Taliban in a statement rejected any involvement in the attack and said they condemn the incidents which target women and children.

KABUL: The Afghan government has postponed celebrations to commemorate the 100th Independence Day of Afghanistan which was scheduled for Monday in the historic Dar-ul-Aman Palace.

Presidential spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi said the Secretariat tasked to organise the 100th Independence Celebrations of Afghanistan has postponed the event as per President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s instructions in a bid to pay respect to families of deadly bombing attack victims in Kabul, reported Khaama

Sediqqi further added that that the President will deliver a speech and lay wreath in Independence Minaret to honour the 100th Independence Day of Afghanistan and pay tribute to the martyrs of the freedom.

This comes as a suicide bomber targeted a wedding ceremony in West of Kabul city late on Saturday night killing 63 or wounding 182.

Meanwhile, the victims of the deadly bombing were buried on Sunday. Most of them were laid to rest in groups.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani in a statement said: ” I strongly condemn the inhumane attack on the wedding hall. “My top priority, for now, is to reach out to the families of victims of this barbaric attack,” reported Tolo News.

Taliban in a statement rejected any involvement in the attack and said they condemn the incidents which target women and children.

But Afghan President Ghani said, “Taliban cannot absolve themselves of blame because they provide a platform for terrorists.”

The temple had been closed during partition

A 1,000-year-old Hindu temple in Pakistan Punjab’s Sialkot city, which was sealed for the last 72 years, has been reopened for people.

Shawala Teja Singh Temple in Dhaarowal was built by Sardar Teja Singh and closed during partition. The Hindus of Sialkot stopped visiting the temple after a mob damaged it in 1992 while protesting the demolition of the Babri Masjid in India, SAMAA TV reported.

The step was taken on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan, said the report.

“We are thankful to the government for opening our temple,” said a Hindu man while speaking to SAMAA TV. “We can come here whenever we want now.”

“People are free to visit anytime,” said deputy commissioner Bilal Haider.

The government said that the work to preserve and restore the temple will start soon.

At least 18 people were killed and several injured when a small military plane crashed into a residential area near the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi.

Five crew members and 13 civilians were among the dead, rescue services said.

The aircraft was on a training flight when it crashed and set off a fire across several homes. One witness said the plane was ablaze before the crash.

The King Air 350 turboprop reportedly took a steep turn near its destination airport before coming down.Image captionThe city of Rawalpindi is the site of the army’s headquarters

Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, is the site of the Pakistani army’s headquarters, and the plane belonged to the Pakistani Army’s aviation unit.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan offered his condolences and wished a “quick recovery for the injured”, according to a tweet sent by the Pakistani government.

How did the plane come down?

Witnesses at the scene said the aircraft crashed into a family home in a residential area around 02:00 local time (07:00 GMT).

“I was awake when the plane flew over my room and it was already on fire in the air,” said resident Ghulam Khan. “The sound was so scary, it was only a small plane. It then fell on a house where a family used to live.”

Another witness, Yasir Baloch, said: “The tail of the plane was on fire and it took barely two to three seconds and it crashed four houses away from my house and burnt to ashes.”

A resident near the site of the crash who gave his name as Yamin said he had escaped his burning house with his wife, daughter and parents, but his brother, sister-in-law and nephew died.

“The window and door to their room was locked. We tried our best to get them out but couldn’t,” he said.Image captionMourners gathered at the site of the plane crash

Pictures from the scene showed blackened buildings that had been reduced to rubble. A reporter from the AFP news agency said smoke was still rising from the wreckage and pieces of the plane were visible on a nearby roof.

Several injured were rushed to hospital, Pakistan’s emergency rescue services said. The bodies of the dead were taken away to be identified.

“All the bodies are badly burned, so DNA tests are required for identification,” said Farooq Butt, a spokesman for the rescue services.

What is Pakistan’s safety record like?

Pakistan has a chequered aviation safety record, including a number of airliner crashes.

In 2010, an aircraft operated by private airline Airblue crashed near Islamabad, killing all 152 people on board – the deadliest air disaster in Pakistani history.

In 2012, a Boeing 737-200 operated by Pakistan’s Bhoja Air crashed in bad weather on its approach to land in Rawalpindi, killing all 121 passengers and six crew.

And in 2016, a Pakistan International Airlines plane burst into flames while travelling from northern Pakistan to Islamabad, killing 47 people.

China’s reaction came after US President Donald Trump on Monday offered to be the “mediator” between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue during his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House.

BEIJING: 

China on Friday said India and Pakistan should peacefully settle the Kashmir issue and other disputes through dialogue and expressed its support to the international community, including the US, in playing a “constructive role” to improve Indo-Pak ties.

China’s reaction came after US President Donald Trump on Monday offered to be the “mediator” between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue during his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said “as a neighbour to both Pakistan and India, China sincerely hopes that Pakistan and India can live in harmony”.

“We hope the two countries can peacefully settle the Kashmir issue and other bilateral disputes through dialogue, and make concerted efforts to safeguard peace and stability in South Asia,” Hua said in a guarded reaction.

