Sri Lanka’s prime minister has urged compatriots who are being held in Australian-run immigration detention centres to come home. Ranil Wickremesinghe claimed the Sri Lankans had broken the law in trying to flee to Australia but insisted they would not face prosecution if they returned. “Come back. All is forgiven,” Wickremesinghe said as he stood beside Malcolm Turnbull in Canberra… Read more »
On Monday afternoon, 20-year-old goldsmith Hassan Ahmed was heading back home from work on his motorbike and passing by Lahore’s busy Mall Road. Hundreds of pharmacists were rallying against changes to a drug sale law, outside of the provincial assembly building. There was a sudden blast. “That is exactly when the suicide bomber detonated the bomb and we lost Hassan,”… Read more »
WASHINGTON/LONDON: India has emerged as a “key player” in a growing global commercial market for space-based surveillance and communication, world media commented on Wednesday after the country scripted history by successfully launching 104 satellites+ using a single rocket. Isro’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C37 on Wednesday injected India’s weather observation Cartosat-2 Series satellite and 103 nano satellites, including 96 from the… Read more »
The US and Iran has had a rocky relationship from around 1953 – when the CIA orchestrated a coup to overthrow Iran’s prime minister – till now and most likely will continue. Recently, Iran conducted missile tests. This, obviously, sparked outrage and weariness among surrounding states and most importantly the United States. My guess is that it was a test. Donald… Read more »
Pakistan makes move against Hafiz Saeed after years of pressure from US and India over atrocities that killed 166 people Hafiz Saeed heads the Muslim charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Photograph: Caren Firouz/Reuters Pakistan has ordered house arrest for the Islamist cleric Hafiz Saeed, who is accused by the US and India of masterminding the 2008 attacks on the Indian financial capital Mumbai… Read more »
India unveiled a budget on Wednesday to help the poor with hikes in government spending and cuts in taxes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to win back the sympathy of voters hit hard by his recent crackdown on “black money”. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced increases in spending on rural areas, infrastructure and fighting poverty, and sought to assure… Read more »
Image copyrightAPImage captionIran says its nuclear programme is peaceful and that it will continue missile development Iran’s defence minister has confirmed that it tested a missile over the weekend, but denied it had violated a UN Security Council resolution. Hossein Dehghan said the test was “in line with our plans” and insisted that the country would “not allow foreigners to… Read more »
Image copyrightAFPImage captionIndians get around 85% of H1-B visas, mostly in the IT industry India is concerned that a new US bill designed to limit the number of highly skilled workers entering will heavily impact the country’s IT industry. The bill introduced to the US House of Representatives proposes doubling the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders to $130,000 from… Read more »
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi suddenly banned most of India’s cash on Nov. 8, he warned that “difficulties” could persist for 50 days. The payoff, he said, would be less corruption and less tax evasion. He was right about the difficulties. Indians endured an acute cash shortage and massive lines at banks as they sought to exchange worthless notes for… Read more »