International News Updates

Lahore: Making fresh gestures to prop up his fragile government, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has reportedly withheld the decision to appoint senior People`s Party leader Latif Khosa as Governor of Punjab following strong opposition to the move from PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif. Gilani held back his advice forwarding the appointment of Khosa to […]

Beijing: China`s radder evasive stealth fighter made its maiden test flight on Tuesday, making the country only the second nation after US to test such cutting edge technology. The aircraft called J-20 took off from an airstrip at Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute just before 1300 hours and flew for about 20 minutes, the Wall Street […]

Beijing: Claiming that its troops had "never crossed" the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, China on Tuesday said it always respected bilateral agreements on maintaining peace and tranquility in border areas. "China`s border personnel have been respecting the two agreements made between the two countries to maintain peace and tranquility in border areas […]

Washington: An Indian-American is among four persons charged by US authorities as part of a wide-ranging investigation involving the multi-billion-dollar Galleon Group hedge fund scam, the biggest insider trading case in the country. Sunil Bhalla, a senior executive with Polycom, along with three others was named in fresh charges filed by the US Securities and […]

Melbourne: A Tsunami like tidal water waves ripped through an Australian valley, killing at least nine people, including four children, as cars and trees were tossed around and military helicopters soared above to search for 72 people reported missing. The "unprecedented" floods smashed through Queensland state as 150 ml of rain from freak storm turned […]

London: Bilawal Bhutto, son of the former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto, has blasted those who have come out in support of the killer of Punjab governor Salman Taseer and vowed to wage a "jihad" against fundamentalists. Comparing the killing of Taseer to assassination of his mother, Bilawal said the Punjab governor had "too refused […]

Washington: A top US official who was in charge of weeding out corruption in America`s reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan has resigned, amidst series of allegations from lawmakers about his incompetence and mismanagement. President Barack Obama has received the resignation of retired Major General Arnold Fields as the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the […]

Washington: India as a regional and emerging global power has the right to establish its ties with Afghanistan, the US said and appreciated New Delhi`s role in development of the war-ravaged country. "We have made clear that India, as a regional and emerging global power, has every right to have its own relationship with Afghanistan, […]

Kathmandu: The chief of the UN peace mission in Nepal on Monday said the UNMIN will wrap up its task, but there was no clarity as to who would manage the arms and armed personnel of the Maoists and the military after its exit by the end of this week. UN Special Envoy Karin Landgren, […]

Vatican City: Pope Benedict XVI on Monday called on Pakistan to scrap a blasphemy law after the murder of the governor of Punjab, saying the legislation was a pretext for "acts of injustice and violence". "I once more encourage the leaders of that country to take the necessary steps to abrogate that law," he said. […]

Tehran: Investigators on Monday found the black box from a passenger jet that broke to pieces on impact while trying an emergency landing in a snowstorm in north-western Iran, killing at least 77 people. The pilots of the Boeing-727, operated by Iran’s national airline and carrying 104 passengers and crew, reported a technical failure to […]

Brisbane: Flash floods swept through an Australian city on Monday, killing at least four people, trapping others in cars and leaving some clinging to trees as relentless rains brought more misery to a region battling its worst flooding in decades. The raging torrent of muddy water picked up cars and tossed them like toys, carried […]

Islamabad: Pakistan government on Monday appeared divided over resuming onion exports to India with the Agriculture Ministry not averse to lifting the ban but the Commerce Ministry has some reservations. A meeting was held in the Commerce Ministry on the issue and there was no decision. Official sources said Commerce Minister Maqdoom Amin Fahim was […]

Islamabad: In a climb down to prop up his fragile government, Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani accepted key 10 demands of the main opposition PML-N, including investigating graft charges. The two parties have also reached an agreement on continuing the alliance between the PPP and PML-N in Punjab, the country’s most populous and politically […]

Islamabad: The assassin of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer on Monday confessed in a Pakistani court that he had acted alone in killing the politician and that he had been planning the attack before being deployed to guard him. Even as suspicion lingered that he was part of a conspiracy, Mumtaz Qari denied that he was […]