unable to function in held Kashmir due to India's non-cooperation

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday regretted the fact that the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) was unable to fully function in held Kashmir due to India’s non-cooperation. The UN’s military mission is only able to operate on the Pakistani controlled side of the LoC, as India refuses to accept its functioning on the other side and opposes its expansion, said the UN secretary general. Pakistan's...

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Turkey closes 20 TV and radio stations in post-coup emergency decree

ISTANBUL: Turkey has ordered the closure of 20 television and radio stations, including one that airs children's programmes, on charges they spread “terrorist propaganda”, adding to fears that emergency rule is being used to stifle the media. An official at the Radio and Television Supreme Council, the state watchdog, confirmed 20 stations were being closed. President Tayyip Erdogan has said he wants a three-month state of emergency, imposed after...

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Will not let govt function if Nawaz doesn't present himself for accountability

RAIWIND: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, while addressing the much-hyped public gathering at Raiwind, said PTI will not let the government function after Muharram if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif fails to present himself for accountability. Imran was addressing thousands of PTI supporters gathered at Adda Plot in Raiwind. The PTI chief said the incumbent leaders have lost their conscience and claimed that more than Rs8 billion...

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BCCI requests ICC not to put Pakistan, India in same pool of global events

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Anurag Thakur has requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to not place India and Pakistan in the same group during upcoming international events. "Keeping in mind that the [Indian] government has adopted a new strategy to isolate Pakistan and in view of the public sentiment in the country, we request ICC not to put India and Pakistan in the same pool of the multi-nation tournaments,"...

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Saudi allies reject 'controversial' US bill, fear it will have 'strategic implications'

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia could reduce valuable security and intelligence cooperation with longstanding ally Washington after a Congressional “stab in the back” allowing 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom, experts warn. Cutting such cooperation is among the options available to Riyadh after Congress voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to override President Barack Obama's veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA). “I am afraid that...

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US urges India, Pakistan to exercise restraint

WASHINGTON: The United States reminded India and Pakistan on Thursday that nuclear capable states do not threaten to use atomic weapons in any conflict. The US government also categorically said that it considered the Sept 18 attack on an Indian military facility in Uri a terrorist attack. The warning to avoid a nuclear conflict followed reports in the international media that both Indian and Pakistani governments had intensified their rhetoric...

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Pakistan captures one Indian soldier at LoC, several others killed

MUZAFFARABAD: An Indian soldier has been captured by the Pakistan army, while Indian soldiers have also been killed in the episode of firing across the Line of Control, it emerged Thursday. Confusion over the capture of the soldier persists as neither Indian nor Pakistani officials are issuing any official statements on the matter, as yet. Avoiding connecting the capture to today's firing incident, he said such incidents of people including...

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