DOHA: Qatar has reached an agreement with the Taliban to resume chartered evacuations out of Kabul airport, the Axios news website reported on Tuesday citing an interview with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The agreement was for two flights per week, chartered by Qatar Airways, and would allow the United States and other countries to evacuate thousands more of their citizens and at-risk Afghans, Axios said. The minister spoke to Axios on Monday in Washington, during an official visit with Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. A senior Qatar government source said on Jan 27 that Qatar Airways has resumed operating passenger evacuation…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
The United States said it is sending fighter jets to assist the United Arab Emirates following missile attacks on the Gulf state launched by Yemen’s Houthi movement, including a foiled attack aimed at a base hosting US forces. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin also told Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a telephone call on Tuesday that Washington would send the guided-missile destroyer the USS Cole to partner with the UAE navy ahead of a port call in Abu Dhabi. “The secretary also informed the crown prince of his decision to deploy fifth generation fighter aircraft to assist the…
Some public universities opened in Afghanistan on Wednesday for the first time since the Taliban seized power in August, with a trickle of women attending classes that officials said would be segregated by sex. Most secondary schools for girls and all public universities were shuttered when the hardline group stormed back to power, sparking fears women would again be barred from education — as happened during the Taliban’s first rule, from 1996-2001. “It’s a moment of joy for us that our classes have started,” said Zarlashta Haqmal, who studies law and political science at Nangarhar University. “But we are still…
Prime Minister Imran Khan will be leaving for China on Thursday on a four-day visit, during which he will attend the Winter Olympics 2022 in Beijing and hold bilateral meetings with President Xi Jinping and premier Li Keqiang. According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO) in Islamabad, Prime Minister Imran’s visit from February 3 to February 6 has been scheduled on the Chinese leadership’s special invitation and he will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including members of the Cabinet and senior government officials. The statement said that in meetings between the premier and the Chinese leadership,…
ISLAMABAD: The first month of the year 2022 could not see any improvement in the security situation of the country as the number of causalities increased despite a slight decrease in the attacks. According to statistics released by an Islamabad-based independent think-tank, Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), the number of violent attacks decreased from 28 to 24 during the month, the deaths and injuries rate increased by 15 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively, compared to December 2021. The report claimed that militants had carried out 28 attacks across the country in December 2021 in which…
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of PTI foreign funding case to Feb 9 after PTI lawyer Anwar Mansoor Khan sought an adjournment on his health grounds. Mr Khan told the bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, that he was ill and could not argue the case. The petitioner and PTI founding member Akbar S. Babar’s lawyer Syed Ahmad Hassan Shah complained about the delay in sharing documents kept secret by the scrutiny committee despite clear instructions of the ECP on January 18. He said that despite the application seeking documents…
KARACHI: Tuesday’s verdict of the Supreme Court issued on a petition filed by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan has lifted the hopes of major opposition parties for an empowered local government system in Sindh as they demanded that the Pakistan Peoples Party government implement the apex court’s orders in true spirit in consultation with all political stakeholders without any further delay. The Supreme Court judgement has directed the provincial government to devolve financial, administrative and political powers to local governments as enshrined under the Constitution. The PPP-led Sindh government did not come up with any official reaction to the SC order as it would discuss…
ISLAMABAD: Senior Superintendent of Police (operations) Syed Ali Akbar Shah was appointed as the SSP investigation with the instruction to prosecute the couple harassment and Noor Mukadam murder cases in the trial courts in a professional manner, police said. Mr Shah replaced SSP Attaur Rehman, who was transferred to the Central Police Office. Moreover, SSP Mohammad Faisal was transferred from Punjab and appointed as the SSP operations. A spokesman for the police, when contacted, said Mr Rehman was removed from the post over the failure of the investigation wing to appear in the hearing with proper preparations. During trials of…
ISLAMABAD: With the number of active cases across the country surpassing the 100,000 mark, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) on Tuesday issued show-cause notices to 15 pharmaceutical companies for failing to manufacture the most commonly prescribed medicine for Covid patients, Paracetamol, which has disappeared from many pharmacies and is reportedly being sold in the black market. In a separate development, Pakistan Peoples Party leader and former senator Rehman Malik was shifted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital after he developed Covid-related complications. A party senator confirmed that he had been put on ventilator and appealed…
PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday disqualified provincial minister for transport Shah Muhammad Khan from holding any public office for five years due to his involvement in attacks on polling stations, kidnapping of polling staff and snatching of election material in his native Bakakhel area of Bannu district on the eve of the first phase of local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa held on December 19. A two-member ECP bench, consisting of Nisar Ahmad Durrani and Shah Mohammad Jatoi, in a 21-page judgement also barred Shah Muhammad’s son Mamoon Rasheed from contesting any elections till finalisation of…
