Saudi Arabia has approved granting Saudi citizenship to scientists, doctors, researchers, entrepreneurs, and other individuals with rare skills, experience, and specializations. According to a royal decree, the kingdom has offered citizenship to talented individuals in medical, scientific, cultural, sports, and technical fields to achieve its goals. The initiative is part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme to create an attractive environment for investing in human capital and attracting skilled labour. This move is expected to help bolster the kingdom’s economic, health, cultural, sports, and innovation sectors by bringing in prominent experts and specialists. In December 2021, Saudi leadership approved a similar…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
Keir Starmer vowed to bring change to Britain as its next prime minister after his Labour Party surged to a comprehensive win in a parliamentary election on Friday, ending 14 years of often tumultuous Conservative government. The centre-left Labour was set to win a massive majority in the 650-seat parliament with Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives poised to suffer the worst performance in the party’s long history as voters punished them for a cost of living crisis, failing public services, and a series of scandals. “Change begins now,” Starmer said in a victory speech. “We said we would end the chaos, and we will,…
Polls opened in Iran on Friday for a run-off presidential election that will test the clerical rulers’ popularity amid voter apathy at a time of regional tensions and a standoff with the West over Tehran’s nuclear programme. State TV said polling stations opened their doors to voters at 8am local time (0430 GMT). Polling will end at 6 pm (1430 GMT), but are usually extended until as late as midnight. The final result will be announced on Saturday, although initial figures may come out sooner. The run-off follows a June 28 ballot with historic low turnout, when over 60 per cent of Iranian…
LAHORE: The Punjab government has requested the interior ministry to shut down social media apps on internet from Muharram 6 to 11 to control the dissemination of hate material and misinformation in a bid to avoid sectarian violence. Sources close to the development said the provincial government had decided to go beyond the routine measures of internet suspension and mobile jamming over Ashura, after getting reports that ‘external forces’, including elements from across the border, were involved in the sharing of hate content and memes. The Standing Committee of Cabinet on Law and Order (SCCLO) as well as the Punjab…
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Expressway project which has already missed two deadlines has received a new deadline, as the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chief Muhammad Ali Randhawa asked the department concerned to wrap up the project by Aug 14 instead of Sept 30. The CDA chairman visited the project site and asked the contractor to complete the ongoing work by Aug 14. “To make Expressway a signal-free corridor, the work should be completed for its inauguration on August 14,” he told the contractor and CDA’s engineering staff during the inspection. According to a press release issued by the CDA, the chairman…
RAWALPINDI: A three-day spell of torrential rainfall from July 5 may cause flash floods in local nullahs and streams of Islamabad and Rawalpindi among other areas of the country, the Meteorological Department said on Thursday. The heavy rainfall may cause urban flooding in Rawalpindi besides other cities of Punjab while also causing landslides at vulnerable points in the hilly areas of Murree, Galiyat, and Gilgit-Baltistan, as per the statement. On Thursday, rain lashed parts of the twin cities in the small hours as well as on Wednesday night and caused inundation in low-lying parts of the garrison city. It however…
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday sought replies from the superintendent of Adiala Jail, Punjab home secretary and secretary of defence on a petition filed by former prime minister Imran Khan against meddling of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the jail administration. IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard the petition and, after a preliminary hearing, issued notices to the three government officials. The hearing was adjourned until next week. In his petition filed through his counsel Shoaib Shaheen, Mr Khan said that a major and a colonel of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) virtually control the Adiala Jail. The petition said that…
KARACHI: A 60-year-old woman traveling in a car was shot dead while her 19-year-old daughter critically wounded in suspicious circumstances on National Highway near Gulshan-i-Hadeed on Thursday evening. The police claimed that the family was caught in the crossfire between police and fleeing suspects during an ‘encounter’ and they were shot by the suspects. However, the relatives disputed this version and blamed the police for opening straight fire on the car carrying the family by “mistaking them as dacoits”. Steel Town police said that one citizen informed a patrolling police party about the presence of suspects in a white Corolla.…
QUETTA: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday emphasised the need to counter terrorism by defeating its narrative and underscored the importance of restoring peace and political stability in Balochistan through grassroots political processes. Mr Bhutto-Zardari made these remarks during a meeting at the Chief Minister Secretariat after he arrived in Quetta on a two-day visit. The meeting was attended by Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, provincial ministers, the chief secretary, and the inspector general of police. The PPP chairman urged the provincial government to expedite the compensation process for those affected by the 2022 floods. “The housing project for the flood-affected…
PPP lawmaker Marvi Faseeh submitted on Thursday a resolution to the Sindh Assembly Secretariat condemning derogatory remarks made about women by motivational speaker Sahil Adeem on a recent SAMAA TV show. Adeem had stated that 95 per cent of women in the country were ‘jahil’ (ignorant) on the SAMAA TV show Mukalma, which was hosted by controversial screen writer Khalil ur Rehman Qamar and Ayesha Jehanzeb. He doubled down on this argument when challenged by a woman in the audience. The backlash against Adeem was severe, with several people, including lawyer Jibran Nasir, calling him out for the way he handled the conversation with the…
