Pakistan has banned all television and radio content from India and threatened to shut down any stations that flout the sanction.
The ban drew immediate criticism from cable operators and viewers in Pakistan, where Indian soaps and Bollywood films are popular.
It follows a souring in relations between the south Asian neighbors.
Tensions have run high since India cracked down on protests in Indian-administered Kashmir in July.
Relations worsened in September when militants attacked an army base there, killing 18 soldiers.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and training insurgents fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with Pakistan - a claim Pakistan denies.
Pakistan's blanket TV and radio ban follows a tit-for-tat series of restrictions in both countries' respective media industries.
There were calls in India after the Kashmir attack for a ban on Pakistani actors and actresses in the country's Bollywood film industry.
Pakistani cinemas responded by banning Bollywood films and some Indian channels.
The US has said it will seek clarity on the Philippine president's announcement of a "separation from the US".
Rodrigo Duterte made the comments in China on Thursday at an economic forum, saying the separation applied to military and economic co-operation.
US officials said the remarks were "at odds" with the "close relationship" shared by the countries.
Mr Duterte has grown increasingly hostile towards the US - a traditional ally - since taking office in June.
His presidential spokesman said the latest comments were a "restatement" of "independent foreign policy".
"This is not an intent to renege on our treaties, but an assertion that we are an independent and sovereign nation," Ernesto Abella said on Friday.
He explained Mr Duturte wanted to "separate the nation from dependence on the US and the West and rebalance economic and military relations with Asian neighbours".
Several members of Mr Duterte's cabinet members have also said their country would not sever ties with Washington.
Speaking at a business forum in Beijing on Thursday, Mr Duterte said: "I announce my separation from the United States. Both in military, not maybe social, but economics also. America has lost."
"I've realigned myself in your ideological flow and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to [President Vladimir] Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world - China, Philippines, and Russia. It's the only way," Mr Duterte said.
The Russian ambassador to the UK has accused the British government of delaying the granting of visas to staff at its embassy in London.
Alexander Yakovenko said the embassy was "shrinking" and questioned whether the UK wanted "an adequate Russian diplomatic presence".
He also criticised the prime minister and foreign secretary for giving what he said were "anti-Russian statements".
The Foreign Office said there was no policy to delay visas.
Mr Yakovenko said Russia did not have enough diplomatic staff in London because as people returned home or went on to other postings, visas for their replacements were not being issued.
"The embassy is shrinking and if it continues the embassy will be reduced further. People cannot be replaced because the visas are not being issued," he said.
"I hope this problem will be resolved under present government."
He added: "Here in London, we simply do not understand the strategy of this country on visa issues."
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has launched a rare attack on Michelle Obama, saying "all she wants to do is campaign" for his rival.
Speaking at a North Carolina rally, Mr Trump called the country's leadership "babies" and "losers".
He also accused the first lady of attacking Hillary Clinton in 2007 by invoking a line she said about being fit to run the White House.
The Obama campaign had denied the line referred to Mrs Clinton.
"And I see how much [Michelle Obama] likes Hillary," Mr Trump told a rally in North Carolina.
"But wasn't she the one that originally started the statement, 'If you can't take care of your home,' right? 'You can't take care of the White House or the country?' Where's that? I don't hear that. I don't hear that."
The New York businessman was referring to a remark Mrs Obama made in 2007 while campaigning for her husband, who was running against Mrs Clinton.
The first lady said: "If you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House".
Some critics questioned whether the comment was an undercut aimed at Mrs Clinton's relationship with her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
But the Obama campaign maintained the line was not directed at the Clintons and instead referred to their own struggle with parenting during a campaign.
Speaking outside the seat of the Walloon government, Ms Freeland told reporters: "It seems evident for me and for Canada that the European Union is not now capable of having an international accord even with a country that has values as European as Canada."
She added: "Canada is disappointed, but I think it is impossible."
It was unclear whether the EU would keep negotiating with Wallonia in coming days to solve the impasse.
After the president of the Philippines announced a separation from the US – a statement which his government has since walked back – Russia’s ambassador to the country said Moscow is ready to provide assistance to and fully cooperate with Manila.
Formulate your wish list. What kind of assistance do you expect from Russia and we will be ready to sit down with you and discuss what can and should be done,” Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev told GMA News on Friday.
He went on to state that Russia is open to working with the Philippines in “any area, any field of possible cooperation.”
