Category: ENGLISH

NEELUM: At least 20 tourists were swept away when a bridge collapsed in Neelum Valley, Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, according to the police. Police officials said around 25 tourists stopped to take pictures on the bridge, located in Nala Jagran area of the region, when it collapsed as it could not withstand the pressure. An operation is under way to rescue the tourists, with authorities having recovered five bodies and rescued at least six people up till now. Personnel of the Pakistan Army are also assisting in the…

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ISLAMABAD: The capital administration held five rounds of discussions with deposed cleric of Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz and did not allow him to lead Friday prayers and deliver the weekly sermon in the mosque. The last round of talks between the administration and the cleric started on Friday morning and concluded less than an hour before the prayers. Scores of women clad in black burqas with some of them carrying sticks gazed down at the streets from the windows and rooftops of the new Jamia Hafsa in G-7/3-4 as…

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KARACHI: Police submitted on Friday interim charge sheets against former Malir SSP Rao Anwar and others before the administrative judge of antiterrorism courts in a case of foisting weapons and explosives upon Naqeebullah Mehsud and three other victims. Rao Anwar and then DSP Qamar Ahmed Shaikh along with their 10 absconding subordinates have been booked in the second case for foisting pistols and hand grenades upon Naqeeb and three others after killing them in a staged shoot-out on Jan 13 in Shah Latif Town. Investigating Officer SSP Dr Rizwan Ahmed…

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In what appears to be a tit-for-tat move, the Foreign Ministry on Friday imposed reciprocal travel restrictions on American diplomats in the country as similar restrictions on the movement of Pakistani diplomats in the United States (US) comes into effect today. A ministry notification issued to the US Embassy in Islamabad yesterday stated that the reciprocal measures would come into effect immediately after US restrictions are implemented. The measures include travel restrictions, as well as treating US diplomatic cargo at Pakistani airports and ports in accordance with Vienna Convention’s Article…

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Pakistani-origin Italian citizen Sana Cheema ─ whose death in Gujrat, was reported by Italian media as an alleged honour killing ─ was found to have been strangled to death, according to an autopsy report obtained by Dawn on Wednesday. The autopsy was conducted by Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Teaching Hospital’s Dr Komal Ishaq after the Punjab Forensic Science Agency sent Sana’s forensic report to the hospital. The forensic report stated that the victim’s voice box was swollen and the right cornua of her hyoid bone (in the neck) had been dislocated. The forensic…

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A suspect who was arrested for the assassination attempt on Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Sunday evening has a declared affiliation with the Tehreek-i-Labbaik, it emerged late last night. In a preliminary report sent to the Punjab chief secretary hours after the attack, the Narowal deputy commissioner reported that the suspect had identified himself as Abid Hussain, son of Mohammad Hussain, a resident of Verum village, Tehsil Shakargarh of Narowal district. “He further showed his affiliation with Tahrik-e-Labbaik [sic],” the DC’s letter read. A copy of the letter sent to the chief…

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ISLAMABAD: A day after Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the upcoming general elections would be conducted by ‘aliens’, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday dismissed the insinuation terming it against the spirit of the Constitution and ECP mandate. ECP spokesman Altaf Khan said at a press briefing that the commission was fully prepared to hold the elections in line with its mandate under Article 218 of the Constitution. Under the Constitution and the Elections Act 2017, the ECP was fully independent in discharge of its legal and constitutional…

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Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif owned the Avenfield properties while he was a public office holder, the investigating officer (IO) in the corruption reference against the Sharif family informed an accountability court on Wednesday. Imran Dogar stated that Sharif used offshore companies Nielsen and Nescoll Ltd to buy the properties in London while he was the actual owner of the apartments. He said that during investigations, the accused were unable to provide their sources of income and that the properties have been in ownership of the Sharifs since 1993. He…

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The Punjab government has distanced itself from misogynistic remarks issued by PML-N leaders Rana Sanaullah and Tallal Chaudhry against female participants of a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) rally held in Lahore on Sunday. Sanaullah, while speaking to reporters outside the Punjab Assembly yesterday, made inappropriate comments about the women who attended the rally, saying: “The women who attended the rally were not from honourable families because their dance moves implied where they had actually come from.” Chaudhry, at a separate press conference, had said: “We don’t ask whose house you [Imran Khan] stay…

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Islamabad police on Monday registered a case for reckless driving against a motorcyclist, who was injured the previous night after being hit by a US embassy official’s car. On Sunday night, the US embassy’s Second Secretary Chad Rex Auburn hit a motorcycle, injuring the rider, Nazakat Islam, and his pillion passenger. The diplomat initially refused to come out of the car but upon the police’s arrival, he stepped out and identified himself. Auburn was later taken into custody and shifted to the Secretariat police station. Police also impounded the vehicle and took…

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Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar on Sunday reprimanded Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Ghulam Mahmood Dogar and summoned his own son-in-law to provide an explanation regarding the DIG’s attempt to seek undue influence in a child custody case against his ex-wife. Canadian-national Mirjam Aberras Lahdeaho had contracted marriage with DIG Dogar on March 6, 1997, in Lahore and stayed in Pakistan for over 12 years along with their three children, including a daughter, before they moved to Canada as permanent residents in 2009. The DIG used to visit his…

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Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said on Saturday that the PML-N government has no plans to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package before the end of its tenure. Speaking at a post-budget press conference in Islamabad, the newly-appointed finance minister said the measures taken by the government since December of last year including changes brought to the currency markets will help it avoid seeking another bailout. Ismail revealed that the government has secured a $1 billion financing today which will help raise the level of forex reserves…

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SIALKOT: After the disqualification of Khawaja Muhammad Asif by the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the PML-N is facing the daunting task of finding his replacement who could counter its opponents in the politics of the city and the area. The local political circles are keenly observing every move of the PML-N as it has landed in dire straits after the apparent ouster of a seasoned politician who stood by it in hard times during the Musharraf regime when many of party bigwigs had abandoned it. Some local independent political observers think the…

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Maryam Nawaz on Thursday criticised the court’s decision against Khawaja Asif, saying that the PML-N lawmaker has been disqualifiedin a “fixed match”. She was commenting on the Islamabad High Court (IHC) decision to disqualify Asif as a member of the parliament. Maryam took to Twitter soon after the announcement of the decision, saying: “Those who could not be defeated while playing fairly have been ousted after fixing the match.” “Mark my words, people will vote even the shadow of Khawaja Asif” in the upcoming election, she said. Maryam also changed her…

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