WASHINGTON: US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield will not be delivering this year’s commencement address at the University of Vermont (UVM) amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests on campus, the university announced. UVM is holding its 223rd commencement on May 18 and 19, and on April 19, the university announced, adding that Ms Thomas-Greenfield, “one of the nation’s most accomplished diplomats”, would be its 2024 commencement speaker. On Friday evening, the university’s president, Suresh Garimella, issued another statement expressing regret: “It is with regret that I share that our planned speaker, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, will not be joining us to…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
CAIRO: Prospects for a Gaza ceasefire appeared slim on Sunday as Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to the attacks in exchange for the freeing of hostages, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly ruled that out, with the two sides blaming each other for the impasse. In their second round of truce talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators that ended here in Cairo on Sunday, Hamas negotiators maintained their stance that any truce agreement must end the war. A Hamas official told AFP that the group’s negotiators in Cairo were leaving for Doha on Sunday after talks ended in the Egyptian capital,…
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday pressed Xi Jinping to coordinate closely with Europe in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and accept fair global trade rules as the Chinese leader began a state visit to France. Xi’s first visit to Europe since 2019 will also see him hold talks in Serbia and Hungary. Xi has said he wants to find peace in Ukraine even if analysts do not expect major changes in Chinese policy. But his choice of France as the sole major European power on his itinerary indicates the importance the leader of the one-party Communist state of more than 1.4…
Paris 2024 is getting ready to face an unprecedented challenge in terms of cybersecurity, with organisers expecting huge pressure on the Games this summer. Organised crime, activists and hostile states will be the main threats during the July 26-August 11 Olympics and the August 28-September 8 Paralympics. Paris 2024, which has been working hand in hand with the French National Agency for Information Security (ANSSI) and cybersecurity companies Cisco and Eviden are looking to limit the impact of cyber attacks. “We can’t prevent all the attacks, there will not be Games without attacks but we have to limit their impacts…
ISLAMABAD: While Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has failed to rationalise fees of private medical and dental colleges, a committee formed by it will again discuss the matter this week. Former caretaker health minister Dr Nadeem Jan said he had taken steps to rationalise the fees but his tenure ended before the desired result was achieved. On the other hand, an official of PMDC said that the three-member committee headed by Prof Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan was looking into the matter and its next meeting will be held on May 8 (Wednesday). Medical and dental colleges have increased their annual fees…
RAWALPINDI: Two of the four alleged militants who were said to be involved in a shootout with Dolphin Police in which one policeman was killed and another injured earlier this week have been gunned down by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in an encounter. In a statement issued on Sunday, the CTD claimed that the suspects allegedly belonged to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and were killed during an exchange of fire between their accomplices and the CTD. Officials claimed the suspects attacked the CTD and during the shootout, they were killed by the firing of their accomplices who managed to flee from the…
RAWALPINDI: A retired military officer died under suspicious circumstances in Faisal Town with the family alleging that it was a premeditated murder over a monetary dispute. The Naseerabad police later registered a murder case after a postmortem on the body at the District Headquarters Hospital. Hamid Usman lodged an FIR with the police stating that his brother-in-law and cousin Rao Ali Shan, a resident of Defence Housing Authority Phase I, had a property dealing with Khawar Abbasi and the latter had to pay him Rs70 million. He said Abbasi used to call his brother-in-law and offered him different property in…
ISLAMABAD: The Afghan interim government announced the formation of a committee on Sunday to probe violent clashes that left two people dead in the northeastern Badakhshan province following protests over the Taliban’s eradication of poppy fields. The rare protests against the Taliban began on Friday in Draim district after the Taliban forces implemented a poppy cultivation ban decreed by their supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, in 2022. One person died in Draim, one of Badakhshan’s 28 districts. Another was killed a day later when the protests spread to the nearby Argo district, according to locals. Videos of protests posted on social media showed…
PESHAWAR: Days after Pakistan Customs officers came under attack twice within a week in April, the department has decided to train and equip the existing force, besides raising a combat force, to fight back against militants in the future. The decision, according to senior Customs officials, was taken after five officials lost their lives in two attacks on April 18 and April 21 in Dera Ismail Khan. They said that besides providing bulletproof jackets and armoured vehicles to Customs officials for carrying out operations, the department planned a long-term strategy to raise a force. However, they said that raising a new force would…
ISLAMABAD: The first meeting of an inquiry committee, headed by the cabinet division secretary, on the alleged import of Rs330 billion worth of wheat was held here on Sunday, during which different aspects of the import and preservation of the stocks were reviewed. “The committee worked today on verifying data and documents,” Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said when contacted by Dawn. Responding to a query about the possibility of summoning former caretaker prime minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, ex-finance minister Shamshad Akhtar, and incumbent Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi (ex-CM of Punjab) by the committee, the minister denied any such reports, saying, “No…