The ambassador assured the news outlet that Moscow would not “interfere with the domestic affairs of a sovereign state,” and that the “true Russia” is much different than the one portrayed in Hollywood films.
Khovaev added that the Philippines and Russia “deserve to know each other much, much better.”
He also said that Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte impressed Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during a meeting in Laos last month, and that Moscow supports the leader’s fight against illegal drugs and criminality.
For its part, the Philippines’ budget minister announced that his country is open to all forms of assistance, but will choose what is in the “best interest of the country,” Reuters reported.
‘Troubling rhetoric’
Meanwhile, relations between Duterte and the US aren’t quite as rosy. The Philippines leaderannounced it was “time to say goodbye” to Washington on Thursday, including to military and economic cooperation.
However, the Philippines’ trade minister, Ramon Lopez, told CNN on Friday that the leader“wasn’t talking about separation” from the United States.
Although Duterte explicitly stated that the Philippines would be separating from the US economically, Lopez said that “in terms of economic [ties], we are not stopping trade, investment with America. The president specifically mentioned his desire to strengthen further the ties with China and the ASEAN region, which we have been trading with for centuries.”
Islamic State militants have reportedly entered houses and mosques in Kurkuk, Iraq, and taken civilians as hostages. They have also broken into a kindergarten building, according to a Rudaw news agency report citing the city’s police chief.
This latest intrusion comes just hours after Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) “sleeper cells” launched an attack on government buildings in the city that sparked clashes with security forces, and also as Iraqi forces continue their offensive on the IS stronghold of Mosul.
“It was expected that ISIS sleeper cells would make a move one day in Kirkuk now that the Mosul offensive has started and they want to boost their own morale this way,” Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim told Rudaw earlier on Friday.
“Some of [the militants] have hidden themselves inside mosques and tall buildings and try to shoot as snipers, but our forces are in control and in places where escalations were feared it was all controlled. Strong forces combined of security, police, and anti-terrorism are all inside Kirkuk today,” he said.
“They were sleeper cells...many women and children fled to Kirkuk as refugees and it is possible that some militants had come with them,” Kiruk added, referring to the attackers.
The city’s police chief and governor have called on residents to stay in their homes until the situation is under control.
The unrest has so far led to the deaths of at least 28 people – six policemen, 12 militants, and 16 power station workers, according to reports from Rudaw and AFP. The workers were killed in the nearby town of Dibis, located 55 kilometers (34 miles) from Kirkuk.
"Three suicide bombers attacked the power plant at around 6:00 am (03:00 UTC), killing 12 Iraqi administrators and engineers and four Iranian technicians," Dibis Mayor Abdullah Nureddin al-Salehi al-Salehi told AFP.
Amnesty International urged the Indian authorities to release two teens who were detained in India-held Kashmir under the controversial Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), read a report issued by the organisation on Thursday.
The human rights watchdog has pleaded for either the release or the usage of appropriate laws and provision of fair trials of the teens.
"Release both Rayees Ahmad Mir and Waheed Ahmed Gojree or charge them with an internationally recognisable criminal offence and give them fair trials in accordance with international juvenile justice standards, using detention only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period, and ensuring that any detention be in a separate facility for children, as close as possible to their families in order to facilitate family contact," said the appeal issued.
The appeal also called for a detailed investigation of the detention of the two boys, and all other cases of detention of children under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act.
Amnesty International in its appeal urged the authorities to repeal the controversial Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act and other administrative detention laws in India.
Rayees and Waheed were detained in prison under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, which expressly prohibits the detention of anyone under 18 years of age.
Rayees Ahmad Mir, aged 16 , was arrested on September 16 in Baramulla district under ordinary criminal procedure for allegedly throwing stones at Indian security forces.
Two days later, to prevent his release on bail, an executive official passed an order to detain him under the PSA. The order incorrectly stated that Rayees Mir was 18 years old and he was transferred to the Kot Bhalwal central jail in Jammu, about 300 kilometres from his home.
Rayees Mir’s family challenged the order before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, producing documents that proved he was only 16 years old.
On October 7, the court stated that Rayees Mir should be treated according to juvenile justice rules, as there was prima facie evidence that he was a minor, and ordered his transfer to a juvenile home.
An official at the Kot Bhalwal jail said on October 19: "The prison authorities had not yet transferred Rayees Mir, as they had not received a copy of the court order."