“We support the international community, the US included, in playing a constructive role in improving Pakistan-India relations through dialogue,” Hua was quoted as saying by the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), the official news agency of Pakistan.

President Trump, who is known to make inaccurate statements, claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him to mediate on the Kashmir issue during the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.

India has denied Donald Trump’s claim and said PM Modi made no such request and Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has refuted that PM Modi ever made the request to President Trump.

“I would like to categorically assure the House that no such request has been made by the Prime Minister to the US President. I repeat, no such request was made by the Prime Minister to the US President,” he said in a statement to Parliament.

After Donald Trump’s remarks, the US State Department, in a damage control effort, later said it considered Kashmir a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and was ready to help only if the two countries wanted.

Over the years, China’s official stand on Kashmir has been that it is an issue left over by history and should be properly addressed by India and Pakistan through consultation and negotiations.

The aerial footage has been viewed over seven lakh times and has collected over three lakh likes on Twitter, with many people praising the group for saving the truck driver.

A group of good Samaritans came to the rescue of a crash victim who was trapped inside a pick-up truck after the vehicle turned turtle on a busy Illinois highway. The video, which went viral after it was tweeted by ABC Chicago station, shows a speeding truck spinning out of control and flipping over, trapping the driver inside.

Seeing the tragedy, a group of good Samaritans quickly reached the spot and flipped the truck back on its side so the driver, who has been identified as one Orlando Hernandez, could escape. The driver finally managed to come out with only a few scrapes and cuts.

The other Indian cities in the list include New Delhi at 118th place, Chennai (154), Bengaluru (179) and Kolkata (189).

NEW DELHI: Mumbai is India’s most expensive city and among the top 20 costliest cities surveyed in Asia for expatriates, as residential housing prices remain among the highest in the world, a survey by global consulting leader Mercer says.

According to Mercer’s, Mumbai fell 12 spots and was ranked at the 67th position out of 209 cities sur25th Annual Cost of Living Surveyveyed.

Regarding Mumbai the report said, “costs of items such as eating out and utilities show decline, however, residential housing costs remain among the most expensive in the world, contributing to its top rankings in Asia and globally”. The other Indian cities in the list include New Delhi at 118th place, Chennai (154), Bengaluru (179) and Kolkata (189).

All the four cities have moved down from last year. “A relatively slower price increase in surveyed Indian cities and major currencies weakening against the US dollar has pushed our Indian cities down in the ranking,” said Padma Ramanathan, India Global Mobility Practice Leader at Mercer.

The survey noted that eight out of the top ten of the world’s most expensive cities for expatriates are Asian cities, resulting from high costs for expatriate consumer goods and a dynamic housing market. The costliest city in the world for the second consecutive year is Hong Kong followed by Tokyo, Singapore and Seoul.

Other cities appearing in the top ten list are Zurich (5), Shanghai (6), Ashgabat (7), Beijing (8), New York City (9), and Shenzhen (10). The world’s least expensive cities for expatriates are Tunis (209), Tashkent (208), and Karachi (207).

The survey further noted that across continents, Indian multinationals have been driving key talent mobilisation into countries like the USA (especially in the hi-tech sector), UAE, UK, Kenya and Bangladesh.

According to the survey, a number of factors – like currency fluctuations, cost of inflation for goods and services and volatility in accommodation prices – contribute to the overall cost of expatriate packages for employees on international assignments.

The figures for Mercer’s cost of living and rental accommodation cost comparisons are derived from a survey conducted in March 2019. Exchange rates from that time and Mercer’s international basket of goods and services from its cost of living survey have been used as base measurements.

Although Xi’s much-anticipated meet with Trump to end the trade war will be the major highlight of the summit, his trilateral meet with Modi and Putin will also draw attention.

BEIJING: The leaders of China, India and Russia will meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit later this week in Japan to discuss ways to counter US President Donald Trump’s “protectionist” trade policy and bullying practices.

Ahead of President Xi Jinping’s visit to Osaka to attend the summit on June 28-29, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Jun on Monday said the leader will have a sit-down with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the meet.

Zhang said the trilateral meet, which first occurred at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires last year, is of great significance and will have a positive outcome of this time.

“Indeed during the Osaka summit, the leaders of China, Russia and India will have a trilateral meeting. The mechanism of China, India, Russia trilateral meeting has maintained a sound momentum of development,” Zhang said at a press conference.

“Under the current circumstances, it important for the three countries to strengthen coordination of major global issues and jointly uphold multilateralism, oppose protectionism and deepen cooperation on multilateral and international affairs to make an important contribution to the global peace.

“China will work with others to firmly uphold multilateralism. The international community has fully recognised the repercussions of unilateralism, protectionism and bullying practices,” he added.

Although Xi’s much-anticipated meet with Trump to end the trade war will be the major highlight of the summit, his trilateral meet with Modi and Putin will also draw attention.

Modi will also have a one-on-one with Xi and Putin separately.

After waging a damaging trade war on China, Trump seems to have turned to India. Earlier this month, Washington ended the preferential trade treatment to Indian goods that allowed their duty-free entry into the US.

