Current Final

Category: Politics

  • US first lady is in ‘good spirits’ after surgery to remove cancerous lesions

    US first lady is in ‘good spirits’ after surgery to remove cancerous lesions

    Jill Biden, the First Lady of the United States of America, has successfully undergone surgery to remove cancerous skin lesions on her face and chest on Wednesday. A third lesion was removed from her left eyelid and sent for examination.

    The lesions, removed via Mohr’s surgery, were consistent with basal cell carcinoma, a form of cancer that does not metastasize. Jill Biden’s doctors have said they were able to get clean margins.

    A White House physician said that “all cancerous tissue was removed.”

    According to Jill’s spokesperson, Vanessa Valdivia, the first lady is “doing well and in good spirits.”

    The 71-year-old first lady was accompanied by her husband President Joe Biden, who spent more than eight hours with her at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

    Biden himself has had several non-melanoma skin cancers in the past.

    Basal cell carcinoma is the most frequently occurring form of all cancers. They are slow-growing, curable and cause minimal damage if treated early.

  • ‘Main reason for Imran-Bajwa’s differences is social media’: President Alvi

    ‘Main reason for Imran-Bajwa’s differences is social media’: President Alvi

    President Arif Alvi has offered to mediate between the Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    In an interview with BBC Urdu on Thursday, Dr. Alvi said that it is now inevitable that simmering political tension be cooled down and advised political leadership to hold talks with each other.

    “It is my offer to them [political parties] to sit together and then senior leadership can hold talks,” said Dr Alvi.

    The president blamed social media when commenting on the misunderstandings between former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

    Misunderstandings began because of the undue importance given to social media, he reasoned, expressing the belief that the country’s decision-makers “are not able to handle social media properly” and that they should do a better job of it.

    When pressed if the cause of “friction” between former premier and ex-army chief was the appointment of then director-general (DG) of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Faiz Hameed, President Alvi said that he would not talk about any specific person or incident.

    “Who was not showing flexibility?” the President asked. “I was asking them to set-aside differences and ignore social media.”

    “People can’t forgive,” he remarked.

    Responding to a question about an extension in tenure offered to the former army chief by Imran Khan, President Alvi said he was not aware of such an offer.

    “This is what I am saying. Remove such misunderstandings by having a dialogue together,” he stressed. “Be it any party, opposition, government or the establishment, I am ready to bring people together.”

    The president said that Khan expressed satisfaction over the appointment of General Asim Munir as the current army chief when Alvi had consulted the PTI chairman. However, he said that he was not playing any role in conducting a dialogue between the current military leadership and Khan.

    He emphasised his offers of negotiations between the government alliance and PTI, saying he had urged them to “sit together”.

    “I am not talking about Imran Khan. I am saying that at least the political parties should negotiate with each other. After that, the major figures of the [political] parties can also meet,” he explained.

  • ‘Schoolboy level trolling’: Twitter hits back at Moonis Elahi for his comment on PML-N’s Hina Parvez

    In the early hours of Thursday morning when Punjab Assembly was in chaos over the Vote of Confidence, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader and former federal minister Moonis Elahi found time to take a jibe at his rival party Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Hina Parvez Butt.

    Moonis posted a picture of Hina sitting in the House while the session was underway on Twitter. In the photo, Hina has a scarf over her head and her hands on her cheeks. Moonis Elahi wrote, “Oh God, what happened!! This is the condition of the entire PML-N.” He also tagged Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah in the tweet.

    Shortly thereafter, many users reacted, taking Moonis to task for his tweet. One user called it “schoolboy level trolling”.

    https://twitter.com/s_4_g_/status/1613279991030059008?s=20&t=FQhaxIYP2boIKGgGLigKDQ

    After the picture went viral on social media, Hina also hit back at the trolls. Issuing a clarification on Twitter, she said that the picture was taken during Azaan.

  • What the hell is going on in Punjab ?

    Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi won the confidence vote in the Punjab Assembly (PA) in the early hours of Thursday morning.

    A total of 186 members of the provincial assembly (MPAs) voted in support of Elahi as the chief minister on a resolution moved by Punjab Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Raja Basharat.

    The Opposition boycotted the session, claiming that the pre-requisite legal requirements were not met and that Punjab Governor Baligh-Ur-Rehman’s order of vote of confidence was sub judice.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) refused to accept the proceedings, with federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah terming them against the Constitution and “illegal”.

    The interior minister, speaking to media outside the Assembly premises, said that the PTI lawyers argued before the court that the governor’s order is unconstitutional.

    “So, how did they conduct the confidence vote under Article 130(7) today?” he asked.

    “PA Speaker Sibtain Khan said the confidence vote would not be taken during today’s session. However, the agenda was changed at midnight, and a vote of confidence was initiated by deceit.”

    On the other hand, PTI leaders celebrated the victory and praised party Chairman Imran Khan for the win.

  • Activist daughter of former Iranian president sentenced to five years in prison in Iran

    Activist daughter of former Iranian president sentenced to five years in prison in Iran

    The daughter of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani daughter, activist Faezeh Hashemi, has been sentenced to five years in prison in Iran.

    The lawyer did not give details of the charges against Faezeh Hashemi. However, Tehran’s public prosecutor indicted Hashemi last year on charges of “propaganda against the system”, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

    It was reported that Faezeh had been arrested for “inciting riots” in Tehran during protests triggered by the death of a young Kurdish woman in police custody.

    “Following the arrest of Ms Faezeh Hashemi, she was sentenced to five years in prison but the sentence is not final,” defence lawyer Neda Shams wrote on her Twitter account.

