Peace talks between the Pakistan government and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) formally kicked off Thursday with the first phase being held at a secret location. The government negotiators include Irfan Siddiqui, adviser to the prime minister and coordinator of the committee, Rustam Shah Mohmand, a former diplomat, Rahimullah Yousufzai, senior journalist and Amir Khan, a […]
At least two people were killed and 17 wounded in three bomb attacks in Iraq’s capital Baghdad Wednesday morning, a police source said. In one attack, a booby-trapped car exploded at a park near the Iraqi foreign ministry building in the city centre, wounding eight people and destroying several cars, the source told Xinhua. In […]
The Election Commission of Thailand Wednesday announced that voter turnout nationwide in the Feb 2 general elections was 46.79 percent, excluding the nine provinces where voting was cancelled. The election commission said as many as 20.1 million out of 43.024 million eligible voters exercised their voting right in 68 provinces where voting was not disrupted […]
The Taliban are fighting for the implementation of the Islamic law, namely Sharia, which has been violated by Pakistan’s political leadership, a member of the committee nominated by the Taliban for talks with the government said Wednesday, Geo News reported. A decision over the meeting with the government committee will be made after consultations with […]
The Pakistan government’s committee for peace talks will meet the Taliban dialogue-panel Thursday after a failed meet Feb 4, said Irfan Siddiqui, the coordinator for the government committee. “We will listen to reservations of the Taliban’s committee pertaining to our powers and will also redress them,” Siddiqui said Wednesday. The proposed peace talks between the […]
A new Afghanistan legislation could allow abuse of wives, children, and sisters by men in the family without them being later punished by law, as it prohibits the relatives of the accused from testifying against them. The small but significant change to Afghanistan’s criminal prosecution code bans relatives of an accused person from testifying against […]
The committee formed by the Pakistan government for peace talks refused to meet the Taliban dialogue-panel Tuesday. According to sources, Irfan Siddiqui, the government committee coordinator, informed Maulana Samiul Haq, member of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s talks committee, about the decision, Geo News reported. Both the committees were due to hold a one-on-one meeting Tuesday in […]
The Sri Lankan government has refused to issue a visa to US Ambassador at Large for Women’s Issues, Catherine Russell, forcing her to cancel a high-level visit scheduled for Feb 10-11. “It is regrettable that the government of Sri Lanka has refused to grant a visa to Ambassador Catherine Russell for this trip,” Xinhua cited […]
A 25-year-old Indian woman in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) tried to commit suicide by consuming Dettol last month, a court heard. The woman, a dancer identified by the initials of her name RP, however, was not present in the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours Monday to answer the charges that she tried to commit suicide […]
Nepal is inching towards a majority-based government after the Nepali Congress (NC) failed to garner enough support from other political parties to form a consensus-based government Sunday. A last ditch effort to form a consensus-based government with support of all 29 political parties in the house ended Sunday after the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist […]