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Tag: Pakistan

  • Pakistani who attacked French magazine’s office says PM Imran, Khadim Rizvi influenced him

    The Pakistani man who attacked the former offices of French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, last September was radicalised by videos of preachers in his home country and anti-France demonstrations at the time, AFP reported, citing a local newspaper.

    According to Le Parisien, police investigation has revealed the 26-year-old had spent the days leading up to his knife attack watching extremist preachers on YouTube and TikTok denouncing France and Charlie Hebdo.

    “I couldn’t eat. I was crying watching the videos,” Zaheer Hassan Mahmood told investigators.

    Weeks before, the magazine had republished sketches of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which were considered blasphemous by Muslims, to mark the start of a trial of men linked to a 2015 attack on its offices.

    Mahmood said he did not realise the magazine had moved offices after the 2015 attack and presumed the two people he slashed with a meat cleaver were employees of the publication, the report said.

    Both victims, who worked for a TV production company with no links to Charlie Hebdo, sustained serious injuries.

    Mahmood, from the village of Kothli Qazi in Punjab province, had entered France with false papers showing him as an unaccompanied minor, enabling him to claim asylum.

    Islamist groups organised demonstrations in Pakistan in September against Charlie Hebdo and French President Emmanuel Macron, who defended freedom of expression and blasphemy, which is legal in France.

    Mahmood watched videos by Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the late founder of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, and other radical preachers.

    He was also influenced by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who accused Macron of “attacking Islam”, the newspaper said.

    Blasphemy is a criminal act in Pakistan, where laws allow death penalty for anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic personalities.

    Mahmood said he initially intended to damage the office building, rather than attack people, and has offered to apologise to his victims.

    Investigators have found a video he sent to a friend the day before his attack which called for the decapitation of blasphemers, and he received a call from Greece the same day which appeared to refer to a pre-meditated assault.

    He has been charged with “attempted murder with relation to a terrorist enterprise”.

  • Police file case against four-month-old boy

    Police file case against four-month-old boy

    Police in Chiniot have registered a case against a four-month-old boy for violating the sound system act.

    According to reports, a few religious scholars had delivered their speeches at an event in Chiniot on loudspeakers.

    After the event, the police had registered a case against dozens of people, including a four-month-old boy named Hasnain Shehzada, under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

    The police refused to remove the child’s name from the FIR when they were told about the child’s age.

    On Wednesday, his father submitted the papers in the court for interim bail.

  • Nearly 100,000 trees cut down in Multan to pave way for DHA?

    Nearly 100,000 trees cut down in Multan to pave way for DHA?

    Netizens are fuming ever since it was claimed that over 90,000 trees were cut down in the City of Saints to pave way for Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Multan.

    However, it has emerged that the trees were chopped and mango orchards destroyed but not for the military-run locality.

    According to a report by BBC Urdu, the multiple videos doing the rounds on social media were recorded last year when culling actually took place. It was carried out by the City Housing Society near Bosan Road among other locations.

    Another media outlet reported that the Mango Growers Cooperative Society had also then demanded a complete ban on mango orchard cutting as the growers were perturbed by the rapid annexation of thousands of acres of mango plantation in the district.

    But with the videos going viral over the internet with the false claim, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) among others, including activists and senior journalists, has expressed grave concern over reports of denuding of mango orchards and conversion of them into an urban property over the past years by DHA, and sought a transparent inquiry into the matter.

    “Reckless conversion of mango orchards and farmlands into urban property will have a disastrous impact on agriculture, food security and the environment,” said PPP secretary general and former senator Farhatullah Khan Babar in a statement.

    “Food security is far more important than building housing authorities,” Babar said while calling for a transparent inquiry into these reports.

  • COVID-19: Schools in hotspot areas to stay closed till April 11

    COVID-19: Schools in hotspot areas to stay closed till April 11

    Schools located in COVID-19 hotspot areas will remain closed till April 11, Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood has announced.

    Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, after an important meeting of education and health ministers at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Mahmood said that the number of active COVID-19 cases have doubled in the last three weeks while the positivity ratio has crossed 8%.

    Mahmood further said the government will discuss this with the Cambridge exams board to see whether CIE examinations can be postponed or not.

    “We have seen that the number of cases in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir has increased,” said Mahmood, adding: “The number of infections is relatively less in Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit-Balochistan.”

    Pakistan has reported 637,042 cases and 13,965 deaths so far. 3,301 cases and 30 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours.

    Number of cases recorded in different provinces in the last 24 hours are:

  • ‘Pakistan, My Home’: Canadian vlogger Rosie Gabrielle expresses love for Pakistan

    ‘Pakistan, My Home’: Canadian vlogger Rosie Gabrielle expresses love for Pakistan

    Canadian vlogger Rosie Gabrielle has shared a special note on the occasion of Pakistan Resolution Day to express her love for her new “home”.

    In a detailed note posted on Instagram, Gabrielle, who earlier converted to Islam said: “Two and a half years ago, I left my home in Canada to embark on a journey of a lifetime. Little did I know then, my trip across Pakistan would forever change me in so many ways.”

    “I didn’t choose to come here, Pakistan chose me,” said Gabrielle, adding: “In 2018, I surrendered to the universe and said ‘Okay God, it’s up to you, where am I going next?’”

    The vlogger then shared that a few days later she got an invitation to visit Pakistan for a short media tour.

    “I’m not much of a ‘Group Traveller’ but took this as a divine invitation for something bigger and made my own trip after,” said Gabrielle. “I had always wanted to explore Pakistan so I gladly accepted. I didn’t know then that this trip would change my life.”

