WASHINGTON: A gunman, holding worshippers and Rabbi hostage at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, was demanding Aafia Siddiqui’s release, local media reports claimed on Saturday. The worshippers were finishing the Shabbat Services when the episode began. Officials, however, refused to confirm the gunman’s link to Ms Siddiqui. They only confirmed that a gunman was holding hostages at a synagogue and the FBI personnel were negotiating with him. A SWAT police operation was under way at a Texas synagogue where a man reportedly took several people hostage, AFP added. Demands release of Aafia Siddiqui, say media reports ABC News, citing…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
PARIS: Thousands demonstrated in cities across France on Saturday against tighter restrictions on people not vaccinated against Covid-19, as parliamentary wrangling continued over the draft law. In the capital Paris, the largest single gathering set off from near the Eiffel Tower, called by fringe anti-EU presidential candidate Florian Philippot. Other demonstrations harked back to the 2018-19 “yellow jackets” protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s perceived favouring of the wealthy, while there were further gatherings in major cities like Bordeaux, Toulouse and Lille. People in the crowd chanted “no to the vaccine” or “freedom for Djokovic”, seizing on the case of world…
NUR SULTAN: Violent unrest in Kazakhstan that began with peaceful protests in early January over energy prices has left 225 people dead, authorities said on Saturday, in a dramatic increase on previous tolls. The demonstrations spiralled into unprecedented clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters in the energy-rich ex-Soviet state, prompting President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to declare a state of emergency and call in help from a Russian-led military bloc. “During the state of emergency, the bodies of 225 people were delivered to morgues, of which 19 were law enforcement officers and military personnel,” Serik Shalabayev, a representative of the state…
LONDON: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson witnessed weekly drinking sessions by his staff throughout the pandemic, according to a report on Saturday that stoked fresh calls from his own party for the embattled leader to quit. Conservative MPs, many of whom were spending the weekend back in their home constituencies, say they are being deluged with messages from voters outraged at accounts of rule-breaking in Downing Street. Johnson was spending the weekend in self-isolation after a family member tested positive for Covid. The opposition Labour party said he was “literally in hiding” and should resign. Former Conservative minister Tobias Ellwood,…
YANGON: A Myanmar junta court has hit ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi with five new corruption charges related to the alleged hiring and purchase of a helicopter, sources close to the case said. The Nobel laureate, 76, has been detained since the February 1 coup last year which triggered mass protests and a bloody crackdown on dissent with more than 1,400 civilians killed, according to a local monitoring group. Suu Kyi is facing a raft of criminal and corruption charges — including violating the country’s official secrets laws — and if convicted of all of them could face…
WASHINGTON: The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reminded the public on Saturday that masks offer the best protection against all Covid-19 variants. “Masking is a critical public health tool for preventing spread of Covid-19, and it is important to remember that any mask is better than no mask,” the primary US health agency said. In an interview to NBC News, Dr Ranu Dhillon, a global health physician at the Harvard Medical School, said that the guidance was long overdue. “We really need to go a step further and say this is the standard we should be aiming for,”…
WELLINGTON: An undersea volcano erupted in spectacular fashion near the Pacific nation of Tonga on Saturday, sending large tsunami waves crashing across the shore and people rushing to higher ground. A tsunami advisory was in effect for Hawaii and the US Pacific coast. There were no immediate reports of injuries or the extent of the damage as communications with the small nation remained cut off hours after the eruption. In Hawaii, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre reported waves slamming ashore from half a metre in Nawiliwili, Kauai, to 80 centimetres in Hanalei. On Tonga, video posted to social media showed…
ISLAMABAD: Every university has the right to set out its disciplinary and other policies in accordance with the law and unless any policy goes against the fundamental rights of the students or violates any law, courts should exercise self-restraint in such matters, the Supreme Court has said in a judgement. “The academic, administrative and disciplinary autonomy of a university must therefore be respected,” observed Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah in the judgement. The verdict was given on a petition filed by the Khyber Medical University (KMU) against a decision of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) passed on March 25, 2021.…
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi gave his ceremonial assent to the controversial Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021 — generally known as the mini-budget — on Saturday, converting it into an act of the parliament and thus fulfilling one of the key conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The finance bill was among those 16 pieces of legislation that the PTI-led coalition government bulldozed through the National Assembly on Thursday amid an opposition uproar in the presence of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The approval of the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021, seeking withdrawal of exemption on taxes and duties on several items with an…
KARACHI: Police claimed to have recovered a large quantity of anti-aircraft guns, sten guns, revolvers and other sophisticated arms on Saturday from a British-era building belonging to a charitable trust in the old city area. SSP Central Malik Murtaza, who led the operation, told the media that the “military arms” were apparently buried in the ground 10 to 12 years ago. SSP City Sarfraz Nawaz Shaikh told Dawn that the operation was launched after central district police got information about the presence of sophisticated weapons in the Lea Market area adjacent to Lyari. He said the building in question belonged to a…
