Latest Indo-Pak conflicts : Pakistan says 2 Indian warplanes downed, pilot captured

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 Feb 27, 2019 1400 GMT | Villagers gathered around wreckage | Budgam, J&K Region 
amid tensions between Indo-Pak reaches  highest level official said (AP Photo)

MUZAFARABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s military said Wednesday it shot down two Indian warplanes in the disputed region of Kashmir and captured a pilot, answering an airstrike a day earlier by Indian fighter jets inside Pakistan and raising tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals to a level unseen in two decades.

Within hours Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan went on television urging peace talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying both countries needed to step back from the brink and warning that “miscalculations” could drag their two countries Continue reading →

Venezuelan aid convoys meet fierce resistance by Maduro’s loyalist Guards; 2 killed

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Feb 24, 2019 1700 Hrs GMT | Protester clashing with National Guards in Urena city
amidst humanitarian aid entry point near Colombia, Venezuela border area | AP Photo

CUCUTA, Colombia (AP) — A U.S.-backed campaign to force President Nicolas Maduro from power met strong resistance Saturday from Venezuelan security forces who fired tear gas on protesters trying to deliver humanitarian aid from Colombia and Brazil, leaving two people dead and some 300 injured.

Throughout the turbulent day, as police and protesters squared off on two bridges connecting Venezuela to Colombia, opposition leader Juan Guaido made repeated calls for the military to join him in the fight against Maduro’s “dictatorship.” Colombian Continue reading →

Fire Kills 69 in Dhaka, a densely populated national Capital of Bangladesh

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Feb 21, 2019 1600 Hrs GMT | Deadly Chemical Fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh | AFP Photo

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) –  At least 69 people have died in a huge blaze that tore through apartment buildings also used as chemical warehouses in an old part of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, fire officials said Thursday.

Dozens of people were trapped in the buildings, unable to escape onto narrow streets clogged with traffic, as the highly combustible stores of chemicals, body sprays and plastic granules erupted Continue reading →

VENEZUELA CLOSES BORDER TO BLOCK AID, PROTEST CONTINUES AGAINST MADURO OVER FOOD & ECONOMIC CRISIS

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Feb. 21, 2019 1400 Hrs GMT | Venezuelans Protesting against Maduro over Poor Economy,
Corruption, Unemployment, High Inflation & ongoing Food crisis in Venezuela for Years
asking for an early Election, Humanitarian Aid blocked in Venezuela (File Photo/AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — As a showdown looms over humanitarian aid destined for Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro closed off his country’s border with Brazil, vowing on Thursday to block the emergency food and medicine that has rallied his opponents and which he claims is part of a U.S.-led coup plot.

Amid the mounting tensions, opposition leader Juan Guaido set off in a cross-country caravan for the border with Colombia, where much of the U.S.-supplied aid is warehoused and where he has called on thousands Continue reading →

Car Bomber rammed in a Military Convoy, kills 37 Soldiers in  J&K Region

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Feb 14, 2019. 11:45 Hrs GMT | Military Convoy Ambushed in Srinagar, INDIA (AP Photo)

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — At least 37 soldiers were  killed and more than 24 others wounded Thursday in a car bomb attack on a paramilitary convoy along a key highway in Indian-controlled Kashmir, security officials said. It was one of the deadliest car bombings in the J&K region’s history. Officials said a local Kashmiri militant rammed an explosive-laden van into the convoy, targeting a bus carrying at least 65 soldiers.

Senior police officer said the attack occurred as the convoy reached southern Lethpora town on the outskirts of the main city of Srinagar. He said the bus was destroyed and at least five other vehicles were damaged by the blast, a spokesman  Continue reading →

India, South Africa to boost defense ties, trade is key topic on the occasion of R-Day Celebration

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 Jan. 25, 2019. 10:00 Hrs GMT | Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) shakes hand
 with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is on a two-day state visit to India 
 and  will be the chief guest at India's Republic Day parade celebrating country's
 70th anniversary of its national constitution taking effect. (AP Photo)

NEW DELHI (AP) — India and South Africa will boost ties in key areas such as defense, maritime security, information technology and trade under a three-year strategic exchange program, their leaders said Friday.

The plan was announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa after they met in New Delhi.

Two-way trade is expected to rise to $10.65 billion in 2018-19 from $9.38 billion in 2017-18.

India’s External Affairs Ministry said the South African defense industry is also looking at India, which is upgrading its military equipment. India has offered training slots for South African defense Continue reading →

DR Congo’s opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi named presidential winner

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Jan.10, 2019 11:30Hrs (GMT) | Kinshasa, DR Congo | Armed Police Force Patrolling City

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi has been declared the winner of the long-delayed presidential election, the electoral commission announced early Thursday to the surprise of many, as the vast country braced for possible protests over alleged rigging.

Tshisekedi, who received more than 7 million votes, or 38 percent, had not been widely considered the leading candidate and is relatively untested. The son of late opposition leader Etienne, who pursued the presidency for many years, he startled Congolese shortly before the election by breaking away from an opposition effort to Continue reading →

Hello, 2019: Revelry and reflection greet new year

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 Jan 1, 2019 00:00 GMT | Fireworks explode over the London Eye during the New Year's 
 eve celebrations after midnight in London, UK (AP Photo)

London (AP) – Britons ushered in the new year with the familiar chimes of Big Ben, even though the world famous clock has been disconnected for more than a year because of a conservation project.

Parliament announced last week that the clock’s massive bell would sound to mark the new year with the help of a specially built electric mechanism to power the hammer, which weighs about 440 pounds (200 kilograms). The clock mechanism, which has kept time since 1859, has been dismantled as part of the Continue reading →

Russian envoy welcomes Trump administration’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria

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Dec, 20 2018 14:00Hrs GMT | Syrians holding portraits of loved ones who died fighting
the Islamic State group southeast of Kobani, Syria | AP File Photo

BEIRUT (AP) — Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia says “the pullout of all foreign forces which are in Syria illegally” would be a positive start to help stabilize the country and spur efforts toward a political solution of the seven-year war.

Nebenzia was responding to a question at a U.N. panel on Wednesday about Russia’s reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that all U.S. troops will leave Syria.

The Russian ambassador, whose country is a key ally of Syria, said it would fulfill a promise Continue reading →

Senate rebukes Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi, Yemen war

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Dec. 13, 2018 15:00 Hrs GMT | Jim Mattis, US Defense Secretary (M) | Washington, USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators voted Thursday to recommend that the U.S. end its assistance to Saudi Arabia for the war in Yemen and put the blame for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi squarely on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in a direct challenge to both the longtime Middle East ally and President Donald Trump’s handling Continue reading →