Current Final

Category: Politics

  • Missing Indonesian submarine found; all 53 dead

    Missing Indonesian submarine found; all 53 dead

    The Indonesian submarine that had gone missing earlier this week has been found broken, deep in the Bali Sea.

    Indonesian army and navy officials also confirmed all 53 crew members on-board the missing KRI Nanggala-402 submarine have died.

    “With deep sadness, I can say that all 53 personnel onboard have passed,” Indonesian military chief Hadi Tjahjanto said.

    “We received underwater pictures that were confirmed as the parts of the submarine, including its rear vertical rudder, anchors, outer pressure body, embossed dive rudder and other parts,” he said during a press conference, adding the next step was to lift the wreckage of the vessel with the help of foreign navies.

    The submarine — one of five in Indonesia’s fleet — disappeared last Wednesday while it was scheduled to do live torpedo training exercises off Bali.

    The crew asked for permission to dive. It lost contact shortly after.

    Later, search teams spotted an oil spill where the vessel was thought to have submerged, pointing to possible fuel-tank damage, and a catastrophic accident.

    A number of countries, including Russia, the United States (US), Germany, France, India, Turkey and Australia, had offered assistance to Indonesia in the operation to find the submarine.

  • Justice Isa’s review petition against verdict on presidential reference accepted

    Justice Isa’s review petition against verdict on presidential reference accepted

    The Supreme Court has granted the review petition of Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

    A 10-member full court bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial was hearing Justice Isa’s case in the apex court on Monday.

    The Supreme Court judge and his wife had challenged the apex court’s order on the presidential reference seeking the removal of Justice Isa for failing to disclose foreign properties of his family members.

    After completion of the hearing, Justice Bandial, in his remarks, had said that the bench needed time for consultation.

    Justice Bandial had last week remarked that the Supreme Court would not look at a report on Justice Qazi Faez Isa and his family’s financial matters, compiled by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and will leave it to the Supreme Judicial Council to decide what to do with it.

    The full court bench has been seized with the review petition filed by Justice Isa.

    Additional Attorney General (AAG) Amir Rehman, representing the government, told the bench in Friday that the Supreme Court had given its verdict on the case by keeping into account all the facts and the law.

    He added that the bench had also heard the judge in question.

    “This review petition can therefore not be accepted merely on the assertion that the reference was not heard properly,” Rehman had argued.

  • Top U.S. commander in Afghanistan says steps to end military mission launched

    Top U.S. commander in Afghanistan says steps to end military mission launched

    The commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, U.S. Army General Scott Miller, on Sunday said an orderly withdrawal of foreign forces and the handing over of military bases and equipment to the Afghan forces had begun.

    Miller said he was acting on orders based on U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to end America’s longest war, deeming the prolonged and intractable battle in Afghanistan no longer aligned with American priorities.

    Earlier this month Biden said he would withdraw troops from Afghanistan before Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the militant attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon that launched the Afghan war.

    Miller, who has been commanding the U.S. forces and the NATO Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan in their fight against the Taliban and other Islamist militant groups since 2018, said foreign forces will continue to have “the military means and capability to fully protect themselves during the ongoing retrograde and will support the Afghan security forces.”

    “I’ve had the opportunity to talk to Taliban members with the Taliban Political Commission, and I’ve told them a return to violence, an effort to force a military decision, would be a tragedy for Afghanistan and the Afghan people,” Miller told reporters in the capital Kabul.

    The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when they were ousted by U.S.-led forces. Since then they have waged a long-running insurgency and now control wide swathes of territory.

    Security experts in recent weeks said they doubt if the Taliban will allow U.S. forces, whom they call invaders, to peacefully exit the country at a time when clashes between the Afghan forces and the Taliban have not ebbed.

    Foreign force withdrawal is slated to begin on May 1, in line with an agreement with the Taliban in 2020.

    “As we retrograde to zero U.S. forces, we will turn over the (military) bases primarily to the (Afghan) Ministry of Defense and other Afghan forces,” Miller said adding that the Taliban have committed to break their relationship with al Qaeda, the Islamist extremist group.

