FEATURED – Page 39 – OVERSEAS TRIBUNE

Portugal wildfires: ٖ37 burn alive

October 17, 2017October 17, 2017 News Desk

Report by Zia Syed At least 37 people were killed and around 70 others injured – mainly firefighters – during Portugal’s worst day of the year for forest fires. A seventh person was reported missing. Around 500 blazes were reported in the country’s central and northern regions where a state of emergency has been declared. Almost 6,000 firefighters yesterday were said to be out battling the wildfires. Officials said that the rain forecast assisted firefighters and brought to an end a devastating fires of the year in Portugal.

Nawaz Sharif distances himself from Safdar’s anti-Ahmadi remarks

October 16, 2017 News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Two days after Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi distanced himself from the anti-Ahmadi tirade by retired Captain Mohammad Safdar on the floor of the National Assembly, PML-N president Nawaz Sharif has also distanced his party from it. “I declare it in categorical and unequivocal terms that all minorities living in Pakistan enjoy complete fundamental rights, including protection to their lives and property, under the Constitution and Islamic teachings,” Mr Sharif said in a statement issued from London and released to the local media by PML-N spokesman Senator Asif Kirmani here on Sunday. “Any…

UK army chief briefed on Raddul Fasad, border management

October 15, 2017October 15, 2017 News Desk

PESHAWAR: Chief of the General Staff (CGS) of British Army Gen Sir Nicholas Patrick Carter called on Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Nazir Ahmed Butt at the Corps Headquarters on Saturday. During the meeting, the British officer was given a briefing on Operation Raddul Fasad, border management, return of temporarily displaced persons as well as development and rehabilitation projects undertaken by the Pakistan Army for tribal people in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Gen Carter also visited a forward post in Khyber Agency, where he was apprised about the achievements…

In California, Fires So Fast Hesitation Proved Lethal

October 15, 2017 News Desk

(NewyorkTimes) — With towering flames bearing down, one victim delayed escape in hopes of saving his new truck — but he could not find the keys. An elderly couple slept as danger erupted, not waking until it was too late to flee down their one-lane road. Another couple, who barely missed their chance to drive away, huddled in a pool, surrounded by fire and choking smoke; he survived, but she did not. As widely varied stories emerged of how people died in the wind-driven fires that have ravaged Northern California,…

Florida bank robber googled ‘how to rob a bank’ before committing crime

October 15, 2017October 15, 2017 News Desk

William Joe Johnson Florida Bank robber Googled before robbery

CALIFORNIA: In one of the weirdest revelation involving a bank robbery, a suspect of the crime revealed before the police in Florida that he did a Google search for “how to rob a bank” prior to the incident. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said an undisclosed amount of cash was taken from the Achieva Credit Union in Largo on Oct. 5. The suspect was identified as William Joe Johnson, 26, who was arrested Monday at the Express Inn in Pinellas Park. “Detectives interviewed Johnson and he admitted to the bank robbery. Johnson informed detectives he was…

Diamonds – the buried treasures of Azad Kashmir

October 15, 2017March 5, 2025 News Desk

Chitta Katha, AJK: The people of Azad and Jammu Kashmir are sitting on a treasure chest: Millions of rubies, estimated to be worth up to half a billion dollars, are lying beneath them. But archaic tools and a lack of investment in infrastructure and techniques are hampering efforts to transform the area into a significant player in the gem industry. “We have rubies that are at least as good as the Burmese, but their mining techniques are more sophisticated”, says Huma Rizvi, a dealer in precious stones. Pakistani Kashmir…

Kashmir EU Week at EU parliament gives a productive outcome on Kashmir cause, Says PM Raja Farooq Haider

October 15, 2017October 15, 2017 News Desk

Brussels (PR) Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan has said, Kashmir EU Week at EU parliament is an effective platform and it started to give productive outcome on Kashmir cause. He said, he felt that ice is being mild now and EU’s people started to listen the Kashmiris. The Prime Minister gave this statement at conclusion of Kashmir EU Week at European Parliament. Raja Farooq Haider said, it was a successful program at European Parliament including conferences, seminars, debates, an exhibition of photos from occupied Kashmir…

Family freed from Taliban in Pakistan arrives in Canada; says 1 child killed in captivity

