Dunyakikhabar

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the West on Thursday to increase military aid to Ukraine, saying Russia would advance on the rest of Europe otherwise. “If you do not have the power to close the skies, then give me planes!” Zelensky told a press conference. “If we are no more then, God forbid, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia will be next,” he said, adding: “Believe me.” He called for direct talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, saying it was “the only way to stop this war”. “We are not attacking Russia and we do not plan to attack it. What do you want from us? Leave our land,” he said, addressing Putin. “Sit down with me. Just not 30 metres away like with (French President Emmanuel Macron),” the Ukrainian leader said, referring to Putin receiving world leaders at a now famous enormously long table. Zelensky — who just weeks ago sought to calm Ukrainians over US allegations that Russia was planning to invade his country — said: “Nobody thought that in the modern w...

Sindh police on Tuesday claimed to have killed during an encounter in Qambar-Shahdadkot one of the two suspects involved in the murder of journalist Athar Mateen. Mateen, who was associated with Samaa TV , was returning home on February 18 after dropping off his children at their school. As he reached Shah Medical Hospital, Block-A, near KDA Chowrangi, he witnessed two armed robbers trying to rob a passer-by. He accelerated his car and hit the motorbike of the robbers, who fell on the road. The muggers opened fire at Mateen, leaving him dead on the spot , and escaped after snatching the motorbike of another person. The police had later impounded the motorbike abandoned by the robbers. Police had been conducting raids to nab the killers and one of them was arrested last week. In the latest development, the other suspect has been killed in a joint encounter by Qambar-Shahdadkot Police and West Karachi Police, according to an official handout. Police said they set up cordons near Sh...

It was a night to remember for Lahore fans as their beloved Qalandars erased the pain of years of failure to finally bag their maiden Pakistan Super League title by defeating favourites Multan Sultans in the final by 42 runs at Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday. After being set a target of 181, Multan’s run chase was going according to plan with their in-form duo of Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood finding runs with ease. Things changed in the 4th over when Mohammad Hafeez bowled out Rizwan around the legs as wheels began to come off the Multan innings. Rizwan's departure opened up the floodgates as the defending champions kept on losing wickets at regular intervals, soon finding themselves 63 for 5. This was when Tim David and Khushdil Shah showed some resistance and formed a 51-run partnership but after David disappeared in Shaheen's second spell starting in the 17th over, all hope was lost. In the end, Multan were skittled out for 138 as Lahore emerged the new champions. Ear...

Russian lawmakers gave President Vladimir Putin permission to use military force outside the country on Tuesday, a move that could presage a broader attack on Ukraine, after several European leaders said troops had already moved into rebel-held areas. The US said an invasion was already underway there. Members of the Russian upper house, the Federation Council, voted unanimously to allow Putin to use military force outside Russia, effectively formalising a Russian military deployment to the rebel regions, where an eight-year conflict has killed nearly 14,000 people. Several European leaders said earlier in the day that Russian troops have moved into rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine after Putin recognised their independence. But it was unclear how large the movements were. Putin had ordered the deployment of troops to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine after recognising them as independent on Monday. A Reuters witness saw tanks and other military hardware moving through ...

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognised two Moscow-backed rebel regions of Ukraine as independent, in a move that could set off a potentially catastrophic war with Kyiv’s Western-backed government. In an often angry 65-minute televised national address, Putin railed against Russia’s ex-Soviet neighbour Ukraine as a failed state and “puppet” of the West, repeatedly suggesting that it is essentially part of Russia. He accused authorities in Kyiv of persecuting Russian speakers and of preparing a “blitzkrieg” against the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in Ukraine’s east. “As for those who seized and hold power in Kyiv, we demand an immediate end to their military operations,” Putin said. “Otherwise, all responsibility for the possible continuation of bloodshed will be fully on the conscience of the regime in power in Ukraine.” Putin said it was necessary to “take a long overdue decision, to immediately recognise the independence” of the two regions. Imm...

A Pakistan Army captain was martyred during a clearance operation in Balochistan's Kohlu district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Monday. In a statement, the military's media affairs wing said that the clearance operation was conducted on Feb 20 based on intelligence information about the presence of terrorists at a hideout near Kohlu. "As soon as troops started cordoning [off] the area, terrorists, while fleeing the hideout, opened indiscriminate fire. During ensuing heavy exchange of fire, Captain Haider Abbas embraced shahadat in pursuit of the terrorists," the ISPR said. The statement added that a "deliberate follow-up operation, however, continues in the area to deal with the perpetrators who have suffered casualties but were able to escape into nearby mountains." Security forces' operations to eliminate the terrorists will continue and they will not be allowed to sabotage hard-earned peace in Balochistan, the ISPR said. Th...

