JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Monday held his first cabinet meeting in the country’s future capital, despite much of the city remaining under construction as it runs behind schedule. The $32-billion megaproject Nusantara was widely expected to be inaugurated on August 17, Indonesia’s Independence Day, but building delays and funding woes have cast doubt on the schedule. Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, still hailed the city-in-progress, which is expected to be fully ready in 2045. “Not all countries have the opportunity, have the ability to build their capital starting from zero,” he said. According to Jokowi, the city is…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
TEHRAN: Iran’s former foreign minister Javad Zarif, who negotiated a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with major world powers, on Monday announced he had resigned from his new post as vice president. “To avoid any suspicions or excuses for disrupting the work of the government… I resigned from the position of vice president for strategic affairs last week,” Zarif said on social media platform X, less than two weeks after newly-elected reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian chose him as his deputy. Zarif cited several reasons for his resignation, most notably his disappointment with the line-up in the newly-proposed 19-member cabinet. “I am ashamed that…
LONDON: A 29-year-old guard at a nearby store, who gave his name as Abdullah, saved an 11-year-old girl from a knife attack in the British capital on Monday. Abdullah said he heard a scream and then saw someone “stabbing a kid”. “I jumped on him, held the hand in which he was (carrying) a knife, and just put him down on the floor and just held him and took the knife away from him,” he said. “Then a couple of more people joined as well, and we just held him until the police came”, he added. London’s Metropolitan Police said…
Donald Trump ran through his checklist of conspiracy theories Monday in a rambling conversation with his uber-wealthy supporter Elon Musk that was initially derailed by what the tech titan said was a technical glitch. In a very one-sided conversation on X, Trump vented about a “zombie apocalypse” of immigration, repeatedly blasted President Joe Biden as “stupid”, and mused about developing a new missile defense system based on the one that defends Israel The Republican standard-bearer also dismissed climate change, whose sea-level rises he said would simply create more real estate opportunities. “The biggest threat is not global warming, where the…
WASHINGTON: The United States confirmed on Monday it would resume sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, as concerns over human rights in the kingdom’s Yemen war give way to US hopes for it to play a role in resolving the conflict in Gaza. More than three years after imposing limits on human rights grounds over Saudi strikes in Yemen, the State Department said it would return to weapons sales “in regular order, with appropriate congressional notification and consultation.” “Saudi Arabia has remained a close strategic partner of the United States, and we look forward to enhancing that partnership,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel…
A court in Bangladesh opened Tuesday a murder investigation into ousted ex-premier Sheikh Hasina and six top figures in her administration over the police killing of a man during civil unrest last month. Hasina, 76, fled by helicopter a week ago to neighbouring India as protesters flooded Dhaka’s streets in a dramatic end to her iron-fisted tenure. “A case has been filed against Sheikh Hasina and six more,” said Mamun Mia, a lawyer who brought the case on behalf of a private citizen. He added that the Dhaka Metropolitan Court had ordered police to accept “the murder case against the accused persons”, the first step in a…
ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Rawalpindi on Monday rejected petitions seeking post-arrest bail of Bushra Bibi, wife of former prime minister Imran Khan, in 12 cases registered in connection with violent protests of May 9, 2023. ATC Judge Malik Ejaz Asif directed police to conclude the investigation in these cases within a week. Ms Bibi was seeking bail in FIRs registered in various police stations of Rawalpindi. The judge, however, rejected the bail petitions asking the police to complete the probe within seven days. Meanwhile, IHC Justice Minagul Hassan Aurangzeb referred to the IHC Chief Justice a petition seeking details of…
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pledged to allocate ample resources to the nation’s youth to help transform the country into a thriving, developed nation. Speaking at an event marking the International Day of Youth, organised by the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme on Monday, PM Shehbaz recalled his time as the chief minister of Punjab. He said this year, the federal government would provide one million smartphones, tablets, and laptops to top-performing students across the country, including those from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and remote areas of Balochistan. Additionally, each province had its separate programmes to support students, he said.…
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi has made it clear that no one will be allowed to run a nefarious campaign against state institutions. He expressed these views during separate meetings with MQM chairman Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and JUP Secretary General Owais Noorani on Monday. During the meetings, matters of mutual interest, the overall political situation of the country, and matters pertaining to promotion of religious harmony and brotherhood were discussed. Mr Naqvi and Mr Siddiqui strongly condemned the vicious propaganda against state institutions. The interior minister said that state institutions were a proud asset of the country and…
RAWALPINDI: More monsoon rains are expected in various parts of the country including Rawalpindi and Islamabad from August 14 evening that will continue till August 18. The Pakistan Meteorological Department has warned civic bodies to remain on alert. The Met Office said a low pressure was currently causing rain over northwestern parts of India and was likely to move towards the central parts of Pakistan in the next a couple of days carrying strong moisture from Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. “A westerly wave is likely to approach upper parts on August 14 evening. Under the influence of these…