October 14, 2017 News Desk

Joshua Boyle at Pearson International Airport Toronto

Joshua Boyle, his American wife and three children arrived in Toronto on Friday after being freed from captivity in Pakistan, the Canadian government announced. Boyle and his wife Caitlan Coleman were captured by the Taliban while hiking in Afghanistan in 2012, and then turned over to the affiliated militant Haqqani network in Pakistan. Boyle said upon arriving back in Canada that the Haqqani network in Afghanistan had killed his infant daughter and raped his wife during the years they were held in captivity. The couple was rescued on Wednesday, five years after…

Brussels: Ambassador Anthony receives a shield from AJK’s PM Raja Farooq Haider

October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 News Desk

Brussels (PR) The Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Raja Mohammad Farooq Haider Khan met Ambassador Anthony Crasner, the former EU’s diplomat at his residence in Brussels, the capital city of Belgium. Raja Farooq Haider appreciated services rendered by the EU’s former Ambassador for highlighting Kashmir issue in Europe. Also Read:AJK’s PM for role of EU based Kashmiri youth on Kashmir cause The Prime Minister also presented a shield to the Ambassador Anthony who is currently serving as senior advisor at Kashmir Council EU in EU headquarters Brussels. It…

ISPR should refrain from commenting on state of the economy: interior minister

October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 News Desk

Ahsan Iqbal Interior Minister of Pakistan

Through a statement circulated by his public relations officer, Interior Minister Asan Iqbal on Friday said that the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, should refrain from commenting on the country’s economic situation, DawnNews reported. The response seems to have been directed at an interview the military’s spokesman gave to a private TV channel the day earlier, in which he had said that: “If the economy is not bad, it is not doing so well either.” The remarks followed an address by army chief Gen Qamar Javed…

Turkish forces launch incursion into Syria

October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 News Desk

BEIRUT: Turkish forces have entered northwest Syria’s largely jihadist-controlled Idlib province, observers said, where Ankara said this week it planned to create a “de-escalation zone” as part of efforts to end the Syrian war. “A military convoy of Turkish forces… entered Idlib province before heading towards the western part of Aleppo province,” the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement late Thursday. It did not elaborate on the size of the deployment. Turkish officials were not immediately available to confirm the report but the official Anadolu news…

British police get a new weapon to fight corruption

October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 News Desk

Police gets a new weapon to fight Corruption in Britain

FOR successful crooks and corrupt foreign officials, Britain has long been a popular place to stash dodgy cash. Investing a few million pounds in a house in a discreet London neighbourhood is a neat way to hide stolen money. But Britain is getting tougher on such ruses. The government hopes that “unexplained-wealth orders”, part of the Criminal Finances Act 2017, which comes into effect on September 30th, will make it easier to seize the loot of crooked bureaucrats and con artists. The National Crime Agency reckons that up to £90bn…

AJK’s PM for role of EU based Kashmiri youth on Kashmir cause

October 13, 2017 News Desk

AJK PM Raja Farooq Haider Adresses Youth Gathering in Brussels Belgium

Brussels (PR) Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider has said, EU based Kashmiri and Pakistani youth can play a valuable role in the context of Kashmir cause in the region of Europe. He was addressing a gathering of Kashmiri and Pakistan youth specially students from different universities in Brussels. It is important to mention that the PM Raja Farooq Haider and senior Minister Tariq Farooq are currently on a visit to Belgium in connection with Kashmir EU Week at European Parliament in Brussels. The Kashmir EU Week…

Jahangir Tareen did not disclose entire income to ECP, observes SC

October 12, 2017October 12, 2017 News Desk

The Supreme Court on Thursday told the counsel representing Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Jahangir Tareen that he had failed to convince the court that his client was exempted from paying tax on 18,566 acres of leased land. A three-member apex bench ─ headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Atta Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab ─ was hearing a petition filed by PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi which seeks the disqualification of Tareen and PTI Chief Imran Khan over the alleged non-disclosure of assets, existence of offshore…

Trump hails recovery of Canadian-American family as ‘positive moment’ in Pak-US relations

October 12, 2017October 12, 2017 News Desk

United States President Donald Trump on Thursday said the recovery of the Canadian-American couple from Taliban captivity by Pakistan’s was a “positive moment” for US relations with Pakistan. The Pakistan government’s cooperation is a sign that “it is honouring America’s wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region”, Trump said in a White House statement. Earlier, the army had announced that it had recovered “safe and sound” a family of foreign hostages — an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three children — from the Taliban captivity…