Waheed Ahmed Gojree, also 16 years old, was arrested in Kupwara district on August 18, and detained at a police station.
According to his family, the police initially told them that Gojree would be released the next day, however, they then said that he had been detained under the PSA.
Gojree was first taken to a jail in Baramulla, and then to the Kot Bhalwal central jail in Jammu, about 380 kilometres away.
The family has not yet received a copy of the detention order, or been formally informed about the grounds of Waheed Gojree’s detention, however an official at the central jail confirmed that he had been detained under the PSA.
The authorities appear to have not taken age of the boys into account before issuing the detention order.
Republican candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested he might reject the outcome of the Nov 8 US presidential election if he loses, a possibility his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton called “horrifying”.
In their third and final presidential debate, Trump said he would wait to decide whether the outcome was legitimate.
“I will tell you at the time, I will keep you in suspense,” Trump said. Clinton said she was “appalled” by Trump's stance.
“Let's be clear about what he is saying and what that means: He is denigrating, he is talking down our democracy and I for one am appalled that someone who is the nominee for one of our two major parties would take that position,” she said.
She said Trump, a former reality TV star, had in the past also complained that his show was unjustly denied a US television Emmy award.
“I should have gotten it,” Trump retorted.
In a fiery debate that centered more on policy than the earlier showdowns, Trump accused Clinton's campaign of orchestrating a series of accusations by women who said the businessman made unwanted sexual advances against them.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton finish their third and final 2016 presidential campaign debate at UNLV in Las Vegas, Nevada.— Reuters
Trump said all of the stories were “totally false” and suggested Clinton was behind the charges. He called her campaign “sleazy”.
“I think they either want fame or her campaign did it, and I think it's her campaign,” Trump said.
Clinton said the women came forward after Trump said in the last debate he had never made unwanted advances on women. In a 2005 video, Trump was recorded bragging about groping women against their will.
“Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger. He goes after their dignity, their self-worth and I don't think there is a woman anywhere who doesn't know what that feels like,” Clinton said. She cited other minorities she said Trump had maligned.
“This is a pattern. A pattern of divisiveness, of a very dark and in many ways dangerous vision of our country where he incites violence, where he applauds people who are pushing and pulling and punching at his rallies. That is not who America is,” she said.
Trump seeks to reverse his fading momentum in an election that opinion polls show is tilting away from him. The New York businessman has raised concerns by claiming the election will be rigged against him. He has urged supporters to patrol polling places in inner cities to prevent voter fraud.
The two presidential rivals had tough but issues-based exchanges on abortion, gun rights and immigration during the 90-minute showdown.
Putin's puppet?
Trump, 70, and Clinton, 68, battled sharply over the influence of Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, with Clinton calling Trump the Russian president's puppet and Trump charging Putin had repeatedly outsmarted Clinton.
Trump is cheered by his wife Melania Trump (C) and daughter Ivanka Trump (L) at the end of the final presidential debate.— AFP
Clinton said Trump had refused to condemn Putin and Russia for recent cyber attacks.
“He'd rather believe Vladimir Putin than the military and civilian intelligence officials that are sworn to protect us,” Clinton said.
US intelligence agencies and the Department of Homeland Security have said the Russian leadership was responsible for recent cyber attacks on the Democratic National Committee and the leaking of stolen emails.
Trump rejected the idea that he was close with Putin, but suggested he would have a better relationship with Russia's leader than Clinton.
“He said nice things about me,” Trump said. “He has no respect for her, he has no respect for our president and I'll tell you what, we're in very serious trouble.”
Clinton responded: “Well that's because he'd rather have a puppet as president of the United States.”
“No, you're the puppet,” Trump retorted. “Putin has outsmarted her and Obama every single step of the way,” he said in a reference to US President Barack Obama, a Democrat like Clinton.
Clinton also said Trump had been “cavalier” about nuclear weapons and should not be trusted with the nuclear codes.
Supreme Court
Clinton promised to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who would uphold a woman's right to abortion laid out in the court's 1973 Roe vs Wade decision, while Trump promised to appoint what he called “pro-life” justices who would overturn the decision.
Under existing law, Trump said, “You can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby.”
“Honestly, nobody has business doing what I just said, doing that as late as one or two or three or four days prior to birth,” Trump said.
