(Reuters) – European shares rose on Wednesday, breaking a three-day losing streak on euphoria over a multi-billion dollar German chemical deal but gave up some gains after Wall Street opened sharply lower on recession worries. The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.2% higher, after having gained as much as 1% during the session when Bayer […]

NEW DELHI — Pakistan threatened on Wednesday to punish India for unilaterally wiping out the autonomy of Kashmir, saying officials were considering closing the country’s airspace to Indian aircraft and cutting diplomatic ties. During a speech in the Pakistani Parliament, Fawad Chaudhry, the science and technology minister, called India a “fascist regime” and said another […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the U.S. Federal Reserve must cut rates “bigger and faster” for the United States to be competitive against other countries. “Our problem is a Federal Reserve that is too proud to admit their mistake of acting too fast and tightening too much (and that I […]

SINGAPORE – The Court of Appeal on Wednesday (Aug 7) rejected arguments by a former chief executive, who is serving jail time for sexual offences against his son’s nine-year-old schoolmate, that the boy had lied about being abused. The 49-year-old, a foreign national, was appealing against his conviction and sentence of 14 years’ jail and […]

At least 14 people have died and nearly 150 injured after a car bomb targeted a police station in the Afghan capital Kabul. The explosion sent a large cloud of smoke into the sky and most of those wounded were civilians. The Taliban have claimed the blast, which comes amid peace talks between them and […]

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign exchange reserves fall by $15.54 billion in July to $3.104 trillion, central bank data showed on Wednesday, as the yuan came under pressure amid rising trade tensions with the United States. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the country’s reserves, the world’s largest, would fall by $18 billion to $3.101 […]

Indian-administered Kashmir has been in a state of lockdown ever since the government decided to strip the region of its special status, with mobile phone networks, landlines and internet access cut off. The BBC has been inside Jammu and Kashmir, to hear the voices of those most affected by the change. Amid the furious debate […]

CANBERRA (DPA) – Australia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) have signed a new “enhanced partnership agreement” with a greater focus on the Pacific region. Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who is on a two-day visit to Australia, signed the deal, which is renewed every two years, with Defence Minister Linda Reynolds in Sydney […]

SINGAPORE – A watch manager of air traffic control at Changi Airport repeatedly molested his domestic helper in his home when his family members were away on holiday. Stanley Cheng Kim Han, who has been employed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore for more than 20 years, placed his head on the 23-year-old Myanmar […]

DHAKA (THE DAILY STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – It was a dramatic momentous Monday for Jammu and Kashmir. In one go, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Indian government put the militancy-hit state in a new template of its future journey along a path that is set to be very different from the one it has treaded […]