2 Pakistan Navy men killed in vehicle attack at Gwadar

7Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

World

2 Pakistan Navy men killed in vehicle attack at Gwadar

Two Pakistan Navy men were killed and another was injured in an attack on their vehicle in the Ganz area in the coastal district of Gwadar on Saturday, reported Dawn. One sailor of Pakistan Navy and a barber were killed and another Navy man suffered injuries, a security official said. Official sources said the Pakistan Navy's vehicle was on its way to Ganz from Jiwani when unidentified attackers opened fire on it with automatic weapons. Assistant Commissioner Gwadar retired Captain Athar Abbas said the area where the attack took place had been cordoned off and combed but no arrest had been reported, cited Dawn. The investigation is underway, more details are awaited. Earlier on Friday, five labourers were killed and five others, including two security personnel, injured when a...

Nepal’s PM to receive Covid-19 vaccine today

7Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

Highlights, World

Nepal’s PM to receive Covid-19 vaccine today

Nepal's caretaker Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is set to receive the vaccine against COVID-19 on Sunday in order to begin the second phase of the inoculation drive in the Himalayan Nation. According to Health Minister Hridayesh Tripathi, Oli will receive the first dose of his COVID-19 vaccine at the Teaching Hospital at 10 AM (Local Time). "Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will start the second phase of the vaccination campaign from Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj at 10 am today receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Also, Nepal will receive 348,000 doses through Covax," Health Minister Hridayesh Tripathi confirmed ANI. Oli,69, has a history of comorbidities and underwent a kidney transplant in 2020. Along with the Prime Minister, the head of other constitutional bodies also...

UAE cancels permits for Ramadan tents amid Covid-19 pandemic

7Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

World

UAE cancels permits for Ramadan tents amid Covid-19 pandemic

Ajman authorities on Saturday cancelled all permits for Ramadan tents in the UAE this year as a precautionary measure against the spread of COVID-19, reported Khaleej Times. The announcement comes three days after Dubai cancelled all Ramadan tents that are usually hosted during the holy month. Instead, the Iftar meals will be distributed to sites in a safe manner by charities registered in the Emirate. Maryam Ali Al Maamari, Secretary-General of the council, vowed that the maximum number of workers and people with limited income will benefit from its meal distribution plan in the safest possible manner. The cancellation aims to prevent large gatherings, where people may flout social distancing rules. The Ajman Charitable Activities and Endowments Coordination Council directe...

5 member Hindu family killed in Pakistan

6Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

Highlights, World

5 member Hindu family killed in Pakistan

Pakistan's Hindu community is in shock following the killing of a five-member family in mysterious circumstances in Pakistan on Friday. The members of the family were found dead with their throats slit with some sharp-edged weapon in their house in Abu Dhabi Colony, Chak No 135-P, 15-kilometre away from Rahim Yar Khan city, reported The News International. Police have recovered murder weapons including a knife and an axe. Social activist Birbal Das in Rahim Yar Khan told The News International that Ram Chand was a Meghwal Hindu and he was 35-36 years old. He was running a tailoring shop for a long time. He was a peaceful man and living a happy life, and the incident was quite shocking for everyone.

China’s Xi calls for ‘popularising’ Mandarin in Inner Mongolia

6Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

World

China’s Xi calls for ‘popularising’ Mandarin in Inner Mongolia

Authorities in Inner Mongolia must “solve ethnic problems” and push the use of the Mandarin language, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said, months after the region was rocked by protests over a new rule that would reduce the use of the local language. The region in China's far north borders the independent nation of Mongolia, with which it shares ethnic, cultural and linguistic ties. Tens of thousands took part in demonstrations and school boycotts last year after an edict mandated Mandarin replace Mongolian as the language of instruction, part of a nationwide drive to assimilate China's ethnic minorities into the majority Han culture. Rare mass rallies, the largest Beijing had witnessed for decades, were followed by a crackdown as armoured vehicles surrounded schools and police ar...