• Draft law circulated among cabinet members for approval • Proposal for allowing lawmakers to run election campaign ISLAMABAD: In another move to regulate social media despite criticism from stakeholders and digital rights activists, the government is all set to promulgate an ordinance declaring defamation of people and institutions on social media a cognisable offence, with jail term being increased from two to five years. The drafts of the proposed legislations, including an amendment to the Elections Act 2017 allowing members of the parliament to take part in election campaigns, had already been circulated among the federal cabinet members for approval, said Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry while talking to Dawn on Saturday. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government had recently rolled back its plan to establish one authority to regulate all media, including social media, after facing strong resistance from almost all the stakeholders, including ...

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday raided the residence of media personality Mohsin Jamil Baig in Islamabad and arrested him after he allegedly shot at and roughed up members of the raiding team. According to a press release issued by the investigation agency, the FIA's Cyber Crime Circle raided Baig's house after obtaining a search and seizure warrant from the relevant court. "During the raid, Mohsin Baig and his son and servants directly fired at the FIA team and made two officials hostage," the press release said. It added that Baig was arrested after he ran out of bullets and was taken to Margalla police station where legal proceedings were underway. The FIA said it conducted the raid on the complaint of Communications Minister Murad Saeed, who had registered a first information report (FIR) against Baig at a cybercrime reporting centre of the agency in Lahore under Sections 20 (offences against the dignity of a natural person), 21-D (offences ...

A Karachi anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday ordered police to arrest detained Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) MNA Ali Wazir in another case related to defaming state institutions and inciting the public against them. Wazir has been incarcerated at Central Jail Karachi since Dec 2020 in connection with two separate sedition cases registered in Karachi and pending trials before ATCs. A similar case has also been registered at the Miran Shah police station, in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa. Sohrab Goth police had booked the MNA and other PTM leaders, including Alam Zaib, Muhammad Tahir and Noorullah Tareen, in the case in Feb 2019 for allegedly resorting to violence, delivering incendiary speeches and defaming state institutions. The case was lodged under Sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot, if rioting be committed; if not committe...

A SECURITY van guards a polling station. (Right) A wheelchair-bound woman is being brought to a polling station.—PPI PESHAWAR: The first phase of local body elections in Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa was completed on Sunday as re-polling as well as fresh polls were carried out peacefully in 13 districts of the province, with preliminary results showing that Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) was continuing to fare well in elections to positions of mayor/chairman of tehsil councils. Re-polling was carried out at several polling stations in 19 tehsils for the seats of mayor/chairman while fresh polling was held for Dera City Council’s mayoral slot. Till the filing of this report on Sunday night, initial results indicated that after re-polling held in 19 tehsils, JUI-F had won four seats and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and independent candidates three seats each of tehsil councils, followed by one each by Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Tehreek-i-Islahat Pakistan (TIP). PTI candidate Umar Amin Gan...

Peshawar police on Tuesday took notice after a woman turned up at a hospital with a nail hammered into her head, allegedly on the directions of a faith healer, in order to give birth to a baby boy. Peshawar police chief Abbas Ahsan took notice after pictures of the woman went viral on social media and directed SP City Ateeq Shah to trace the victim and the "fake aamil ". According to a tweet from the Twitter handle of the Peshawar CCPO, SSP Shah reached Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), where the women was treated, and met with the hospital administration to go through the victim's entry data. "The process of identifying the victim from the CCTV footage as well as from the computer entry data is underway." Earlier today, CCPO Ahsan said that a special team had been constituted to "bring to justice the fake peer (faith healer) who played with the life of an innocent woman and put a nail in her head with [the] false promise of a male child." "...

ISLAMABAD: In a major shift from the investment regime, Pakistan has decided to exempt Chinese investors from about 37 approvals for investment projects, besides completing prior actions like payments of dues to power producers and creating a revolving fund for future interest payments to the existing investors to perk up investments in phase-II of the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This was the crux of “the highest-level communication” Prime Minister Imran Khan had with the Chinese political and business leadership during his four-day visit to Beijing on the eve of Winter Olympics 2022, according to Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on CPEC Khalid Mansoor. SAPM says Beijing has promised to consider request for debt rollover, extension in currency swap, additional financial support Responding to a question at a news conference about Pakistan’s request for $4 billion debt rollover, extension in currency swap from $4.5bn to $10bn and addit...

Prime Minister Imran Khan met Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif on Monday and expressed his gratitude to the kingdom for its "steadfast support to Pakistan, especially in challenging times", according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The Saudi minister, who had arrived in Islamabad along with a delegation earlier today on a day-long visit, called on the prime minister after meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, Sheikh Rashid, and President Dr Arif Alvi. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Churail Sarwat (@sarwatg) According to the PMO, PM Imran particularly thanked the delegation for the recent financial budgetary support extended to Pakistan by the kingdom. "The prime minister praised the leadership role of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in promoting Islamic unity and acknowledged the endeavours of the kingdom ...

