Current Final

Tag: USA

  • US ‘welcomes’ NSC statement saying no ‘foreign conspiracy’ to oust PTI govt

    US ‘welcomes’ NSC statement saying no ‘foreign conspiracy’ to oust PTI govt

    US State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter has said that the United States welcomed the statement issued by Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) a day ago wherein it dismissed an impression of a “foreign conspiracy” to topple the Imran Khan-led government.

    The senior US official made this statement in response to a question from a journalist during a weekly press briefing.

    “Today, the newly-elected prime minster of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, chaired the meeting of national security committee and senior military and civil officers attended that. And this meeting was to — about Imran Khan’s allegation of US government. So the press release we got, it states that the (inaudible) concludes that there has been no foreign conspiracy. How do you see this?” the journalist had asked.

    “… We welcome this statement,” Porter replied.

    “There is absolutely no truth to those rumours, so we welcome this statement,” Jalina responded to a question asking her to comment on NSC’s statement.

    She continued by adding, “The United States values our longstanding cooperation with Pakistan and has always viewed a strong, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan as critical to US interests.”

    The National Security Committee, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, found NO evidence of ‘conspiracy’. The meeting was also attended by Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

    “The National Security Committee was again informed by the premier security agencies that they have found no evidence of any foreign conspiracy,” reads the statement issued after NSC meeting.

    The meeting was attended by federal ministers – Khwaja Asif, Rana Sanaullah, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of State on Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar,Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Nadeem Raza, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahamd Babar and senior civil and military officials.

  • US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar meets PM Shehbaz and Khan: Who is she?

    Democratic United States (US) Congresswoman Ilhan Abdullah Omar landed in Islamabad on Thursday for her first ever visit to Pakistan.

    Omar met Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and President Arif Alvi. It has been reported that during the meeting with the premier, Pakistan-US bilateral relations as well as regional situations were discussed.

    She also met the former PM Imran Khan and expressed her admiration on his work against Islamophobia globally.

    During her four-day-tour, she will explore Lahore and Azad Jammu and Kashmir to have a greater understanding of Pakistan’s cultural, social, political, and economic potential, the PM’s Office said.

    The visit has come at a time when the former PM was voted out after a series of allegations against the US.

    After living in a refugee camp for four years before applying for asylum in US, Ilhan Omar became first Somali American and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress in 2018.

    She became a US citizen in 2000 at the age of 17 and in 2016 won a seat in the Minnesota House. In 2019, Omar assumed the office as the Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from the 60B district.

    Born in 1982, Omar grew up in a middle-class family. Half of Omar’s childhood saw the affects of Somalia’s civil war. When she was 8, her family fled the country and ended up living in a refugee camp in Kenya for four years. When she arrived, Omar couldn’t speak English.

    She is the first hijabi woman to legislate from the House floor. Omar’s arrival in Congress resulted in the lifting of a 181-year-old ban on head coverings on the House floor.

    According to several American websites, her decision to wear the hijab was influenced by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as she wanted to signify her cultural identity.

    Omar has always supported Kashmiris in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.

    In 2019, right after the annexation of Kashmir by Indian PM Narendra Modi, in a tweet, she said, “We should be calling for an immediate restoration of communication; respect for human rights, democratic norms, and religious freedom; and de-escalation in Kashmir.” She also urged international forums to take action.

  • 17 Pakistani universities listed among world’s best institutions

    17 Pakistani universities listed among world’s best institutions

    As many as 17 Pakistani universities have been listed among the best global universities for 2022.

    According to the ranking published by US News, Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Islamabad has been ranked 461 in the World Ranking for 2022. Aga Khan University, Karachi and COMSATS University Islamabad are following the QAU in the ranking respectively.

    Apart from these institutions, more universities have made to the list, such as the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) which is placed at 922, the University of Peshawar, at 933, University of Agriculture Faisalabad at 954, Government College (GC) University Faisalabad at 1,149, University of Punjab at1,242, Bahauddin Zakariya University at 1,368 and University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Lahore have been placed at 1,458th position.