    The Taliban government’s sheltering of Al-Qaeda was the key reason for the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan after the September 2001 attacks.

    A United Nations report in January said there were as many as 500 al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan and that the Taliban maintained a close relationship with them. The Taliban denies al Qaeda presence in Afghanistan.

  • Pak Army to help implement coronavirus SOPs, announces PM Imran

    Pak Army to help implement coronavirus SOPs, announces PM Imran

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday announced that there will not not be a complete lockdown but in order to control the situation, people must follow SOPs. PM appealed to the nation that if they follow SOPs and wear masks regularly, Pakistan will not have to take any strict measures. PM said that despite suggestions of lockdowns in cities, he has not taken this decision as it affects the poor the most. “Be careful yourself. Otherwise we will have no other option.”

    PM said that the Pakistan Army will assist the police in imposing SOPs.

    Key decisions taken by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC):

    1. Schools in districts with positivity rates above 5% closed until Eid
    2. Markets to close at 6pm. Only shops selling essential goods to operate after 6pm
    3. Outdoor and indoor dining banned during Ramzan
    4. Indoor gyms to be closed
    5. Offices to close at 2pm daily with 50% capacity. Rest of the staff to work from home
  • ‘Jootay se bhi baat aagaye jayegi,’ Khaqan Abbasi won’t apologise for threatening Speaker NA

    ‘Jootay se bhi baat aagaye jayegi,’ Khaqan Abbasi won’t apologise for threatening Speaker NA

    Former Prime Minister, Khaqan Abbasi was served a show cause notice on Wednesday for threatening to hit Speaker of the National Assembly, Asad Qaiser with a shoe during an assembly session. During the session Khaqan Abbasi and the Speaker got into an argument over Abbasi’s turn on speaking on the issue of banned TLP’s demand to expel the French Ambassador.

    After the notice to apologise in seven days, Abbasi said that he only seeks forgiveness from Allah and no one else. On Thursday night, on GEO News’ programme Capital Talk, he told anchorperson Hamid Mir that if he wants to speak on the issue, he challenges the Speaker to stop him from speaking. If the Speaker tries to stop him, the same thing would happen again. When Mir stopped him to say that “you have been the Prime Minister, how can you say such a thing? Will you throw a shoe?” Abbasi replied, “It will be worse than throwing a shoe.” He said he is also nominated in two cases.

    He has said that he will respond to the show cause notice but has not stated whether he will apologise or not.

  • ‘Satisfied with cool winds blowing from Islamabad’: Tareen

    ‘Satisfied with cool winds blowing from Islamabad’: Tareen

    Jahangir Khan Tareen said on Thursday that he has been given an assurance that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan will meet his group soon.

    “Now that a cool wind is blowing from Islamabad, we are satisfied,” said Tareen.

    Tareen also claimed he has the support of 40 lawmakers.

    Talking to the media outside a sessions court in Lahore, Tareen said that when the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was in power, the government investigated his business and sent him notices but even the PML-N did not do to him what is being done now. “Even the PML-N did not turn a civil case to a criminal case, which has been done now.”

    Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told anchorperson Adil Shahzeb that he does not know about any upcoming meeting between Tareen and PM Imran. “Frankly I have not talked to either of the two about this.” Chaudhry added that Tareen played an important role in the formation of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. “Everyone acknowledged and appreciates Tareen sahab’s role.”

  • Canada bans flights from Pakistan, India for 30 days

    Canada bans flights from Pakistan, India for 30 days

    Due to an increasing number of COVID-19 cases, Canadian authorities have banned all passenger flights from Pakistan and India for 30 days.

    Canadian transportation Minister Omar Alghabra announced that “given the higher number of cases of Covid-19 detected in air passengers arriving in Canada from India and Pakistan, I am suspending all commercial and private passenger flights arriving in Canada from India and Pakistan for 30 days.”

    “This is a temporary measure, while we assess the evolving situation and determine appropriate measures going forward,” he added.

    The ban will not be imposed on the cargo flights to ensure the supply of vaccinations, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other essential goods in the time of crises.