Clinton said Trump's “scare rhetoric is just terribly unfortunate”. “This is one of the worst possible choices that any woman and her family has to make and I do not believe the government should be making it,” Clinton said.
Trump said he would appoint a Supreme Court justice who would protect American gun rights. He has said in the past that Clinton wants to “essentially abolish” the Second Amendment of the US Constitution guaranteeing a right to bear arms.
Clinton said she supports gun rights, but wants additional regulations on guns, citing examples of children being hurt or killed in gun accidents. “I see no conflict between saving people's lives and defending the Second Amendment.”
No handshake
Clinton and Trump walked straight to their podiums when they were introduced at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, once again forgoing the traditional handshake as they did at the second debate last week in St. Louis, Missouri.
The debate gave Trump, making his first run for elected office, perhaps his best remaining chance to sway the dwindling number of Americans who are still undecided about their vote.
Clinton, a former secretary of state, US senator and first lady, leads in national polls and in most of the battleground states where the election will likely be decided. The debate was her opportunity to make a closing argument on why she is best suited to succeed Obama.
Clinton has struggled to get past concerns about transparency raised over her use of a private email server for work communication while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.
Exchange of accusations
The two candidates clashed over accusations that Clinton as US secretary of state from 2009 to 2013 did favours for high-dollar donors to her family's Clinton Foundation. Asked about a potential conflict of interest, she said she acted “in furtherance of our country's values and interests”.
She and Trump talked over each other, Clinton defending her ties to the foundation, saying “there is no evidence” of a conflict, while Trump said the foundation should return millions of dollars to countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar who treat gay people harshly.
“It's a criminal enterprise,” Trump said.
Clinton said she would be happy to compare the Clinton Foundation to Trump's charitable Trump Foundation, which among its activities was to buy “a six-foot statue of Donald”.
MUZAFFARABAD: United Jihad Council (UJC) chairman Syed Salahuddin on Thursday asked Pakistan to extend “military support” to Kashmiri freedom fighters to help them accomplish their long-cherished goal of freedom from India.
“The festering (Kashmir) issue is not going to resolve through talks or resolutions… Pakistan should militarily support Kashmiris by providing resources to the mujahideen,” he said at a press conference here.
“If the mujahideen get military support, not only Kashmir will clinch freedom but the map of the subcontinent will also undergo a change,” he added.
He, however, declined to elaborate the kind of military support required by the freedom fighters.
“India invaded and occupied Kashmir at the strength of its military might and military occupation can hardly be brought to end through politics or diplomacy,” he maintained.
The UJC chief said that since the killing of Burhan Wani, the mass movement in Kashmir had been on the rise.
Over the past 105 days, the Indian government exercised each and every measure to suppress the unarmed freedom-seeking people, but, ironically, neither did the international community appeared upset over the atrocities nor the world powers tried to rein in the oppressor.
“When the world is paying no heed to us, the only option left with us is the armed struggle,” he said.
Along with brutal killings, the India government had also resorted to economic terrorism in Kashmir in a bid to pressure Kashmiris into surrendering their legitimate struggle, he said.
According to him, Indian intelligence agencies and their “touts” were trying to create disunity among the Hurriyat leadership as well as Kashmiri public. He was of the view that the base camp of the freedom movement — a reference to Azad Kashmir — should not only send a strong message of solidarity across the divide, but also adopt a forceful, rather aggressive, role in this regard.
Mr Salahuddin asked police in held Kashmir to stand by the unarmed public instead of being in the vanguard of the Indian army.
“Otherwise they [policemen] will have to face the wrath of Kashmiri people,” he warned.
He also drew attention towards the plight of Jammu-based Muslims, saying that they were being terrorised by the official machinery and radical Hindu organisation RSS alike into migrating from their native areas like in 1947.
“The governments in Islamabad and Muzaffarabad should also raise the problems of Jammu-based Muslims at national and international forums,” he said.
Mocking India’s “surgical strikes” claims, the UJC chairman said Indian troops did not have the courage or capability to cross the Line of Control (LoC) to conduct any such operation.
“The propaganda has made India a laughing stock in the comity of nations,” he said. In response to a question, he said in the prevailing circumstances all political and religious parties in AJK should give a unanimous call to trample the LoC.
Pakistan has banned all television and radio content from India and threatened to shut down any stations that flout the sanction.
