ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday briefed his Chinese counterpart Qi Yanjun on the progress made in the probe into the Bisham attack in which five Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver were killed. During a meeting at the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations in New York, Mr Naqvi and Mr Qi discussed bilateral relations, security-related matters and cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of two countries. The Chinese minister expressed satisfaction over the progress in the unfortunate incident and praised Pakistani agencies for their hard work and professional approach. He said China would provide full cooperation in training and capacity…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Amid a surge in terror incidents, which Pakistan blames on the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leadership hiding in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Thursday hinted at the possibility of cross-border strikes to eliminate militant hideouts in the neighbouring country. The defence minister’s statement came on the same day as Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s warning about the critical security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The JUI-F chief said that things had reached a point where even the police could not go out at night due to the presence of armed men. In an interview with Voice of America, the defence minister said Islamabad could…
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday filed a petition before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking judicial intervention in the affairs of the Rawalpindi Central Jail, saying the prison is being managed by officials of an intelligence agency. In the petition filed through his counsel Shoaib Shaheen, Mr Khan said that two intelligence officials virtually control the prison. The petition said that despite IHC’s clear orders, the superintendent of Adiala Jail did not allow him to consult with the PTI leadership as well as lawyers. He cited the case recently decided by the IHC in which the high…
The National Assembly on Friday passed the government’s tax-heavy finance bill for the coming fiscal year ahead of more talks on a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout as it seeks to avert a debt default for an economy growing at the slowest pace in South Asia. The government presented the tax-loaded budget two weeks ago, drawing sharp criticism from opposition parties, especially the PTI, as well as coalition ally PPP. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb had moved the finance bill in parliament, which had been opened to seek amendments and debate by the ruling alliance led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and its opposition. Opposition parties, mainly parliamentarians backed by…
KARACHI: A brief spell of light rain brought some respite for the people of Karachi on Thursday after they braved extreme weather conditions with mercury crossing 40° Celsius for the fifth consecutive day. The hot and humid weather continues to take a heavy toll on the elderly and patients as seven more people, including a senior journalist, died from heatstroke on Thursday. The Met Office said that the maximum temperature in the city was 40.5°C with 52 per cent relative humidity. At 2:00pm, the heat index, or the feels-like temperature, was 53°C in the city when the actual temperature was 40°C and…
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the ECP to furnish a clear list of PTI’s candidates, who had furnished both the declaration, as well as the party affiliation certificates, along with their nomination papers for the Feb 8 polls. Justice Yahya Afridi, a member of the full court, asked the ECP to provide such information for clarity due to anomalies which cropped up during the hearing. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa heads the full court hearing the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) appeal against the March 14 Peshawar High Court’s denial of reserved seats to the party. The CJP observed that…
A child died and 41 others sustained injuries after a school bus they were travelling in plunged into a ditch in Swat’s Khwazakhela tehsil, officials said. According to Rescue 1122 spokesperson Shafiqa Gul, the bus was taking the children home from their school, Abaseen, located in Khwazakhela. When the bus reached a narrow bridge in the Asala area, the driver lost control and the bus plunged into a ditch, local eyewitnesses told. “One student died on the spot, while 41 others were injured, six of whom are in critical condition,” Gul said. She said Rescue 1122 teams reached the site…
The Supreme Court on Friday accepted the apologies tendered by lawmakers Faisal Vawda and Mustafa Kamal for their tirades against the judiciary but also warned them against “further transgression”. It also again issued show-cause notices to 34 media channels, including 26 whose explanations Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa said were “not justifiable”. The development came as a three-member bench — headed by CJP Isa and including Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi — resumed hearing the contempt case against the lawmakers. On May 17, a three-judge SC bench had issued contempt notices to independent Senator Vawda and Kamal, a…
Kevin Costner owns up to the fact that the target audience for his films is mostly male. However, he does have a strict rule about the female characters in the movies he directs. Joining his Horizon cast on the Happy Sad podcast via Variety, the actor and director, 69, acknowledged, “I make movies for men. That’s what I do.” However, he quickly clarified, “But I won’t make a movie unless I have strong women characters.” He further reflected, “That’s how I’ve conducted my career and I think that’s why I have a good following.” For Costner, female characters “drive the story in every plot line”…
Cyndi Lauper recently got candid about her “stage fright” ahead of her Pyramid Stage set at Glastonbury this weekend. The True Colors hitmaker revealed that she was previously so nervous to perform in front of a huge crowd at the Berlin Wall that she broke into tears. Speaking on BBC Radio 2’s Zoe Ball Breakfast Show about performing in the presence of 210,000 revellers over the weekend, the 72-year-old icon asked: “Should I have stage fright?” Reflecting on her past experience in Berlin, Lauper recalled: “When I did the wall in Berlin in 1990, I started crying because that was really big, I mean…
