US Vice President Kamala Harris said on Thursday that she expressed concern about the situation in the Gaza Strip to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the White House. “I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there, with over 2 million people facing high levels of food insecurity and half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity,” Harris told reporters after the closed-door meeting with Netanyahu. The meeting came a day after Netanyahu addressed a joint session of the US Congress, where he claimed that the conflict in Gaza has “one of the lowest…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he was ready to work with Joe Biden for the rest of his presidency, as the two leaders met for the first time at the White House for talks on a Gaza ceasefire. “I want to thank you for the 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said after they shook hands in the historic setting of the Oval Office. “And I look forward to discussing with you today and working with you in the months ahead.” Biden stunned the world on…
Vice President Kamala Harris took her presidential campaign blitz to the largest US teachers’ union on Thursday, promising a “fight for the future” as new opinion polls showed her narrowing the gap with Republican rival Donald Trump. Harris’ swift emergence as the successor to President Joe Biden, 81, as the Democratic presidential candidate in the Nov 5 election has shaken up a stagnant presidential race, with polls showing her narrowing former President Trump’s advantage. In an address in Houston to the American Federation of Teachers, Harris, 59, focused on economic policy and workers’ rights, touting plans for affordable healthcare and child care…
ISLAMABAD: The Director General of Immigration and Passports, Mustafa Jamal Qazi, told a Senate panel that the backlog of passports had skyrocketed. According to an official statement, he told the Senate Standing Committee on Interior that while there was no backlog in the overseas category, around 16.5 million applications were pending in the ‘normal’ category. But on the face of it, the figure seems to be on the higher side, since the backlog stood at around 0.8m in May, and some observers believe the figure mentioned in the official statement could be a typo. On Thursday, Mr Qazi informed the…
PESHAWAR: Civilian security forces, including the police’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), will lead the operation against militants in the province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s apex committee decided on Thursday. It was also decided that the provincial government would request the judiciary to form a commission to probe the clashes which resulted in the death of one person during a peace march last week. Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur chaired the apex committee meeting, which included civil and military officials. The committee condemned all forms of militants and decided to take broad action against “unauthorised” armed persons and their hideouts across the province, according…
ISLAMABAD: Inordinate delay by judges in issuing written orders has caught the chief justice’s attention, prompting him to advise his colleagues to deliver judgements in “reasonable time”. In his additional note which accompanied a written order on Thursday, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa said judges must be “beyond reproach” in their work ethics and highlighted that as per the law and good practice, written orders should be issued soon after the hearing ends. The 16-page order, authored by Justice Athar Minallah, explained the reasons for setting aside a Sindh High Court (SHC) order of June 2013 declaring…
KARACHI: The completion of multibillion-rupee Greater Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme, commonly known as K-IV, remains a distant dream even after its formal launch in 2011 as authorities on Thursday disclosed that despite groundbreaking of the project 13 years ago, only less than 50 per cent of construction is done. The officials expect that first phase of the project could be completed in 2025 and that too “is subject to timely provision of funds”. These details emerged during a briefing given to chairman of Water & Power Development Authority (Wapda) retired Lt-Gen Sajjad Ghani, who visited the K-IV construction site…
ISLAMABAD: Amid reports of official documents being leaked from the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly Secretariat has warned its employees to stay away from politics and sought details of mobile phones registered in their names. “Taking serious cognisance of various instances of unlawful and uncalled for attitude of certain employees, the competent authority has strictly directed all employees of the Secretariat to refrain from unauthorised access to official information and leakage of such information to unauthorised quarters; bringing influence for employment-related matters; indulging in political, illegal and unethical activities; glorification of detrimental/irresponsible sentiments through social media platforms; and…
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday approached the Supreme Court requesting Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa not to head any bench that takes up matters involving him, his wife or any family member, the PTI or the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). In an application before the three-judge committee constituted under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, namely CJP, senior puisne judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Imran Khan said he had expected that on assumption of high office of the CJP, the past (filing of a reference against Justice Isa by the PTI…
ISLAMABAD: As the PTI gears up for nationwide protests today (Friday), its founder Imran Khan on Thursday cautioned Chief of the Army Staff Gen Asim Munir that the Shehbaz Sharif-led government was trying to pit the military, PTI and the masses against each other. The former prime minister also accused the interior and foreign ministers of deliberately staying out of the spotlight, and using the armed forces as their spokespersons. Meanwhile, the Punjab Home Department and Islamabad’s local administration on Thursday imposed Section 144, an emergency law that bans public gatherings, across the province and the federal capital in anticipation of…
