HIGHBRIDGE: Lynne Ingram cuts a peaceful figure as she tends to a row of humming beehives in a leafy corner of Somerset, southwest England. But the master beekeeper, who has been keeping hives for more than 40 years, has found herself in a fight against a tricky and evolving foe — honey fraudsters. The practice of adulterating honey is well known, and historically adulterants such as ash and potato flour have been used. Now, advancements in technology and science have made it much easier, with “bespoke, designer or bioengineered” syrups used as diluting agents capable of fooling authenticity tests, Ingram…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
KHAN YUNIS: Gaza’s Civil Defence agency said it received the bodies of 80 unidentified Palestinians from Israel on Monday, which it buried in a mass grave. “We received 80 bodies inside 15 bags, with more than four martyrs in each bag, each wrapped in a single shroud”, Civil Defence director Yamen Abu Suleiman said. Abu Suleiman said Israeli authorities did not provide any information about the bodies, including their names or where they were found or taken from. “We do not know if they are martyrs (killed in Gaza) or prisoners from (Israel’s) jails”, he added. Journalists on the scene…
DHAKA: Curfew has been lifted, communications largely restored and scores of demonstrators arrested during weeks of protests are being released, as Bangladesh comes to terms with life after Sheikh Hasina. The matriarch fled into exile after stepping down as prime minister on Monday, her resignation prompted by a bloody crackdown on demonstrations that began as protests against job quotas, and swelled into a movement demanding her ouster. It was army chief Gen Wakeruz Zaman who announced her resignation in a televised address to the nation, and said an interim government would be formed. Jubilant crowds stormed into the opulent grounds of the presidential residence unopposed,…
Bangladesh’s president dissolved parliament on Tuesday, paving the way for the formation of an interim government, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country following a violent crackdown on a student-led uprising. A statement from President Mohammed Shahabuddin’s office also said that Hasina’s arch-rival, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister, had been freed from house arrest. Student protesters had threatened more demonstrations if parliament was not dissolved. The decision was taken following meetings with the heads of defence forces, leaders of political parties, student leaders and some civil society representatives, the presidential statement said.…
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa has explained that the Arshad Sharif case was not fixed before a five-judge larger bench as it didn’t require any constitutional interpretation. The CJP outlined the reason on Aug 1 while heading the meeting of the committee formed under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 to fix cases. The meeting was held after Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, who was heading a three-judge bench, referred the case back to the committee on the grounds that a five-judge larger bench previously heard the case and it should be fixed before a bench with the…
KHYBER: Following the sudden implementation of the Temporary Admission Document (TAD), over 1,000 Pakistani trucks have been stranded on the Afghan side of the Torkham border since August 1 as the drivers didn’t possess the new travel document and were caught unawares by the decision. ADVERTISEMENT Sources at the border told Dawn that customs officials only allowed the transporters with TADs to travel through the Torkham border while carrying different trade merchandise, and didn’t permit those who had yet to acquire the document. Officials said around 200 loaded vehicles with drivers possessing TADs crossed over to Afghanistan daily since August 1 when…
GWADAR / QUETTA: Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders have demanded FIRs against security personnel who allegedly opened fire on the protesters in Gwadar and Noshki, killing four people and injuring six others. A senior official of the Home Department in Quetta told Dawn that the protesting BYC leaders have put the fresh demands before the government committee, which is holding a second round of talks with them. According to Home Department officials, the second round of negotiations between the BYC leadership and the government team, led by Senior Minister Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, reviewed the implementation of the previous agreement reached between the two sides.…
ISLAMABAD: The furore over bloated bills reached the Supreme Court on Monday with two petitioners seeking a declaration that electricity supply to citizens “on a least cost basis” is the responsibility of the federal government under Article 9 of the Constitution. They also sought an order for the federal government to share with the apex court details of all power purchase agreements, implementation agreements and related agreements. One petition was moved by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry through its Vice President Zaki Aijaz and the other by Lahore High Court Bar Association President Muhammad Asad Manzoor…
RAWALPINDI: The traffic congestion in the city continued on Monday as the sit-in of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) on Murree Road at Liaquat Bagh entered its 10th consecutive day. The disruption in travel caused significant difficulties for the commuters as the traffic between Rawalpindi and Islamabad remained halted. The government and private employees working in Islamabad faced problems while using Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed Road and the old Airport Road. These roads, crucial for access to Islamabad, are now heavily congested due to the traffic diversion caused by the closure of Liaquat Bagh. The Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed Road, already burdened by heavy vehicles…
ISLAMABAD: The sudden death of an opposition lawmaker on Monday thwarted the government’s attempt to get the controversial elections amendment bill passed from the National Assembly. But Speaker Ayaz Sadiq caused a stir when he informed the house he had been unable to trace another opposition member, who was abducted by unknown armed men near Gujranwala last week, further complicating matters. The speaker had uttered similar words on Friday, when opposition members raised the issue of the alleged kidnapping of the PTI-backed MNA from Mandi Bahauddin, Haji Imtiaz Ahmed. PM Shehbaz Sharif had also assured the opposition on the floor of the…
