ROME: Police were called to Afghanistan’s embassy in Rome this week after a sacked Afghan diplomat claiming ties to the Taliban attacked the ambassador, the mission said. Many of Afghanistan’s embassies are in diplomatic limbo, with staff still loyal to the Western-backed government toppled by the Taliban last August. The Taliban have not appointed new representatives to most missions, however, and their government is not recognised by any nation. In a statement published on social media on Tuesday, the Rome embassy said a diplomat — appointed by the former Afghan government but recently dismissed — returned to the mission earlier…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan urged the international community on Thursday to persuade India to immediately end its blatant oppression of the Kashmiri people, reverse all unilateral and illegal measures instituted since August 5, 2019, and halt the genocidal settler project in the occupied territory. In a message on the Right to Self-Determination Day, Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram also urged international human rights and humanitarian organisations to “take cognisance of India’s crimes in Kashmir.” On Jan 5, 1949, the United Nations Commission for India & Pakistan (UNCIP) adopted a historic resolution calling for a free and impartial plebiscite in Jammu and…
KARACHI: City Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab on Wednesday said that the Sindh Local Government Act 2021 was not a ‘sacred’ document that could not be changed. Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of redevelopment of the Kakri Sports Complex under the Karachi Neighbourhood Development Project, he said that the provincial government was in contact with all political parties including the Jamaat-i-Islami, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Awami National Party and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam for improvement in the LG law. Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, MPA Shazia Singar, Senator Yousuf Baloch, PPP leaders Javed Nagori, Khalil Hoti, Karamullah Waqasi, Najmi Alam, Nazir Memon, Karachi…
MUZAFFARABAD: The international community should impose sanctions on India for unleashing terror in the illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and persuade the United Nations (UN) to carry out its responsibilities with regard to grant of right self-determination to Kashmiris in accordance with the Security Council resolutions on the issue. This demand was made by participants of two separate rallies held here on Wednesday amid downpour to mark the 72nd anniversary of the passage of a UNSC resolution envisaging the Kashmiris’ right to decide by themselves the future status of their motherland by voting for its accession either with India or…
ISLAMABAD: Expressing serious concern over leaked audio clip of two senior PML-N leaders in which they are using abusive language against senior journalists and anchorpersons, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has demanded an apology from the party leadership. In a joint statement, PFUJ President Shahzada Zulfiqar and Secretary General Nasir Zaidi said the leaked audio was alarming as it showed the mindset of political leadership against media and independent journalists. Referring to the telephonic conversation allegedly between PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and party leader Pervaiz Rashid, they said it was strange while in government the political leadership worked against…
QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo has said that the provincial government has decided to declare Gwadar and Kech districts calamity-hit areas and issued directives for the chief secretary to take steps in this regard. Talking to reporters during his visit to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) headquarters on Wednesday, he said huge losses had occurred in Gwadar and Kech districts due to heavy rains which lashed the Makran Coast the other day. CM Bizenjo said the authorities concerned, including army, navy, Frontier Corps, police and Levies Force, had started rescue and relief operations in the rain-hit areas immediately, along…
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday claimed that his government was constructing national highways at a comparatively lesser cost than those built by the previous government (of the PML-N) when, as he put it, more than Rs1,000 billion was siphoned off in land connectivity-related projects. He said the government was focusing on development of neglected and remote areas of the country, especially Balochistan, to provide a level playing field to the people of far-flung areas and improve their living standards. “Previously roads were not constructed for long-term planning or connectivity but to fill pockets,” the prime minister said while…
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday stopped 42 cantonment boards all over the country from sealing private educational institutions in their respective areas and adjourned the hearing in a review petition for an indefinite period. A three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Ijazul Hassan was hearing a petition filed against the closure of private schools and colleges in the cantonment boards. Counsel for private education institutions Advocate Kalbe Hassan Shah informed the court that more than 3.7 million children were enrolled in the 8,300 private schools located in the limits of the 42 cantonment boards and closure of schools…
Planning Minister Asad Umar on Thursday said the option of lockdown was not being considered presently despite the Omicron-driven fifth wave of the coronavirus causing daily infections to go past the 1,000 mark for the first time in nearly three months. “At this time there is no plan of [imposing] lockdowns. We are looking at [Covid] numbers very closely as we shared today what has happened in the rest of the world and what is starting to happen in Pakistan,” Umar told Geo News. Instead, he said, the immediate focus was on scaling up the pace of vaccinations and enforcing the…
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Wednesday predicted that the weather in Karachi, which is experiencing its second winter spell this week, will remain cloudy for the remainder of the day while intermittent rain and isolated thunderstorms are also expected. In an advisory, the PMD said the maximum temperature in the metropolis today will be 20 degrees centigrade with a minimum temperature of 15°C. Moreover, Karachi will have cloudy skies tomorrow (Friday) as well with chances of light rain. On Saturday, the weather will be “clear” with night expected to be chilly and the morning “misty”, according to the advisory. The temperature…
