Sharifs' jail sentences suspended
In a huge relief to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar, the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday suspended their prison sentences in a corruption case and ordered their release.
Protests in Kashmir
Indian policemen charge at Kashmiri Shiite Muslims participating in a religious procession in central Srinagar, on Wednesday.
A religious procession was held in central Srinagar. Police detained hundreds of mourners as they defied restrictions imposed by authorities, fearing religious processions marking the Muslim month of Muharram would turn into anti-India protests.
Ghani, Modi meet
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani ahead of a meeting at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi, on Wednesday.
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani visited New Delhi this week to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss bilateral ties. Mr. Ghani is expected to apprise Mr. Modi on the recent moves on reconciliation efforts with the Taliban.
Curbs in Srinagar to regulate Muharram processions
Indian policemen detain a Kashmiri Muslim for participating in a religious procession in central Srinagar, on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. Police in the India portion of Kashmir detained hundreds of mourners as they defied restrictions imposed by authorities, fearing religious processions marking the Muslim month of Muharram would turn into anti-India protests.
Indian policemen detain a Kashmiri Muslim for participating in a religious procession in central Srinagar, on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. Police in the India portion of Kashmir detained hundreds of mourners as they defied restrictions imposed by authorities, fearing religious processions marking the Muslim month of Muharram would turn into anti-India protests.
Normal life in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir was on Wednesday affected due to restrictions imposed by authorities in certain areas of the city as a precautionary measure to regulate Muharram processions. Restrictions were imposed under Section 144 CrPC in police station areas of Shaheedgunj, Batmaloo, Shergari, Kothibagh, Ram Munshi Bagh, Maisuma and Kralkhud. Certain roads leading towards these areas have been blocked for vehicular movement.
Authorities have also shut down all educational institutions in the city. — PTI
Philippines typhoon toll reaches 81 amid rescue efforts
Residents carry a motorcycle as they hike on a road eroded by a landslide caused by Typhoon Mangkhut at a small-scale mining camp in Itogon, Benguet, in the Philippines, September 19, 2018.
Philippines authorities on Wednesday raised the death toll to 81 and the number of missing to 70 following typhoon Mangkhut’s path through the country’s north where rescuers continue searching for dozens of people trapped in a mine buried by a landslide.
The strongest typhoon of the season swept the north of the island of Luzon on Saturday. The number affected by the typhoon now exceeds one million, Efe news reported. — IANS
Suffrage 125
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (centre) and Mayor of Auckland Phil Goff attend the Suffrage Day Sunrise Celebration in Auckland, New Zealand, on Wednesday, September 19, 2018.
New Zealand became the first nation in the world to allow women to vote 125 years ago, and hundreds of people celebrated the anniversary on Wednesday by turning out to gatherings and speeches. Some wore period costumes or white camellia flowers, a symbol of the historic movement.
New Zealand’s female lawmakers also marked the occasion by re-enacting an all-male photograph of lawmakers taken more than a century ago. This time, the photograph featured New Zealand’s third female Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in the center, holding her 3-month-old baby Neve. — AP
Bid to denuclearise Korean peninsula
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (left) exchanges documents with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a signing ceremony after their summit at Paekhwawon State Guesthouse in Pyongyang on September 19, 2018.
North Korea has agreed to ”permanently” abolish its key missile facilities in the presence of foreign experts, and is willing to close its main nuclear complex if the United States takes reciprocal action, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday. Speaking at a joint news conference following their summit talks in Pyongyang, Mr. Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said they agreed to turn the Korean peninsula into a “land of peace without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats”.
Mr. Kim said he will visit Seoul in the near future, in what would be the first-ever visit to the South's capital by a North Korean leader. — Reuters