    Following the news, the Vice-Chancellor (VS) of QAU Prof Dr Muhammad Ali Shah congratulated the faculty, students, staff, and alumni on the official website of the university.

  • Govt to set up a commission to look into foreign conspiracy issue

    Govt to set up a commission to look into foreign conspiracy issue

    Federal Minister for Information and newly appointed Law Minister Fawad Chaudhry has reportedly given directions to set up a commission on the foreign conspiracy issue.

    The commission will look into factors such as the change of government and the no-confidence motion through a foreign conspiracy and will compile a report on it.

    The federal minister also has issued orders to replace dozens of legal officers in major cities, i.e. Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore and has directed them to perform their duties in an efficient manner.

    On April 1, Chaudhry was given additional charge of the law ministry.

    Earlier, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan claimed that the Opposition’s no-trust move is part of an alleged “foreign-funded conspiracy” hatched against his government.

    Later, in an address, PM Khan named the United States of America (USA) behind this conspiracy.

    However, White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said, “There is absolutely no truth to the allegation.”

  • Pakistan chooses not to vote in the UNGA session to censure Russia

    Pakistan chooses not to vote in the UNGA session to censure Russia

    In the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) emergency session on Wednesday, Pakistan abstained from voting to censure Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

    Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram delivered a speech, in which he said, “Pakistan is committed to the fundamental principles of the UN Charter: self-determination of peoples, non-use or threat of use of force, sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, and pacific settlement of disputes.”

    “We hope the talks initiated between representatives of the Russian Federation and Ukraine will succeed in bringing about a cessation of hostilities and normalisation of the situation,” he said while adding that Pakistan supports all efforts to provide humanitarian relief to civilians in the affected areas.

    The ambassador stated that Pakistan was more concerned about the safety of Pakistani citizens and students in Ukraine.

    The session was called by the UN which demanded that Russia should stop fighting and urged it to immediately withdraw its military forces from Ukraine.

    141 member states voted in favour of the resolution. Besides Russia, four other countries voted against the resolution. While India, Bangladesh, China (one of the five permanent members) abstained.

    Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) received a letter from top diplomats of 22 countries on Tuesday, urging Islamabad to support a UNGA resolution, reports Dawn.

  • Ukrainian President imposes martial law as Putin declares war

    Ukrainian President imposes martial law as Putin declares war

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has imposed martial law in the country in response to Russian invasion.

    President Zelensky said to his people “not to panic and be strong”.

    “Today each of you should keep calm. Stay at home if you can. We are working. The army is working. The whole sector of defense and security is working”, the Ukrainian president added.

    Andrew Simmons, Al Jazeera’s reporter, revealed, “The whole sky was awash with red and orange when these missiles struck – some of which were apparently cruise missiles. And the main international airport did come under attack – it is not clear what the damage is there, but all air space is closed.”

    As per Zelensky’s Twitter account, several nations are in contact with Ukraine. In a tweet, he noted that “the world is with us”.

    Prior to this, Donetsk and Luhansk — collectively known as Donbas — was recognised by Russia as separate nations. The region consists of separatists and is pro-Russia.

    Background:

    The history goes back to 1991 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) disintegrated, resulting in the independence of Ukraine. It was the Ukrainian revolution when things got out of hand, Russian-favoured former President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted by popular protests and his own parliament in February 2014. He fled to Russia, where he is living in exile. Later, a new government was formed, which had United States (US) favour.

    This all led to a conflict in eastern Ukraine that began in April 2014 with low-level fighting between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatist rebels in Donbas who seized some towns in predominantly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine. For the time being, a ceasefire was signed between the two parties.

    Last year, there were speculations that Ukraine is making progress toward gaining North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership. However, NATO has always denied this. Russia argued that western military presence represents an existential threat to Russia. 

    Since then, Russia has been sending its troops towards the Ukrainian border. The estimated number of Russian troops deployed in and around Ukraine has ranged from 100,000 to 190,000 in recent weeks.

    According to the New York Times, there are both geopolitical and historical reasons behind Moscow’s endless pressure on Kyiv, which was the birthplace of the first Russian state in the 9th Century. The Russian language is still widely spoken in the country despite Ukraine’s own language.

