TEHRAN: French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah was jailed anew for breaking house arrest restrictions, an official from the Islamic republic’s judiciary authority said on Sunday. Her Paris-based support group had on Wednesday announced “with great shock and indignation” her re-incarceration, which comes during sensitive talks in Vienna aimed at reviving a 2015 nuclear deal which offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme. “Ms Adelkhah… has unfortunately knowingly violated the limits of house arrest dozens of times,” Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy head of the judiciary, was quoted as saying by Mizan Online, the authority’s news agency. “She has insisted…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
WELLINGTON: A massive volcanic eruption in Tonga that triggered tsunami waves around the Pacific caused “significant damage” to the island nation’s capital and smothered it in dust, but the full extent was not apparent with communications still cut off on Sunday. The eruption on Saturday was so powerful it was recorded around the world, triggering a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the United States. The capital Nuku’alofa suffered “significant” damage, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, adding there had been no reports of injury or death but a full assessment was not yet possible with communication…
YANGON: Hundreds of Buddhist monks have fled two major towns in eastern Myanmar, witnesses said on Sunday, among thousands of people recently displaced by fighting between the military and rebel groups opposed to last year’s coup. A military power-grab in Myanmar 11 months ago expelled civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s government and sparked mass protests and a subsequent crackdown that has killed more than 1,400 people. Loikaw town in eastern Myanmar’s Kayah state saw intense fighting last week that the United Nations estimates has forced almost 90,000 people to flee. Local NGOs have placed that figure far higher at…
WASHINGTON: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Sunday identified the Texas synagogue hostage-taker as a 44-year-old British citizen, Malik Faisal Akram, adding that apparently he was acting alone. The crisis at the Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, ended on Saturday night when FBI agents raided the building, rescued all four hostages and killed the captor. “Special Agent in-charge Mathew DeSarno of the FBI Field Office, Dallas, confirmed the identity of the Colleyville, Texas, hostage-taker as British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, 44,” said a brief statement issued by the Colleyville police. In London, the slain gunman’s family issued a statement, saying:…
KIEV: Ukraine said on Sunday it had “evidence” that Russia was behind a massive cyberattack that knocked out key government websites this past week, while Microsoft warned the hack could be far worse than first thought. Tensions are at an all-time high between Ukraine and Russia, which Kiev accuses of having massed troops on its border ahead of a possible invasion. Some analysts fear the cyberattack could be the prelude to a military attack. On Friday, Washington also accused Russia of sending saboteurs trained in explosives to stage an incident that could be the pretext to invade its pro-Western neighbour.…
WASHINGTON: Airlines canceled over 2,700 US flights on Sunday as a winter storm combining high winds and ice was poised to hit the US East Coast over the holiday weekend. The flights canceled by 12:30pm ET on Sunday included over 2,700 entering, departing from or within the United States, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.com. Over 1,500 flights were delayed, the data showed. American Airlines Group Inc had over 600 flight cancellations. Almost 95pc of the flights out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, an American Airlines hub, were canceled, the FlightAware website showed. American Airlines is allowing…
NEW DELHI: Indian media bodies have deplored the forcible takeover of the Kashmir Press Club in Srinagar by a group of journalists who raided the precincts on Saturday under the watch of armed police — a month before fresh elections are due to be held there on Feb 15. The takeover, described by media spokespersons as a coup, took place under the cover of a Covid lockdown ordered by the government at the weekend. The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) said on Sunday it was “dismayed at the government move to close the Press Club of Kashmir”. The DUJ statement…
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with 44 foreign investment companies at Dubai International Expo-2020 that would bring more than $8 billion investment in different sectors. Foreign investors showed great interest to invest in integrated tourism zones, water sports in Hund area of Swabi district, energy and power, food processing, livestock and infrastructure. The investors also included some of the United Arab Emirates-based Pakistanis, said an official statement issued here on Sunday. Under of the MoUs, the Kuwait-based Enertech-Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) would invest $120 million in installation of hydrogen power plant. The company will…
ISLAMABAD: Almost a year has passed since the last local government in the capital completed its tenure but the higher authorities have yet to announce a date for holding the elections in the city. As per the rules, polls for the local bodies have to be conducted within 180 days after the completion of the previous setup’s term. Since the last Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) ceased to exist on Feb 15, 2021, the government has so far not even gotten the Local Government Act 2021 passed by Parliament. However, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Ali Nawaz Awan told Dawn that the…
ISLAMABAD: An 82-year-old man, who had to wait 15 months for a tax refund of a meagre amount, has received an apology from President Arif Alvi himself, who criticised the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for treating him in a matter meant to “irritate and humiliate the aging pensioner”. Although the amount claimed by former government employee Abdul Hamid Khan on Oct 19, 2020 only amounted to Rs 2,333 — in lieu of advance tax deductions in telephone and mobile phone bills — Mr Alvi said he was dismayed over Mr Khan’s maltreatment by the FBR and directed the board’s…
