Indian Sub-continent

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s independent human rights commission said Monday there is little chance of free and fair parliamentary elections in the country next month because of “pre-poll rigging.” It also expressed concern about authorities rejecting the candidacies of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and most other members of his party.

At a news conference in Islamabad, the co-chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Munizae Jahangir, said other political parties have been subjected to similar tactics to varying degrees.

COLOMBO, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan police have arrested 217 suspects with narcotics within 500 meters of selected schools in a special operation, police said in a press release on Saturday.

Police said that between Dec. 18 and Dec. 25, they educated workers and owners of business establishments where students congregate about the importance of creating a drug-free environment for children.

The establishments were located in 45 police divisions where drug use is prevalent, with 30,000 workers and owners having been educated, police said.

NEW DELHI, Dec 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Extreme cold and dense fog have caused travel chaos in India’s capital Delhi and other parts of northern India.

More than 100 flights and 25 trains in the city have been delayed due to poor visibility.

The city witnessed one of the foggiest days of the season so far, with visibility dropping to below 50 metres on Wednesday.

A thick blanket of mist in the morning brought traffic to a crawl and also led to accidents in some parts.

Accidents have been reported from other parts of north India as well.

AHMEDABAD, India, Dec 27 (Reuters) - India has launched an investigation into how 303 Indians ended up on a chartered flight that was grounded in France last week because of suspected human trafficking, authorities in the western Indian state of Gujarat said on Wednesday.

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will seek a fourth term in office, his party said Wednesday, noting he would be its consensus candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections and the office of the prime minister.

Sharif, who has served as prime minister three times, returned to Pakistan in October after four years of self-exile in London to avoid serving prison sentences on corruption charges.

NEW DELHI, Dec 26 (Reuters) - An explosion near the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday did not kill or wound any staff members, authorities said, adding that investigations into its cause were ongoing.

Officials were still inspecting the area but it had been reopened to the general public. There was no information suggesting anyone on the street had been hurt.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani police Monday freed 290 Baloch activists who were arrested when they attempted to hold a protest last week in the capital, Islamabad.

Their release came days after protest organizers gave authorities a deadline to release all those detained.

The activists had traveled 1,600 kilometers (about 1,000 miles) on Thursday from Turbat, a town in Baluchistan province, to protest forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the militancy-ravaged southwest.

NEW DELHI, Dec 23 (Reuters) - India's Maiden Pharmaceuticals, whose cough syrups have been linked to the deaths of children in Gambia, on Saturday denied it had tampered with test samples or bribed officials to do so, as alleged in a complaint under investigation by local health officials.

KABUL, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- About 800,000 Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland Afghanistan since October, Afghan caretaker government chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

"Since October, around 800,000 refugees have returned home, with half of them from Pakistan," the local television channel Tolonews quoted Mujahid as saying.

The majority of the remaining 400,000 others have returned from Iran and thousands of others from Türkiye, Mujahid said.

CHENNAI, Dec 22 (Reuters) - At least 31 people were killed in floods and heavy rain in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu this week, a top federal minister said on Friday, as rescuers struggled to reach scores still stranded in high waters.

Heavy rains have paralysed several districts of the state, inundating entire neighbourhoods, roads and railway tracks, days after a cyclone hit India's south-eastern coast, causing widespread damage.