    It is pertinent to mention that Ukraine is the European Union’s (EU) fourth-biggest external food supplier. It provides the bloc with about a quarter of its cereal and vegetable oil imports, including almost half of its corn.

    According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global food prices reached a 10-year record in 2021 and the war would only make that a lot worse.  

  • Biden puts sanctions on Russia but has no intention of fighting its long rival

    Biden puts sanctions on Russia but has no intention of fighting its long rival

    United States (US) President Joe Biden has announced that they are imposing the first tranche of sanctions against Russia for launching an invasion of Ukraine and warned that more would come if there are further incursions.

    In a video, Biden said, “We are implementing full blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions and comprehensive sanctions on Russia’s sovereign debt. We have cut off Russia’s government from Western financing.” He added that the US will also impose sanctions on Russia’s elites and their family members.

    Speaking at the White House, the US President lashed out at Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries [Donetsk and Luhansk] that belonged to his neighbour [Ukraine].”

    Biden said that the US would continue to provide “defensive assistance” to Ukraine but has no intention of fighting Russia. He said that the authorised additional movements of US forces are already stationed in Europe to strengthen Baltic allies Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

    He further revealed that the decision has been taken by the US and its allies. “I have told Putin to his face more than a month ago that we (US and allies) would act together if Russia invaded Ukraine,” he stated.

    According to Russian news agencies, Putin did not watch Biden’s speech and Russia will first look at what the US has outlined before responding, reports Reuters. Previously, Putin said, “They are trying to blackmail us again. They are threatening us again with sanctions” adding that the US just needs “an excuse to impose sanctions”.

    The development came a day after Putin recognised pro-Moscow separatist regions Donetsk and Luhansk as independent entities and allowed Russian troops to enter this region.

    Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly called up the country’s reservists and warned that Ukraine could face a battle.

    Ukraine is deeply divided, with a large Russian-speaking minority. Since fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014, separatist rebels of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics have been accused of being proxies for Russian interests.

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan is going to Russia today (Wednesday) on a two-day visit.

  • ARY News paid Rs1 million to forensics firm to check Saqib Nisar’s audio: Dawn

    ARY News paid Rs1 million to forensics firm to check Saqib Nisar’s audio: Dawn

    Primeau Forensics, the United States of America’s (USA) forensic audit company, confirmed on Wednesday that inspected the leaked audiotape of former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar forwarded by a private news channel of Pakistan, ARY News, reports Dawn.

    “It was a specific thing that we did for our client and we are not discussing it with anyone,” a company representative told Dawn. “We have no press release.”

    He said the client, ARY News, had the report, and “only they can share the details with others”.

    ARY asks for forensic audit:

    “According to ARY News, the audit of this 45-second file showed two reverberences in the voice as the person spoke from two different locations. The voice was clearer during the last 20 seconds as it came from a closer range.”

    “ARY News claimed that when it asked Primeau Forensics if the recording was of the original conversation or came from an edited tape, the company said the two parts of 20 and 25 seconds each were recorded in a different environment.”

    “Primeau Forensics told ARY News that it believed the unknown Fact Focus clip was generated from at least two different sources”.

    “They observed two different reverberences, indicating that the first portion of the audio was likely recorded in a different environment than the second portion”.

    Primeau Forensics, an audio-video image forensic expert- has more than 30 years of experience in the field. As per their official website, their experts have processed over 5,000 audio, video, and image forensic investigations and provided expert testimony in over 500 cases in local, state, and federal courts.

    ARY News claimed that it had paid Rs1 million for the audit.

    The US-based company has worked for attorney generals of multiple US States, CNN, AP, and other major organisations. ARY News claimed that it had paid Rs1 million for the audit.

    ‘Please run the news in UK/USA. Only in Pakistan, these news channels can lie & defame’: Ahmed Noorani

    Ahmed Noorani, the journalist who broke the news of the leaked audio of Saqib Nisar, tweeted, “Anxiously waiting for the ARY to air news against me and my expose of Saqib Nisar audio in UK & USA so I can send a legal notice & proceed against it.”

