People shopping on Oxford Street in London during wet weather – but many more stayed at home. Photograph: Peter Summers/PA The crisis on Britain’s high streets showed no sign of easing during the storm-buffeted month of February, while new figures show the number of retail workers losing their jobs this year is approaching 20,000. Severe rain last month caused a Read More

The advisory of the Delhi government brought to my mind the ‘firmaans’ that emperors used to issue to the people with “thou shall not…”. These ‘firmaans’ were obeyed as the emperors had absolute power that could also punish instances of deviation.Individual freedoms were also circumscribed at that time by the ‘greater good’ principle. The point that then arises is whether Read More

Manama: More than 75,000 flats in Kuwait are empty and need to be “absorbed” by the real estate market in four to five years, a study has warned. According to Kuwait Real-Estate Union secretary general Ahmad Al Dewaihees, there are currently 49,130 empty flats in Kuwait and 26,466 more under construction. The percentage of flats being used has dropped by Read More

Seoul: Samsung on Friday said the crisis over its exploding Note 7 smartphones would cost another $3 billion-plus in lost profit over the next two quarters, but hoped expanded sales of its other flagship handset would help cushion the impact. The profit warning came two days after the South Korean electronics giant slashed its operating profit for the third quarter Read More

12:17  Army back in Kashmir’s crisis zone after 2 years: For the first time since 2014, the army took up positions in rural areas of four trouble-tossed South Kashmir districts of Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag, which witnessed the bulk of violence in the last two months, accounting for more than 50 of the 70 deaths. Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Read More

The India-Pakistan slugfest over Kashmir is nothing new, either in terms of intensity of vitriol or in terms of the issues raised. Enough of opinions on the mutual grandstanding by the two nuclear armed South Asian neighbours. The question remains: What should be India’s strategy to deal with Pakistan? N A Prasad, a senior Research and Analysis Wing officer who Read More

The India-Pakistan slugfest over Kashmir is nothing new, either in terms of intensity of vitriol or in terms of the issues raised. Enough of opinions on the mutual grandstanding by the two nuclear armed South Asian neighbours. The question remains: What should be India’s strategy to deal with Pakistan? N A Prasad, a senior Research and Analysis Wing officer who Read More

With the valley on the boil following protests over the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, a grenade attack on CRPF troop in Nowhatta, Srinagar resulted in three jawans getting injured. The attack targeted a troop of 28 Bn CRPF who were deployed in the area. The injured jawans were immediately rushed to the SMHS hospital in Karan Nagar Read More

Unite said the government’s handling of the crisis last week had been an “absolute disaster” Union leaders are calling on David Cameron to take personal charge of talks to prevent the closure of Tata Steel’s Port Talbot plant. They have accused Business Secretary Sajid Javid of “taking his eye off the ball” and say the PM needs “to get a Read More