ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Sri Lanka have agreed to take immediate steps to facilitate return of prisoners of each country to their homeland. The move, which would bring 43 Pakistani citizens back to their homes from Siri Lankan jails, was part of an understanding reached at a meeting of High Commissioner of Sri Lanka, Admiral (Retd) Ravindra Chandra Srivijay Gunaratne with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Friday. Both sides agreed to increase cooperation in the field of security and counter-narcotics, as issues of mutual interest and the development of bilateral relations came under discussion at the meeting. The interior ministry had…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
YEREVAN: Armenia has returned to Azerbaijan four border villages it seized decades ago, the countries confirmed on Friday, a key step toward normalising ties between the historic rivals. The move, which has sparked protracted protests in Armenia, is an important step towards reaching a comprehensive peace agreement after years of fruitless talks mediated by Russia and Western countries. The Caucasus countries, both former Soviet republics, fought two wars in the 1990s and in 2020 for control of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan recaptured it last year in a lightning offensive, ending three decades of Armenian separatist rule over the enclave and prompting…
TEHRAN: Iran’s army has so far found no evidence of suspicious activity in a helicopter crash that killed the country’s president Ebrahim Raisi and seven others, state media reported. President Raisi, 63, along with his entourage died on Sunday after his helicopter went down in the country’s mountainous northwest while returning from a dam inauguration on the border with Azerbaijan. “No bullet holes or similar impacts were observed on the helicopter wreckage,” said a preliminary report by the general staff of the armed forces published by the official IRNA news agency late on Thursday evening. “The helicopter caught fire after hitting an elevated area,”…
CAIRO: Israeli forces stepped up military strikes on Gaza on Friday, with planes bombing targets in the southern city of Rafah even after the UN’s top court ordered Tel Aviv to halt its offensive there. Heavy fighting was also reported in Jabalia, in the north, where Israel’s military said it had recovered the bodies of three prisoners killed during the Hamas raids on October 7. It said the bodies of Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum and Orion Hernandez Radoux were recovered on Thursday night in a joint operation by the army and the intelligence services. In Rafah, where an escalating Israeli assault has…
ISLAMABAD: Supporters of the Palestinian cause on Friday hailed the ICJ verdict ordering Israel to halt its military operation in Rafah, as Pakistan called on the international community to immediately implement the world court’s decision to stop Israeli aggression in Gaza. In a statement issued after the ruling, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif paid tribute to the courage of the 13 judges who made the decision and thanked South Africa for filing the petition against Israel’s genocidal campaign against Palestinians. He also urged the international community to ensure the provision of humanitarian aid and relief to the people of Palestine besides providing immediate access to…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday rejected a fresh order by the Indian Supreme Court, which upheld its earlier ruling that endorsed the Modi government’s unilateral decision to revoke the special status of held Kashmir by abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution. “We reject the fresh order of the Indian Supreme Court just as we had rejected the earlier order of December 11, 2023. Two verdicts fail to recognise the internationally recognised disputed nature of Jammu and Kashmir… Indian Supreme Court judgments cannot distract the international community’s attention from the gross and systemic human rights violation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and…
The world’s largest election may become the hottest on Saturday, as Indians participate in the penultimate phase of voting with temperatures forecast to surge to 47°C in the capital New Delhi. More than 111 million people in 58 constituencies across eight states and federal territories are eligible to vote in the general election’s sixth phase, which recorded a turnout of 10.82 per cent in the first two hours of the 11-hour poll. The overall turnout in the same phase of the last elections in 2019 was about 63pc. “There is a concern, but we hope that people will overcome the fear of…
GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly on Friday passed a resolution demanding finalisation of region’s due share in NFC Award and allocation of resources to GB on the pattern of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Speaker Nazir Ahmed chaired the assembly’s pre-budget session during which GB Finance Minister Muhammad Ismail and treasury member Amjad Hussain, along with opposition member Javed Ali Manwa presented a joint resolution. The resolution stated that after detailed deliberation and discussion on the scarcity of financial resources and overcoming the financial crisis in Gilgit-Baltistan, the assembly unanimously resolved that the federal government should make an agreement for the allocation of resources…
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has asked the state to fulfil its obligation of setting up child friendly courts under specially trained professional judges, since welfare and interest of the minor should be the foundational principle in deciding custody disputes. “It is the duty of the courts to assess and determine a course that would have served the best interest of the minors,” observed Justice Athar Minallah in a judgement issued the other day. Any decision regarding the custody of a child without assessment and determination of the child’s welfare and best interests by taking into consideration relevant factors and variables…
ISLAMABAD: A driver who crushed two people to death on Jinnah Avenue on Monday in the jurisdiction of the Kohsar police station has been handed over to the Military Police for legal proceedings as he turned out to be a lieutenant of the Pakistan Army, said police on Friday. Four people, including a police inspector, were also injured as the vehicle ran over the participants of a protest being held just outside the Red Zone in solidarity with Gaza. Subsequently, a case was registered at the Kohsar police station under sections 322, 337-G, 427 and 279 of the Pakistan Penal Code against…