    Almost 20 per cent of the travellers coming to Canada are Indians with half of them testing positive, said the report.

    The transportation minister further added that epidemiologists and researchers are trying to make sense of the new variants. Meanwhile, halting travel activities is imperative to curb the trajectory of the cases.

    According to data available with the Canadian health authorities, almost 18 flights from Dehli and two from Lahore that arrived in Toronto and Vancouver in the past month have had at least one passenger on board who tested positive for COVID-19.

    Besides, Canada last December briefly suspended flights from Britain over concerns about outbreaks of a Covid variant.

    Moreover, on Thursday, parliament voted unanimously to urge the government to ban non-essential flights from Covid hotspots where variants have surged, including India and Brazil.

    Several dozen cases of Indian variant have already been identified in Canada, say health authorities in Canada.

    Some countries have taken similar steps to prevent worsening the outbreaks due to this variant: the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that they will suspend all flights from India.

    All travellers to Canada are already subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine. They must also present a negative COVID test before boarding an international flight, and another upon arrival in Canada.

  • ‘Quetta blast was a suicide attack’: Sheikh Rasheed

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed said on Thursday that the blast at Serena Hotel in Quetta was a suicide attack. He said this was a foreign attempt to destabilise Pakistan. “Pakistan Army and the people of Pakistan will defeat such designs.” Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed the responsibility for the Quetta blast yesterday. Five people were killed and more than a dozen injured in the deadly attack.

    All law enforcement agencies are on high alert at the instructions of the Interior Ministry. Talking about the attack, Sheikh Rasheed said the suicide bomber stayed inside the car. “C4 explosives weighing between 60 to 70 kilogrammes were used in the attack”. Evidence has been sent for forensic analysis.

    The interior minister also said that social media was misused during the past few days by foreign elements who are behind efforts to destabilise Pakistan. “An estimated 250,000-300,000 social media accounts were created in India.” “These foreign forces cannot see Pakistan prosper and progress,” said the minister. 

    China strongly condemned the terrorist attack. A statement by the Chinese embassy in Pakistan said that Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong was leading a delegation on a visit to Quetta on the same day. “When the attack occurred, the Chinese delegation was not in the hotel. Till present, no reports of casualties of Chinese citizens in the attack have been received.”

    Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted that he is deeply saddened by the loss of innocent lives in the condemnable and cowardly terrorist attack in Quetta yesterday. “Our nation has made great sacrifices in defeating terrorism and we will not to allow this scourge to rise again. We remain alert to all internal and external threats.”

  • Bail granted to Shehbaz Sharif

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday granted bail to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif. The bail was approved by the three-member bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, Justice Alia Neelum and Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi. Sharif was first granted and then denied bail after a division bench issued a split decision on Sharif’s petition, sending the matter to the LHC chief justice for the nomination of a referee judge.

    Sharif was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a money-laundering case last year in September.

    Shehbaz Sharif’s son Hamza Shehbaz was released in February after spending 20 months in jail as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) probed money laundering accusations against him.

    While Shehbaz was incarcerated, a report in The News said that Maryam Nawaz, due to her hawkish stance, has gained popularity in the party and the public. Her control on the party is strengthened to such an extent that she has stopped “consulting him [Shehbaz] for political advice”.

  • Blast inside Serena Hotel’s parking area in Quetta

    Blast inside Serena Hotel’s parking area in Quetta

    At least three people have been killed and several injured, including two government officials, after an explosion in the parking area of the Serena Hotel in Quetta, as per media reports. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

    Initial reports say that the cause of the blast, which took place at 10:30 pm local time, has not yet been ascertained. Security forces have cordoned off the area. Rescue teams have arrived at the site of the explosion.

    Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has said that the Interior Ministry is in touch with the Balochistan Government.

    “Once details come in, the government will comment further on the issue,” said Fawad.

    According to journalist Ihsan Tipu, the attack was aimed at the Chinese Ambassador, who was reportedly staying at the hotel.

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed has clarified that the Chinese Ambassador was in the hotel but was not present at the time of the blast.