    “All I knew is, I wanted to travel the entire country by bike and document my experiences. I didn’t know at that time if it was even logistically possible, or know much about the country,” said Rosie.

    The vlogger further said that she knew she could “forever make a positive impact for Pakistan by showing the true hearts of the people and land here.”

    “It was my destiny and my calling. I didn’t know how I would, I just knew I would and the will of my heart lead the way,” she shared. “For over two years now I have dedicated my heart, soul and all my energy to promoting peace and a positive change for this nation.”

    Rosie, in her note, also talked about Adeel Amer, a Pakistani travel vlogger, who she recently got married to. The couple tied the knot earlier this month.

    “I not only fell in love with the land [but also] the people. I’m humbly grateful every day for meeting the love of my life Adeel Amer, the most inspiring (this word does not do justice) human I know and finally able to call this beautiful country my HOME,” said Gabrielle.

    Rosie first visited Pakistan in December 2018. She had extensively documented her trip on social media.

  • Historic first: India could participate in military exercises in Pakistan this year

    Historic first: India could participate in military exercises in Pakistan this year

    In yet another signal that the ties between Islamabad and New Delhi are improving every day, India could take part in a multi-nation exercise to be hosted by Pakistan later this year at its premier anti-terrorism centre in Nowshera district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

    The exercise will be held under the aegis of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

    According to Indian media reports, if the plan goes through, it would be a historic event, given that it would be the first time that Indian forces will travel to Pakistan for any military exercise.

    The decision to hold the joint exercise “Pabbi-Antiterror-2021” was announced during the 36th meeting of the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on March 18.

    The development comes at a time when Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa last week stressed on the need for India and Pakistan to “bury the past and move forward”. Just weeks ago, the two countries had agreed to observe ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC).

    Meanwhile, a report by Bloomberg has claimed that United Arab Emirates (UAE) Royals are brokering Pakistan-India peace.

  • COVID-19: Get vaccinated privately for only Rs4,225 per injection

    With the federal cabinet deciding to cap the maximum retail price of Russian and Chinese coronavirus vaccine injections imported by the private sector, the Drug Pricing Committee of Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had proposed the same for two vaccines.

    Only those of 60 years of age or above are currently being vaccinated free of cost by the government in the absence of a wider state-run vaccination programme.

    However, Sputnik V’s GAM-Covid-Vac solution manufactured by the FSBI NF Gamalaya RCEM of the Russian Health Ministry and Convidecia vaccine manufactured by CanSino Biologics Inc will soon be available for Pakistanis seeking to get privately vaccinated against the deadly virus.

    The government has fixed the maximum sale price of Sputnik V vaccine at Rs8,449 for two doses and China’s Convidecia at Rs4,225 per injection, showed the summary of the National Health Services and Regulations Ministry.

    Further details have not yet been disclosed.

  • Pakistan State Oil hires female employees

    Pakistan State Oil hires female employees

    To keep up with changing times, the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has started hiring female filling station attendants. Sharing the news on Facebook, PSO highlighted the importance of workplace diversity.

    The Pakistani petroleum corporation shared pictures of the female employees on social media stating that the step aims to empower Pakistani women.

    “As the nation’s own oil marketing company, we understand that women constitute a vital part of our community and we undertake constant initiatives to empower them across our value chain,” said the company.

    PSO further said that they are “proud to have them on board” and that they plan to “increase their number”.

    Earlier, Total Parco had also taken the initiative of hiring female gas station attendants.

  • UAE Royals brokering Pak-India peace: Bloomberg

    About 24 hours after military chiefs from Pakistan and India surprised the world last month with a rare joint commitment to respect a 2003 cease-fire agreement, the top diplomat of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) popped over to New Delhi for a quick one-day visit.

    The official UAE readout of the Feb 26 meeting gave few clues of what Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed spoke about with Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, noting they “discussed all regional and international issues of common interest and exchanged views on them.”

    Yet behind closed doors, the Pakistan-India ceasefire marked a milestone in secret talks brokered by the UAE that began months earlier, according to officials aware of the situation who asked not to be identified. The cease-fire, one said, is only the beginning of a larger roadmap to forge a lasting peace between the neighbors, both of which have nuclear weapons and spar regularly over a decades-old territory dispute.

    The next step in the process, the official said, involves both sides reinstating envoys in Islamabad and New Delhi, who were pulled in 2019 after Pakistan protested India’s move to revoke seven decades of autonomy for the disputed Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir.

    The article originally appeared on Bloomberg 

  • Pakistan’s first tourism TV channel goes live

    Pakistan’s first tourism TV channel goes live

    Pakistan has launched its first satellite TV channel ‘Discover Pakistan‘ to boost national tourism in the country.

    Announcing the news of the channel on social media, the management of Discover Pakistan said that the TV channel aims to highlight Pakistan’s soft image with documentaries and coverage of tourism-related events and travelogues.

    Discover Pakistan will broadcast its content in HD (high definition) to project the country’s natural wonders around the world.

    The management has urged the citizens to ask their cable operators to initiate broadcasting the channel.

    As per Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision, the Discover Pakistan TV channel had been in the pipeline since 2017.

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on August 26 last year had formed a 12-member National Coordination Committee on tourism to facilitate and coordinate the government’s commitment to give tourism a priority in mainstream development.

    The committee was made to oversee and review the implementation of national tourism strategy and integration of provincial and regional policies.