Pakistan PM Imran Khan to face vote of confidence today

6Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

Highlights, World

Pakistan PM Imran Khan to face vote of confidence today

After Imran Khan's candidate Abdul Hafeez Shaikh lost to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) nominee Yousuf Raza Gillani in Senate elections, the Pakistani Prime Minister announced to seek a vote of confidence from the National Assembly on Saturday. Imran is not the first Pakistani Prime Minister to face a vote of confidence in the National Assembly. In fact, under the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, all prime ministers of Pakistan, from 1985 to 2008, received a vote of confidence from the National Assembly. These included the late Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Mir Zafarullah Jamali, Chaudhry Shujaat, Shaukat Aziz, and Yousuf Raza Gilani, reported Geo News. But Imran Khan is also the second in the history of Pakistan who has sought a 'voluntary' vote of confidence. Prior t...

Ukraine to fine supplier over late delivery of Chinese Covid-19 vaccines

6Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

World

Ukraine to fine supplier over late delivery of Chinese Covid-19 vaccines

Ukraine will impose financial penalties on the local pharmaceutical company Lekhim over delays in delivering Chinese-made Sinovac vaccines, the deputy health minister told Reuters, adding a decision on approving Sinovac's use was still pending. Lekhim declined comment but said this week that the first batch of the Covid-19 vaccine would be delivered on March 15. “They definitely do not meet the stated deadlines,” Ihor Ivashchenko told Reuters by phone. “There will be penalties, which are specified in the contract.” Ukraine had agreed to buy 1.9 million Sinovac doses and expected to receive the first 700,000 doses within a month of the vaccine being approved in China on February 6. Ivashchenko did not specify what the financial penalties would be, but according to a document seen ...

White House: Biden believes US authorisations for military force need updating

6Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

World

White House: Biden believes US authorisations for military force need updating

US President Joe Biden believes that authorisations for the use of military force that have been used to justify US attacks on overseas targets should be re-examined, the White House said yesterday. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine and Republican Senator Todd Young introduced legislation this week to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Iraq, citing the “strong partnership” between Washington and the government in Baghdad. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Biden wanted to work with Kaine on the issue. “He wants to discuss a narrow and specific framework moving forward. Obviously, it's outdated,” she told reporters. “That's the discussion he hopes to have in partnership and with the leadership of Senator Kaine and determine what the ...

Irish foreign minister to meet Iran’s Rouhani on nuclear deal

6Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

World

Irish foreign minister to meet Iran’s Rouhani on nuclear deal

Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney is to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran tomorrow in his role as a UN Security Council facilitator of the nuclear deal agreed in 2015 between Iran and major world powers. Iran has so far refused to take part in a meeting brokered by the European Union between world powers and the United States on reviving its 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal. But European sources this week said that Tehran had given positive signs about opening informal talks after European powers scrapped plans to criticise Tehran at the UN nuclear watchdog. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is also due to meet Coveney during the trip, on Friday said Iran would soon present a “constructive” plan of action. “Ireland is a strong supporter of the JCPOA. ...

Israel claims Iran dumped oil in sea in ‘environmental attack’

5Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

World

Israel claims Iran dumped oil in sea in ‘environmental attack’

Israel’s environmental protection minister has said Iran was responsible for a recent oil spill that ravaged its shores and has claimed – without evidence – the incident was a form of “environmental terrorism”. Gila Gamliel said after a two-week investigation aimed at “getting our hands on the criminal ship” responsible for the tar slick, her ministry had identified a Panama-flagged tanker called Emerald, which was smuggling oil from Iran to Syria in breach of international sanctions. The vessel sailed through the Gulf and the Red Sea with intermittent radio and satellite tracking contact before dumping oil in the eastern Mediterranean between 1 and 2 February, she told reporters on Wednesday. It is now anchored in Iran, she added. “After reducing the number of suspects in the incident,...