ISLAMABAD: Rubbishing criticism against the accountability process, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial has said judges may have been protected from the ordinary processes of law, but they are not subject to a separate or lower legal standards of accountability compared to other public servants. “Indeed it is of vital importance that public office holders, particularly judges of the superior courts, serving the people of Pakistan remain answerable before their relevant forums to safeguard the integrity and credibility of their person as well as of their court,” observed Justice Bandial in a minority judgement he wrote while deciding a set of review petitions also instituted by Justice Qazi Faez Isa. The judgement was endorsed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin Ahmed, who were members of the 10-judge Supreme Court bench that decided Justice Isa’s review petition. With additional notes by Justice Munib Akhtar, the minority jud...

ISLAMABAD / WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has accepted the appointment of Sardar Masood Khan as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Foreign Office spokesman Asim Iftikhar said on Saturday. “The US government has conveyed its agrément to the appointment of Sardar Masood Khan as the ambassador of Pakistan to the United States,” he said. Mr Iftikhar said Mr Khan would “assume his responsibilities in Washington D.C. in due course of time”. Pakistan’s current US ambassador Asad Majeed also confirmed the development. “I can confirm that we have received the agrément,” he told Dawn , rejecting the suggestion that there was an unusual delay in the approval. “Normally, it takes eight to ten weeks to process the papers and because of the pandemic, the system is moving slower than normal. So, there was no delay. The agrément was processed in routine,” he said. The embassy received the agrément on Feb 5, which is observed as Kashmir Solidarity Day by Kashmiris and Pakistanis a...

Terrorists attempted to attack security forces' camps in Balochistan's Panjgur and Noshki in two separate attacks late on Wednesday evening, the military's media wing said. In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said "both attacks have been successfully repulsed while inflicting heavy casualties to terrorists". In Panjgur, terrorists tried to enter a security forces' camp from two locations, the statement read. "However, timely response by troops foiled terrorist attempt. During intense exchange of fire one soldier has been martyred. Terrorists have fled while their casualties are being ascertained." In Noshki, according to the ISPR, terrorists attempted to enter a Frontier Corps (FC) camp which was "promptly responded", adding that four terrorists have been killed. The statement said one officer was injured during the shootout and that "intermittent firing" was continuing. Earlier, an FC spokesperson had...

Karachi's Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) offered a house job to "Pakistan's first transgender doctor" on Tuesday, a statement from the Sindh Chief Minister House said. It said that on the directions of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had instructed the management at Karachi's biggest government-run hospital to offer employment to Dr Sara Gill immediately. "Today, Dr Sara Gill met JPMC Executive Director Professor Shahid Rasool and received her house job order," the statement read. Congratulating Dr Gill on her employment, CM Shah said in the statement that the PPP government was taking steps for the transgender community in all walks of life. "We will ensure dignity and respect for transgenders in all sectors," the statement quoted the chief minister as saying. Last month, Dr Gill, who is also a renowned transgender activist, made waves on social media after graduating with a Bachelor of ...

PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Monday that the ouster of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government was a must for saving the country's economy and agriculture as the "selected prime minister" was least concerned about the farmers' plight. He made these remarks during his address at the PPP's Kisan rally, also called the tractor trolley march, at Hyderabad's Fateh Chowk. The rally was organised as part of a wider movement launched by the PPP to extend support to farmers in the facing the ongoing urea shortage and what the party dubs the government's "anti-farmer policies". In this first phase of the campaign, the PPP had organised marches in Larkana division in Sindh and Okara city of Sahiwal division in Punjab. At the time of the campaign's announcement, the PPP had said the marches would be expanded to other parts of the country from January 24 (today). To address a rally under this campaign in Hyderabad today, Bilawa...

Quinton de Kock scored a superb century as South Africa completed a clean sweep of their three-match one-day international series against India with a tense four-run victory at Newlands on Sunday. India chose to field and restricted South Africa to 287 all out one ball shy of the 50 overs, but the visitors narrowly failed in their chase as they managed 283 with four balls left in the innings. Deepak Chahar scored a fine 54 from 33 balls to get India close after they had been 223 for seven, but the visitors lost their last three wickets for the addition of five runs. “Things got a bit crazy there at the end, the complacency got to us where we thought we had the game in the bag, but we were able to pull it back,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said at the post-match presentation. “It is mission accomplished for us as a team. Not many people gave us a chance in this series, but we will take whatever confidence we can get and keep improving.” De Kock's 17th ODI century boosted ...

A Muslim woman was sentenced to death by a Rawalpindi court on Wednesday after being convicted of sending blasphemous content via WhatsApp. The 26-year-old woman was arrested in May 2020 and charged with posting “blasphemous material” as her WhatsApp status, according to a summary issued by a sessions court. When a friend urged her to change it, she instead forwarded the material to him, it said. The court ordered that the woman be “hanged by her neck till she is dead” along with a 20-year jail sentence and a fine of Rs200,000. Up to 80 people are known to be jailed in Pakistan on blasphemy charges — half of whom face life in prison or the death penalty — according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. While many cases involve Muslims accusing fellow Muslims, rights activists have warned that religious minorities — particularly Christians — are often caught in the crossfire, with blasphemy charges used to settle personal scores. In December, a Sri Lankan factory...