India hit back by imposing tariffs on US products which it had held off for long.

Without naming the US, China’s Vice Minister of Commerce, Wang Shouwen, who was also briefing the media said that “some individual country has been insisting on unilateralism, protectionism and abusing trade remedial measures (and) national security exceptionalism”.

“That country has slapped tariffs on its trading partners, causing a major threat to global trade, investment and economic growth,” Wang added.

US’ rivalry with its former Cold War ally Russia is well known. The Trump administration is also insisting India, Turkey, and others to scrap defence deals with Kremlin.

The US-led coalition said Friday it had unintentionally killed more than 1,300 civilians in air strikes during its fight against the Islamic State groupin Iraq and Syria since 2014.

The figure is far lower than the death tolls given by groups which have monitored the conflicts in the two countries.

“The coalition conducted 34,502 strikes between August 2014 and the end of April 2019,” it said in a statement.

During this period, it “assesses at least 1,302 civilians have been unintentionally killed by coalition strikes”.

The coalition said it was still assessing 111 additional claims of civilians deaths and was ready to receive new allegations or fresh evidence to review.

The coalition has repeatedly said it does all it can to avoid civilian deaths.

Watch: Wounded and alone, children emerge from last Islamic State enclave in Baghouz

Airwars, an NGO which monitors civilian casualties from air strikes worldwide, estimates more than 7,900 civilians have been killed in coalition raids — well in excess of the total acknowledged by the coalition.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, says coalition strikes have taken the lives of 3,800 civilians in Syria alone.

IS jihadists seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, declaring a “caliphate” in areas they controlled.

But several offensives with coalition backing chipped away at the “caliphate” until it was declared eliminated on March 23.

Ambushes and hit-and-run attacks have continued in both countries.

The coalition is continuing to work “to deny Daesh any physical space and influence in the region as well as deny Daesh the resources they need to resurge”, it said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

Agencies

Relations between Indian and Pakistan yet to thaw after military standoff in February over the disputed Kashmir region.

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan has attributed the snub of India not inviting its Prime Minister Imran Khan for Narendra Modi’s oath-taking ceremony to the Indian leader’s election campaign that “focus[ed] on Pakistan-bashing”.

Speaking to a Pakistani television news channel on Monday evening, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi reiterated his country’s invitation to India to engage in dialogue on all outstanding issues.

Relations between the two countries have yet to thaw after a military standoff following a suicide attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed at least 40 people in mid-February.

The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

India accused Pakistan of “controlling” the attack and the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) armed group that carried it out. Pakistan denied any connection to the attack or JeM.

The standoff saw both sides conduct air attacks on each other’s territory, and an Indian fighter jet shot down during an aerial dogfight.

India suspended all dialogue following the standoff, and Modi made frequent references to the military action against Pakistan during an election campaign that saw him sweep back to power, winning 303 of the 542 seats in India’s parliament.

His National Democratic Alliance won 352 seats in all, according to official results.

“The issue on which Narendra Modi fought the election, the whole focus was on Pakistan bashing [and] on fanning nationalism,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi told Geo News on Monday.

“Now, to expect that he will be able to rid himself of that narrative within a moment, and open himself up to the entire opposition’s criticism, that is unlikely.”

‘Hold dialogue on real issues’

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led the right-wing alliance to sweep back to power on the back of a platform promising economic prosperity, and frequently referred to hardline action against Pakistan as a form of nationalism that India was in need of.READ MORE

‘Breaking the silence’: Report documents torture in Kashmir

On Monday, Raveesh Kumar, the Indian foreign ministry spokesperson, said that India’s invitations to the oath-taking were “in line with government’s focus on its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy”.

India is inviting the leaders of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal,  Bhutan, Mauritius and Kyrgyzstan to the oath-taking on May 30, according to a government statement. 

Qureshi reiterated that Pakistan desired a resumption of bilateral dialogue with India, not an invitation to a ceremony.

“Even if [Pakistani PM] Imran Khan did go, then what would we have gained from attending this oath-taking? We can only attain something when we hold dialogue on the real issues.”

Qureshi briefly met Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Kyrgyzstan last week, the highest-level contact between the two countries since the military standoff in February and March.

Aljazeera

A day after three consecutive blasts in Kathmandu claimed the lives of four people, Nepal on Monday morning witnessed incidents of violence in different parts of the country.

A parked truck was set on fire in the Nawalparasi district, while a bus was found burned down in the Surkhet district of Nepal’s Karnali province, police said.

Nepalese army diffused three bombs in the Pokhara municipality, and one other in the Annapurna Municipality of the Kaski district.

Police have arrested nine people in connection with Sunday`s blasts that took place in Sukedhara, Ghattekulo and Naagdhunga areas of Kathmandu and claimed lives of 4 people and injured 9 others.

Police believe that a banned communist group suspected of yesterday`s bombing is also behind the incidents reported across the country today.

The Government of Nepal had recently blacklisted this splinter Maoist group for its extortion and violent activities. The group had called for a strike on Monday to protest against the government`s attempt to contain it.  

Agencies