    “I am disappointed so far. Please, run the news in UK/USA. Only in Pakistan, these news channels can lie & defame. Stop being cowards.”

    Leaked audio of Saqib Nisar:

    In November, leaked audio of a conversation allegedly claimed that Saqib Nisar was the person who passed on the directions of handing down conviction to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz only because the “institutions” wanted the former prime minister penalised in order to bring ahead Imran Khan.

    As per the leaked audio, reported by Ahmed Noorani for Fact Focus, Chief Justice Nisar instructed that Mian Sahib (Nawaz Sharif) and his daughter (Maryam Nawaz) must be sentenced even though it is unfair.

    “Whether it is fair or not, it has to be done,” he conveyed to the person on the other end. “Regardless of the merit, we will have to do it (sentence Nawaz Sharif), and even to his daughter,” said Justice Nisar.

    Saqib Nisar denies the audio clip, says never contacted any judge

    While speaking to Fact Focus, Justice Saqib Nisar said that he never contacted any judge of accountability court to order him to pass any verdict against Nawaz Sharif or his daughter. “Why I would do that,” Saqib Nisar questioned adding, “I have no grudges against Mian Nawaz Sharif.” He said that no one from the Pakistan Army or the ISI ever contacted him or pressured him on this count.

    Samaa News claims CJP Nisar’s leaked audio ‘pieced together’

    Later, Samaa TV, a private news channel ran a news story and claimed that the former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar’s clip appears to be pieced together from two separate speeches of former CJP.

  • ‘Women are not property,’ Taliban ban forced marriages

    The Taliban issued a decree that bans forced marriages in Afghanistan on Friday, saying women should not be considered “property” and must consent to marriage, reports Al Jazeera.

    It was annouced by Taliban Chief Hibatullah Akhunzada. The international community, which has frozen billions of dollars in funds for Afghanistan, has made women’s and human rights a key element of any future engagement with Afghanistan.

    The decree said, “Both women and men should be equal. No one can force women to marry by coercion or pressure.”

    However, it didn’t mention a minimum age for marriage, which previously was set at 16-years-old.

    The Taliban also allowed a window to re-marry after 17 weeks of her husband’s death. Moreover, the Taliban leadership has ordered Afghan courts to treat women fairly, especially widows seeking inheritance as next of kin.

    The development was hailed on social media by some social media users while most of them shared their concerns.

    https://twitter.com/Nedahalim/status/1466926067323523073?s=20

    During the Taliban’s previous rule from 1996 to 2001, it banned women from leaving the house without a male relative, full face and head covering and girls were made compulsory and restricted from getting education.

    However, now they claim that they have changed but many women, advocates and officials remain skeptical.

  • Pak Embassy in Washington ran out of funds to pay salaries for four months: report

    Pak Embassy in Washington ran out of funds to pay salaries for four months: report

    The Embassy of Pakistan in the United States (US) had reportedly run out of funds and was unable to pay salaries of four months to the embassy’s locally recruited contractual staffers, reveals The News’ sources in a report by Journalist Wajid Ali Syed.

    It was reported that a total of five staffers faced delays and non-payment of their monthly wages from August onwards. One staffer, who had been working there for the past ten years, resigned in September because of the on-going pay crisis.

    Several sources disclosed that the Pakistan Community Welfare (PCW) fund, from which these unpaid staffers were paid out collapsed last year because the money was diverted to purchase ventilators and other medical equipment last year, after the pandemic. The embassy had to borrow money from other account-heads to keep up with the monthly salaries for the staffers hired locally.

    As a result of this, the staffers wrote to the Pakistani ambassador in October. The ambassador repeatedly raised the issue with the Foreign Office (FO) in Islamabad and managed to secure all salaries just last week. The embassy’s spokesperson confirmed that “currently there is no salary-related issue being faced by the Embassy staff.”

    These local staffers’ salaries range from 2,000 to 2,500 dollars per month. They do not get the perks and privileges that FO employees enjoy. The domestic staffers are usually hired to help with the ‘Consular section’ that provides visa, passport, notarization and other consular services.