Amnesty International is describing India’s repeated denial of bail to jailed Muslim activist Umar Khalid as a “big blow” to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Thirty-four year old Khalid, along with more than a dozen other Muslims, is accused of being part of a “larger conspiracy” that led to religious riots in New Delhi […]...
ISTANBUL (AA) – Senior officials from Afghanistan, Indonesia, and Qatar met in Doha at the weekend for talks on the situation in Afghanistan, an Afghan official said on Monday. The three-way meeting of acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, and Lolwah Al-Khater, deputy foreign ministe...
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday nominated the head of his allied party as the new chief minister of key Punjab province, in an attempt to bag five crucial votes against the opposition’s no-trust motion which could de-seat him. Information Minister Farrukh Habib confirmed that Usman Buzdar, the ch...
ANKARA (AA) – Ayaz Mutallibov, the first president of Azerbaijan after the country declared its independence from the Soviet Union, passed away Sunday at the age of 83. Mutallibov was born in the capital Baku in 1938. After graduating from the Azerbaijan State Institute of Petroleum and Chemistry in 1962, Mutallibov in 1963 became a [&he...
ISTANBUL (AA) – Azerbaijan has denied claims by Russia that the Azerbaijani army had withdrawn its troops from a village in Karabakh and that it had violated a cease-fire agreement. “There have been no changes in the positions of the Azerbaijan Army in the village of Farrukh and on the surrounding high grounds, which are […]
ISLAMABAD (AA) – Tens of thousands of supporters of Pakistan’s ruling party gathered Sunday in the capital, Islamabad, in a show of support ahead of a no-confidence vote against beleaguered Prime Minister Imran Khan. Waving the national and tri-color party flags, supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party from across the c...
NEW DELHI (AA) – India said Sunday the army successfully test-fired an air defense system off the coast of Odisha’s Balasore. The medium range surface to air missile (MRSAM) was tested around 10.30 a.m. (0500GMT) and it “intercepted a high-speed aerial target at long range,” the Defense Research and Development Organization said on Twitter. Th...
BAGHDAD (AA) – The Iraqi Parliament on Saturday failed to elect the country’s president after dozens of lawmakers boycotted the voting session. A statement issued by the Parliament said 126 out of 329 legislators boycotted the session. At least 220 deputies should attend the session for presidential elections to take place. A parliamentary sta...
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AA) – Azerbaijani forces thwarted a provocation attempt by Armenian forces in the recently liberated Nagorno-Karabakh region, the country’s Defense Ministry announced Saturday. The ministry said that illegal Armenian forces in the region – which was liberated in fall 2020 from decades of Armenian occupation – took advan...
WASHINGTON (AA) – The US has sanctioned five individuals and five entities in Myanmar over “genocide” of its Rohingya population. Those designated include Myanmar’s 66th Light Infantry Division, including its leaders Brigadier-General Ko Ko Oo, and and Major-General Zaw Hein. Three individuals identified as arms dealers...
