Major Sania Safdar of the Pakistan Army, currently serving with the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), has become the first peacekeeper from the mission to receive the 2023 ‘Certificate of Recognition’ for advocating gender equality. The award, issued by the UN Department for Peace Operations in New York, was presented to Maj Safdar by Colin Stewart, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Cyprus, as per a statement from the mission on Wednesday. Maj Safdar expressed the significance of the award, stating, “Receiving this certificate as the first peacekeeper from UNFICYP is deeply meaningful to me and significant…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
On Thursday, a Lahore district court granted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) a four-day physical remand of anchorperson Orya Maqbool Jan in connection with his social media posts related to the Mubarak Sani case. Jan was arrested earlier in the day by the FIA’s cybercrime wing and detained at its Gulberg office in Lahore. His lawyer confirmed the arrest, stating that Jan would be presented in court later in the day. During the court proceedings, the FIA requested a 14-day physical remand for Jan. However, Jan’s lawyer, Advocate Mian Ali Ashfaq, argued that his client had not insulted anyone and…
In a tragic incident on Thursday, two young girls were killed, and five children, along with a man, were injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a school van in the Dheri Kot area of Attock District, police and rescue officials reported. The attack occurred around 8 a.m. as the children were on their way to school. The assailants, who fled the scene, were reportedly involved in ongoing court cases with the van’s driver, who was also injured in the shooting, according to Attock police spokesperson Waseem Babar. The two girls who lost their lives were aged 10 or 11,…
Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, Pakistan’s newly appointed Ambassador to the United States, officially began his duties on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP). Sheikh’s appointment was announced by the Foreign Office in June, alongside the appointment of Asim Iftikhar as Pakistan’s additional permanent representative to the United Nations in New York. His arrival in Washington D.C. marks the end of an overdue transition, as the previous ambassador, Masood Khan, had already received a three-month extension after his contract ended in March. In his initial statements, Sheikh highlighted his top priorities, which include strengthening the relationship between Pakistan and…
On Thursday, a district court in Lahore extended the physical remand of a local resident, Farhan Asif, by four more days. Asif is accused of playing a role in inciting recent anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant riots in the UK through disinformation. Initially detained by Lahore police, Asif was later handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) cybercrime wing. The FIA presented him before a magistrate, requesting an extension of his physical remand for further investigation. The case against Asif stems from allegations that he uploaded a misleading news article on the website Channel3Now, which reportedly contributed to the unrest in…
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan heard the Punjab government’s urgent application seeking the omission of specific portions from its July 24 verdict in the Mubarak Ahmad Sani case. Earlier, on February 6, a two-judge bench led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa overturned the 2019 conviction of Mubarak Sani, who had been accused under the Punjab Holy Quran (Printing and Recording) (Amendment) Act. The court ruled that the offense Sani was accused of was not criminalized until 2021, leading to his release. This decision sparked a significant backlash, with the Punjab government challenging the ruling, particularly regarding paragraph…
Last week, five bullet-riddled bodies of Afghan nationals were found hanging from an electric pole in Dalbandin city, Balochistan, near the Afghanistan-Iran border. On Thursday, the Afghan embassy in Islamabad confirmed that the bodies had been returned to their families. The embassy’s statement indicated that the bodies were handed over at the Spin Boldak-Chaman border crossing on Wednesday after their consulate in Balochistan made significant efforts to facilitate the return. The embassy described the killings as brutal and carried out by unknown assailants. Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, approximately 600,000 Afghans have migrated to Pakistan. However, relations…
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb assured on Thursday that the government remains “very committed” to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s structural reforms, despite uncertainties surrounding the $7 billion bailout schedule. Concerns emerged when Pakistan’s name was absent from the IMF executive board’s agenda for August 28. The finance minister had previously anticipated board approval by late August, contingent on confirmation of $12 billion in debt rollovers from China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. To date, only $1 billion has been rolled over by the UAE, with the remaining $11 billion still pending. The IMF executive board is now expected to approve…
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WASHINGTON: Derek Chauvin has been transferred to a prison in Texas, the US Federal Bureau of Prisons said on Tuesday, nine months after the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the death of George Floyd survived a prison stabbing in Arizona. Key quote “We can confirm Derek Michael Chauvin was transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Big Spring on August 20, 2024,” a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said in an emailed statement. Why its important Chauvin was stabbed about 22 times last year while incarcerated in Tucson, the U.S. Justice Department said in December. Chauvin was seriously injured but survived. Chauvin…
