WELLINGTON: A pregnant New Zealand journalist says she turned to the Taliban for help and is now stranded in Afghanistan after her home country has prevented her from returning due to a bottleneck of people in its coronavirus quarantine system. In a column published in The New Zealand Herald on Saturday, Charlotte Bellis said it was brutally ironic that she’d once questioned the Taliban about their treatment of women and she was now asking the same questions of her own government. When the Taliban offers you a pregnant, unmarried woman safe haven, you know your situation is messed up, Bellis wrote in her column.…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
WASHINGTON: A powerful winter storm packing heavy snow and high winds pummeled the US East Coast on Saturday, forcing the cancellation of thousands of flights as severe weather alerts were sounded across a region of around 70 million people. With blizzard warnings in effect, cities like New York and Boston bore the brunt of the storm on Saturday morning, but the far-reaching system also hit the Mid-Atlantic. Freeze alerts were raised as far south as Florida, where the National Weather Service (NWS) warned of “scattered to isolated falling iguanas from trees” as plunging temperatures temporarily paralysed the large lizards, which…
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday commended his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau for his “unequivocal condemnation” of Islamophobia — a term describing unfounded dislike and denigration of Muslims — and emphasised a concerted approach to “put an end to this menace”. The premier’s remarks come a day after Trudeau called out Islamophobia in a message on Twitter and announced the appointment of a special representative to combat it. “Islamophobia is unacceptable. Full stop. We need to put an end to this hate and make our communities safer for Muslim Canadians,” Trudeau wrote in a tweet. PM Imran today welcomed Trudeau’s…
HASAKEH: Clashes broke out on Saturday between Kurdish forces and fighters of the militant Islamic State group near a Syrian prison where dozens of jihadists are still holed up, a war monitor said. An IS assault on the sprawling Ghwayran prison complex near the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh on January 20 sparked days of heavy fighting that has left some 260 people dead, and a bulldozer on Saturday shovelled corpses onto a truck to take some for burial. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced they had recaptured the prison on Wednesday, but that mop-up operations continued. On Saturday, there were…
KIEV: Kiev on Saturday urged the West to remain “vigilant and firm” in its talks with Russia, as US President Joe Biden announced a small troop deployment to eastern Europe amid fears Moscow could invade Ukraine. Washington’s top defence officials warned on Friday the Kremlin had massed enough troops and hardware at the border to threaten the whole of Ukraine but called for further diplomatic efforts to avert a “horrific” conflict. Western leaders are scrambling to defuse the crisis by reaching out to Russian President Vladimir Putin, while also trying to keep the pressure up by vowing unprecedented sanctions should…
Israeli President Isaac Herzog left for the United Arab Emirates on Sunday on the first such visit, his office said, seeking to strengthen Gulf ties at a time of heightened regional tension as world powers try to revive a nuclear deal with Iran. “I will be meeting the leadership of the United Arab Emirates, at the personal invitation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince,” Herzog said. “I wish him well and I am grateful for his courage and bold leadership, carving out a peace agreement with Israel and sending a message to the entire region that peace is…
They say that time flies, but these past two years have surely felt never-ending. As the world quarantined at home, aviation was one of the industries that were hit the hardest. While airlines around the world struggled, the situation in Pakistan was worse than many others. Is the hardest part over? We journey back and look at what may come next… Travel has been used as a metaphor by many storytellers. Characters often set off on physical journeys and have spiritual journeys along the way. Their world, or how they see it, transforms in the process. The story of Covid-19…
RAWALPINDI: The district administration has lifted ban on time restrictions for vehicles’ entry into Murree. Earlier, the district administration had fixed a time schedule for vehicles to enter the hill station. According to a notification issued by Deputy Commissioner Tahir Farooq, the administration has lifted time restrictions of 5am to 5pm on vehicles’ entry into Murree. From now onwards, 24 hours access/entry of vehicles will be allowed in Murree in the larger public interest. However, other conditions will remain the same as a maximum of 8,000 vehicles per day shall be allowed to enter into Murree from all entry points…
QUETTA: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Turbat and spent the day with troops there on Saturday. According to a press release of the Inter-Services Public Relations, the COAS was given a comprehensive briefing at the FC Balochistan (south) headquarters on the prevailing security situation in the area, Pakistan-Iran border fencing and measures being taken to counter hostile efforts to undermine security situation in Balochistan. He was also briefed on socioeconomic initiatives undertaken by the army in support of the provincial government and efforts under way for capacity enhancement of the law enforcement agencies (LEAs).…
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court in a detailed judgement issued on Saturday observed that its June 19, 2020 direction to the tax authorities to investigate allegations against Sarina Isa, the wife of Justice Qazi Faez Isa, of not declaring three foreign properties in her name and her children and submit its findings to the Supreme Judicial Council (JDC) violated the principle of natural justice. Detailed reasons of the April 26, 2021 short order were jointly authored by Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik (retired), Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan. They were members…
