PARIS: French voters flocked to the polls in numbers not seen for decades on Sunday for the first round of snap parliamentary elections, which could see the far-right party of Marine Le Pen take power in a historic first. President Emmanuel Macron stunned the nation by calling snap polls after the far-right National Rally (RN) party trounced his centrist forces in European Parliament elections this month. But the gamble risks backfiring, with Macron’s alliance predicted in opinion polls to come only third behind the rampant RN and a new leftist New Popular Front (NFP). Julien Martin, a 38-year-old architect, voting in the southwestern…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
The Arab League says it has decided to remove Hezbollah from its blacklist, as conditions for establishing relations with the Lebanese resistance movement have been met, Anadolu Agency reported. In a statement aired on Egyptian Al-Qahera News, Arab League assistant secretary-general Hossam Zaki said that the member states “agreed that the label of Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation should no longer be employed.” “In previous Arab League decisions, Hezbollah was designated as a terrorist organisation, and this designation was reflected in the resolutions, leading to the severing of communication based on these decisions.” In March 2016, the Arab League accused Hezbollah of “promoting…
TEHRAN: The first round of Iran’s presidential election revealed shrinking support for both reformists and conservatives even though some voters are pushing for change by backing the sole reformist candidate, analysts say. Masoud Pezeshkian, the reformist contender, and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili led the polls held on Friday to replace the late ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month. Friday’s vote, marked by a historically low turnout, “clearly shows that both reformists’ and conservatives’ bases have considerably shrunk,” said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group think tank. In the lead-up to the election, Iran’s main reformist coalition supported Pezeshkian,…
KARACHI: The Taliban government has urged the world to lift the sanctions imposed on Afghanistan, even though the Kabul government fails to address global concerns over the grim situation of human rights and girls’ education in the country. In his inaugural remarks at the Doha talks, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, who is leading the delegation attending the Doha talks, said the process of easing financial and trade sanctions has been “slow”, leading to several challenges for the Afghan government and the private sector. Ahead of the talks on Sunday, the delegation also met with representatives from the UN, Russia, Pakistan,…
GAZA STRIP: Heavy battles and bombardment hit Gaza City’s Shujaiya district for a fourth day on Sunday, months after Israel declared Hamas’s command structure dismantled in the northern area. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the devastated neighbourhood, where the army said it has fought Palestinian fighters both “above and below ground” in tunnels. Months of on-and-off talks towards a Gaza truce and hostage release deal have meanwhile made little progress, with Hamas saying there was “nothing new” in a revised plan presented by US mediators. The Israeli military said ground and air forces had carried out raids on compounds used by fighters…
RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan International Airlines has announced a reduction in Umrah fares to facilitate pilgrims. A PIA spokesman said on Sunday that the airline’s management has reduced Umrah fares, which will remain effective till July 15 this year. He said the return fare for Umrah from Karachi to Madina will be Rs76,000 plus tax. The spokesman said that the return fare from Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Multan and Sialkot to Madina will be Rs86,000 plus tax. “The discounted fares will take effect immediately,” the spokesman said. The government has imposed federal excise duty (FED) on international travel in the recently approved…
ISLAMABAD: Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Romina Khurshid Alam on Sunday claimed that comprehensive measures were being taken to prepare for potential floods ahead of the upcoming monsoon season. In a statement, she said these proactive efforts were aimed at minimising the impact of floods on vulnerable communities. She said the ministry was serving as a collaborative platform for all relevant departments to assess flood vulnerability in the country’s flood-prone areas and develop a unified strategy to mitigate the effects of potential floods on lives and livelihoods, agricultural crops and public infrastructure. The PM’s…
ISLAMABAD: A new polio vaccination campaign, aiming to inoculate more than 9.5 million children under the age of five, will begin in 41 districts across the country from today (Monday). The polio outbreak response campaign comes on the back of three cases reported from Balochistan and Sindh last week, taking the total number of cases since the start of the year to eight. The house-to-house campaign will be held in 16 districts of Balochistan, 11 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, eight districts of Sindh, five districts of Punjab and Islamabad. In a statement, the newly appointed prime minister’s focal person on polio, Ayesha…
RAWALPINDI: Almost 100 days on, the Punjab government has failed to form the governing body for the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), which has stalled the budget preparation of the apex civic body for the new fiscal year, which starts today. According to the relevant laws, the governing body, which also includes local lawmakers, is supposed to approve the annual budget. The RDA’s governing body comprises a chairman and 16 members, such as secretaries of finance, local government, and urban development; the Rawalpindi commissioner, deputy commissioner, and mayor; RDA director general; Wasa managing director, three MPAs, and two technical members. After…
SAHIWAL: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has awarded the death sentence to a Christian youth, who is alleged to have circulated a social media post that led to riots in the town of Jaranwala in August last year. Sahiwal ATC Special Judge Ziaullah Khan announced the verdict, also sentencing the young man to 22 years in prison and imposing a fine of Rs1 million. Dozens of Christian homes and around 20 churches were vandalised and ransacked by mobs in Jaranwala following allegations that a copy of the Holy Quran had been desecrated. Punjab police had claimed last year that around 135 miscreants had been booked…
