MAIMANA, Afghanistan, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- A total of 17 militants including a Taliban key commander were confirmed dead and eight others injured, as government forces targeted Taliban hideouts in Afghanistan's northern Faryab province on Monday, army spokesman Mohammad Hanif Rezai said.

Palghar, Feb 18 (PTI) Eight mandal unit chiefs of the BJP in Palghar district of Maharashtra have resigned amid apprehension that the Lok Sabha seat here, currently held by the party, may be given to the Shiv Sena as part of pre-poll alliance for the upcoming general elections.

Palghar BJP unit chief Pascal Dhanare said on Monday that eight mandal presidents of the party in the district have resigned and four more are likely to follow suit.

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China will build at least 80 million mu (5.33 million hectares) of high-standard farmland this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said Sunday.

China has started building drought and flood resistant farmland since 2011, in a bid to ensure food security. By the end of 2018, China has already developed 640 million mu of such farmland, with grain output increasing 100 kg per mu on average.

Water, fertilizer, and pesticide consumption on the farmland fell 24.3 percent, 13.8 percent and 19.1 percent, respectively, per mu.

New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) Argentina's President Mauricio Macri arrived here Sunday on a three-day India visit during which he will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enhance cooperation in key sectors such as economy, nuclear technology and space.

President Macri was received at the airport by Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore.

SANAA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi rebels on Sunday agreed to withdraw their fighters from the lifeline port city of Hodeidah under the Stockholm peace deal reached in December last year.

In a statement released by the rebel group, the Houthis said they will withdraw from the port city as the first step and facilitate access to the grain aid stored in the Red Sea Mills.

The move is based on a plan presented by Martin Griffiths, visiting UN Special Envoy to Yemen and Michael Anker Lollesgaard, head of the UN cease-fire monitor team in Hodeidah, they added.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s government announced plans on Monday for a new tax targeting online giants like Google and Facebook that earn plenty of money in the country but pay little tax.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there’s a gap that needs to be closed.

“Our current tax system is not fair in the way that it treats individual taxpayers and the way that it treats multinationals,” she said. “It’s not fair.”

Kolkata, Feb 18 (PTI) Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen Monday claimed that he has been receiving death threats from unknown persons for the past several days.

Sen, however, did not specify the reason for the threats.

ABU DHABI, February 17. /TASS/. The United Arab Emirates’ Armed Forces have purchased Russia’s Kornet-EM anti-tank missile systems and Pantsir surface-to-air missile systems, UAE Brigadier General Mohammed Hassaini told TASS on Sunday.

"The contract on Kornet-EM is to the tune of 146.92 mln dirham ($39.7 mln) and on Pantsir - more than 45 mln dirham ($12.1 mln)," he said speaking about the outcome of the first day of the IDEX-2019 international defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi.

The general gave no other details of the deal.

Lucknow, Feb 18 (PTI) Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav sought to corner the Narendra Modi government on Monday over the death of soldiers, asking "why the government is waiting and watching".

"Till when will the three day period of mourning keep getting extended? Everyday we get news of the brave martyrdom of our jawans while smiling BJP politicians accompany their funeral processions. Why is the govt waiting and watching?," he said in a tweet.

LONDON, February 17. /TASS/. The health of former Russian GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal, who London says was poisoned in an attempted murder last March, has deteriorated, the Sunday Times said.

Citing "a well-informed intelligence source," the daily reported that his condition "has taken a downturn, even though it is not deemed critical" and that Skripal had been receiving medical care at his home.

Islamabad, Feb 18; PTI/GANASHAKTI: In a tit-for-tat action, Pakistan Monday called back its High Commissioner from India for "consultations" amid heightened bilateral tensions after the Pulwama terror attack, days after New Delhi asked its envoy in Islamabad to return.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said envoy Sohail Mahmood left New Delhi on Monday morning.

"We have called back our High Commissioner in India for consultations. He left New Delhi this morning," he said on Twitter.

New Delhi, Feb 18 (PTI) Darbhanga MP Kirti Azad, who was suspended by the ruling BJP for anti-party activities, joined the Congress on Monday.

Azad, a former India cricketer and a member of the 1983 World Cup winning team met Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the morning and was inducted into the party.

"Today in front of Rahul Gandhi I joined the Congress, I felicitated him in traditional Mithila style," Azad tweeted, along with photographs of him with the Congress president.