    In 2012, Faezeh Hashemi was sentenced to jail and banned from political activities for “anti state propaganda” dating back to the 2009 disputed presidential election.

  • ‘3 shooter nahi thay’: JIT aur Imran Khan ki conflicting statements

    The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the Wazirabad attack on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan while setting the record straight has said that there was only one shooter who attacked the former Prime Minister.

    A report page shared by Senior Journalist Kamran Shahid stated, “No credible/independent evidence has come on record which shows that there were no more than one fires/assailants.

    Kamran Shahid had shared the Punjab Forensic Report about the firing incident on January 3, rejecting claims of three shooters and also added that Khan was not shot four times on November 3, 2022, at Wazirabad.

    Reading out the Punjab Forensic Report about the firing incident in which the PTI chief was shot at, Kamran Shahid said that a “few” fragments of bullets hit him.

    “Few fragments of a bullet and a metallic particle hit Imran Khan,” said Shahid.

    On the contrary both Imran Khan and party leaders have repeatedly said that there were three shooters.

  • Blast in Kabul near Ministry of Foreign Affairs

    Blast in Kabul near Ministry of Foreign Affairs

    An explosion has taken place in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul. Multiple casualties are being reported.

    In a tweet, a spokesman of the Kabul Police Command, Khalid Zadran confirmed the tragedy.

    He wrote, “Today around 4 o’clock there was an explosion on the road of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which unfortunately resulted in casualties. Security teams have reached the area, and the details of the incident will be shared later.”

    According to media outlets, at least three people have lost their lives as of now.

    It has also been reported that the blast took place when a meeting was underway between a Chinese govt delegation and Taliban representatives inside the ministry.

    This is a developing story.

  • ‘Dunya ne hum par aitemaad keeya’: PM Shehbaz promises to use $9.7 billion flood donations transparently

    Following substantial pledges from the international community for Pakistan’s flood rehabilitation and climate resilience building, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif accompanied by federal ministers, held a press conference in Islamabad to discuss the figures that the country received.

    On Wednesday, the premier announced that the Geneva conference proved to be successful as the world pledged a total of $9.7 billion.

    Giving a breakdown of the amount pledged at the conference, the prime minister said Saudi Arabia committed $1 billion, followed by China $100m, Qatar $25m, Canada $18.6m, Denmark $3.8m, European Union €87m, France €380m, Germany €84m, Italy €23m and Azerbaijan $2m.

    During the conference, he said that the world trusted this government, adding that, “It is now upon us to utilise the amount on infrastructural development and for the development of other important sectors.”

    “The ball is now in our court. We now have to transparently spend every single penny on the people’s prosperity”, he affirmed.

    He added that the incumbent regime would keep up their work until the flood-affected populace was repopulated into their homes.

    Answering a question about the sit-in in South Wazirabad against terrorism, and militancy, the prime minister said the National Security Committee (NSC) discussed the issue in detail.

    Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari termed the PM’s foreign policy “successful”, citing the amount raised for flood victims and simultaneously dispelled the “myth” that Pakistan was isolated.

    Bilawal said the requirement of $16bn [for flood recovery] in times of Covid, as well as the crisis triggered by the Ukraine-Russia conflict, was “no joke”.

    Earlier this week, an International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan was held in Geneva which was co-hosted by Pakistan and the United Nations (UN). PM Shehbaz addressed the platform and asked the world to pour in support for Pakistan.

  • ‘Gen Bajwa ke kehnay pe Farah Khan mulk se bahir gayi hain’: Faisal Vawda

    Former Pakistan Thereek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda has revealed that former First Lady, Bushra Bibi’s closest friend, Farah Khan was sent out of Pakistan to please former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

    “Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa had knowledge [of the departure] and it was due to his orders that Farah Khan was sent out of Pakistan,” said Vawda while speaking on Hum News programme, ‘Breaking Views with Malick’.

    “Imran Khan would mind this and take this personally,” further said Vawda.

    It has been alleged by the current federal government that Farah Khan, a close friend of Bushra Bibi, to be involved in multiple irregularities that took place during the tenure of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

    Most recently, Farah Khan was alleged to have sold the Toshakhana watches that were gifted to Imran Khan by foreign dignitaries. In an interview with Geo’s Shahzeb Khanzada, a Dubai based businessman, Umar Farooq Zahoor alleged that Farah Khan sold him a Graff watch set for for $2 million in cash, worth approximately Rs280m at the time of sale in 2019.

  • CM should always have the support of majority in house: Court

    A five-member bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday (today) heard Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s plea challenging Governor Balighur Rehman’s orders to de-notify him as CM.

    During the hearing, Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh remarked that the governor can ask a chief minister to take a vote of confidence from the assembly.

    While Elahi’s lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar responded that his client became the chief minister by taking votes in the assembly, Justice Hafeez said that the chief minister should always have the support of the majority of the lawmakers (186 members) in the house.

    At one point, Justice Sheikh said that if a consensus could not be reached between the governor and the chief minister, then the case would be heard on “merit”.

    “The matter has now prolonged beyond a reasonable time,” he remarked, adding that the court would have to look at assembly dissolution, violation of the governor’s orders, and the way forward.

    In the late hours of December 22, Rehman denotified Elahi as CM. At the time, the governor had said that since the chief minister had refrained from taking a vote of confidence at the appo­i­nted day and time, he ceased to hold office.

    Subsequently, Elahi approached the court, saying the move was “unconstitutional, unlawful and of no legal effect”.

    LHC later reinstated Elahi as the chief minister after he assured the court that he would not dissolve the Punjab Assembly until the next hearing, which was held today.

    This a developing story.