YouTube removes five Myanmar TV channels from platform

5Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

Highlights, World

YouTube removes five Myanmar TV channels from platform

Alphabet Inc’s YouTube has removed five channels of Myanmar’s military-run television networks hosted on its platform in the wake of the coup in the South-east Asian country. “We have terminated a number of channels and removed several videos from YouTube in accordance with our community guidelines and applicable laws,” a YouTube spokeswoman said in a statement in response to a Reuters question. The channels taken down include the state network, MRTV, (Myanma Radio and Television) as well as the military-owned Myawaddy Media, MWD Variety and MWD Myanmar, YouTube said. Their removal comes during the bloodiest week so far of anti-coup protests, with 38 people killed on Wednesday, according to the United Nations, as security forces tried to crush rallies and used live rounds in some ar...

India signs pact with Philippines for supply of BrahMos missile

5Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

Highlights, India, World

India signs pact with Philippines for supply of BrahMos missile

India and the Philippines have signed a key agreement to facilitate government-to-government deals on military hardware, including the potential supply of BrahMos cruise missiles. The signing of the “implementing arrangement” for procuring of defence materials and equipment was announced by the department of national defense of the Philippines on its Facebook page. The pact was signed by under-secretary Raymundo Elefante of the Philippines’ department of national defense and Indian ambassador Shambu Kumaran at Camp Aguinaldo, headquarters of the Filipino armed forces, on Tuesday. Filipino defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who witnessed the signing ceremony, was quoted by The Straits Times as saying: “We are buying the BrahMos missiles.” He didn’t provide details of the procurement p...

US condemns infiltration across LoC, supports dialogue between India, Pakistan

5Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

World

US condemns infiltration across LoC, supports dialogue between India, Pakistan

The United States on Thursday (local time) condemned terrorists who seek to infiltrate across the Line of Control and supported a dialogue between India and Pakistan. "We condemn terrorists who seek to infiltrate across the Line of Control. We continue to support direct dialogue between India and Pakistan on Kashmir and other areas of concern," said US State Department spokesperson Ned Price. Price further informed that they are following the developments in J-K closely and suggested both India and Pakistan should reduce tensions along the Line of Control. "We have continued to follow very closely developments in Jammu and Kashmir. Our policy towards the region has not changed. We call on all parties to reduce tensions along the Line of Control by returning to the 2003 ceasefir...

‘One country, two systems’, other key Hong Kong phrases removed from China’s annual political report

5Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

World

‘One country, two systems’, other key Hong Kong phrases removed from China’s annual political report

Less than a year after China imposed the draconian national security law to curb the pro-democracy movement, the phrases 'one country, two systems', 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong' and 'high degree of autonomy' have been removed from a report of Beijing's annual political session, which began on Thursday. According to a report by Hong Kong Free Press, the change marks the first time all three fundamental concepts underpinning the Basic Law, the city's mini-constitution, have not featured in the annual report. The "Two Sessions" sitting will be unveiling China's new plans for Hong Kong's electoral system. Earlier, the authorities used the national security law to stamp out street protests, ban activists from lobbying foreign governments, gut the legislature and arrest most of t...

Imran Khan called own legislators for taking bribes: Gilani after PM’s move of no-confidence motion

5Mar

By News RoomNo Comments

World

Imran Khan called own legislators for taking bribes: Gilani after PM’s move of no-confidence motion

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Yousaf Raza Gilani, who defeated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) leader Hafeez Shaikh in Islamabad during Senate elections, has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan called his own legislators for taking bribes and selling loyalties. According to a report by ARY News, Gilani, on Thursday, said that it was the prime minister himself who opened the treasure chests to buy votes so he can make Hafeez Shaikh a senator. He also urged Imran Khan to introspect himself instead of accusing others. He has himself admitted the fissures within his own party lines with the claims of taking confidence vote from the parliament, said Gilani, rhetorically asking whether it actually doesn't matter to PM Khan if he loses the premiership, ARY News reported. A day after...