Category: Uncategorized

  • Imran Khan files petition against superintendent jail after not being allowed to talk to sons

    Imran Khan files petition against superintendent jail after not being allowed to talk to sons

    Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has filed a petition against the superintendent of Attock jail on Monday for not allowing him to speak to his sons over the phone.

    Khan is in custody until September 13 under the cypher case. He had been arrested on August 5 in the Tosha Khana case, and since then he has been in Attock jail.

    Last month, Khan was allowed to speak to his sons over the phone by a special court formed to hear cases registered under the Official Secrets Act.

    However, Imran Khan has claimed in his petition against the Attock jail superintendent that he is not following the court orders.

    Judge Abdul Hasnat Zulqarnain has issued a notice to the superintendent, asking for the submission of an implementation report of the court’s orders on September 15.

  • Morocco’s earthquake death toll rises above 2,100

    The total number of people who died in Friday’s deadly earthquake in Morocco has risen to 2,122 with the number set to rise further as recovery operations proceed.

    On Friday night, around 11:11 pm local time, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the area around the ancient city of Marrakech, with tremors spreading deep into rural communities on Atlas Mountains.

    The country has announced a three-day mourning period as local and foreign rescuers mount frantic searches for survivors buried beneath rubble.

    The earthquake, originating from the High Atlas Mountains located southwest of Marrakesh, was felt across the country, including in the provinces of Ouarzazate, Marrakesh, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant; travelling all the way to southern Spain.

    As of now, 2,421 people have been injured while the United Nations has estimated that about 300,000 people have been affected.

    Since the catastrophe, locals have been sleeping on the streets in towns and cities. Rural areas have taken a huge blow, while a historically significant 12th century mosque has also collapsed along with parts of Marrakech old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

    Al-Jazeera spoke with Lanchen Haddad, a Moroccan senator and former minister, who said that the area was “not known for being active in terms of earthquakes”.

    “There’s not been very many earthquakes in that part of Morocco, most occur in the area much farther north on the Mediterranean coast near the tectonic plate,”

    World offers aid

    The rescue operation in remote mountain areas was mainly undertaken by local teams and no broad demand for international aid had been issued by the capital, Rabat, up till Sunday.

    Many countries have offered aid to Morocco including Spain, Tunisia, Qatar, Italy, Israel.
    Turkey, US and Taiwan have rescue teams and specialist search ready and are ready to dispatch their aid as soon as Morocco send a green signal.

    Its neighbour, Algeria, has a frictional relationship with Morocco, but after the tragedy, it opened its airspace that was closed for two years, to ease the flights carrying humanitarian aid and the injured.

    At the G20 Summit in New Delhi, President Emmanuel Macron said, “France is ready to offer aid to Morocco if Morocco decides it is useful,”

    “The second they request this aid, it will be deployed,” he added.

  • MDCAT candidates caught cheating via Bluetooth

    MDCAT candidates caught cheating via Bluetooth

    Dozens of candidates have been caught cheating in the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) MDCAT exams conducted in a number of cities on Sunday.

    Over 40 candidates, including 20 female candidates, were arrested in Peshawar while 10 were taken into custody in DI Khan.

    All of the detainees were said to be using Bluetooth to cheat in the test. And as reported by Geo, DI Khan police sources claimed that VIP passes were issued to the candidates for which a hefty amount was paid to take the exam through dishonest means.

    Moreover, police received reports of MDCAT paper getting leaked via Bluetooth devices.

    Initially, FIRs were lodged at police stations Sharqi, Faqirabad and Pahari Pura. All the 43 candidates were later released on personal surety and will be produced before the court on September 11.

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Secretary has issued instructions on tracking down government officials involved in cheating and to bring the facilitators to justice. He also asked the IT Board and higher education department to ameliorate their test strategy.

  • Usman Dar ‘abducted’, PTI demands immediate release

    Usman Dar ‘abducted’, PTI demands immediate release

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said on Saturday that party leader Usman Dar has been “abducted”, demanding that the Sialkot native be recovered and presented in court, Geo News has reported.

    “First it was Aoun Abbas Buppi, then Sadaqat Abbasi, and now Usman Dar has been abducted,” the party wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

    Usman Dar is the latest in a number of PTI leaders and officials who have encountered cases and incarceration after the May 9 riots.
    PTI leader Farrukh Habib said in a tweet on Saturday that Dar “be brought to light immediately and presented in court if there was a case against him so Dar could exercise his right to defend himself and his family could meet him”.

    Earlier, Dar had said that his house, factory, and business in Sialkot were sealed in August. He had also said in one of his statements that his family members, including women, were left helpless.

  • ‘We have full confidence in Election Commission and all its members’, says Asif Zardari

    ‘We have full confidence in Election Commission and all its members’, says Asif Zardari

    Asif Ali Zardari, former president and co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), defended the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday, saying that since the new census was announced, a new delimitation is now required.

    The PPP’s leader expressed complete trust in Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja and other ECP members in a statement posted on the party’s social media platforms. The statement further stated that the commission will conduct elections in accordance with the Constitution.
    After several PPP leaders, including party chairman Bilawal Bhutto, urged the ECP to declare an election date within 90 days in accordance with the Constitution, Zardari came to the defence of the constitutional body.

    “The stance we adopted today is that the PPP wants the ECP to announce a new election date and the schedule for it. There is restlessness in the nation, and it is very important that a new election date and schedule is announced,” PPP’s Nayyar Bukhari said after the meeting on August 29.
    Asif Zardari urged the caretaker administration to complete the projects started under the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), an apex body set up by the previous administration to draw in foreign investment.

    “The country should be put on the path of development by completing these projects,” he added.

  • ‘Let the people make their own decision’; Bilawal takes swipe at establishment

    ‘Let the people make their own decision’; Bilawal takes swipe at establishment

    Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), has criticized the establishment for “making puppets” in a conversation with members of the media.

    “The people of Pakistan have warned you that stop conducting such experiments on us. Let the people make their own decisions,” he said, calling it a message for those who make, search for or impose puppets on the country.

    “If the people of Pakistan choose Mian Shehbaz Sharif sahib or Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif sahib then we should all accept it. If the people choose PPP, then all should accept it. And maybe I may not like this, but if the people choose PTI, then we will have to accept it,” he stated on Friday in Karachi.

    The former Foreign Minister asked Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct polls as soon as possible and within the 90 days constitutional limit.

    “Through its performance, the PPP has always proven that it does people-friendly politics and governance. And that is why the PPP still says that elections should be held as soon as possible, according to the Constitution and within 90 days so that we can win the polls and serve the people of the country and take them out of these difficult economic times,” the PPP head stated.

    In response to a question, Bilawal said that his father, ex-president Asif Ali Zardari, had spent the longest time behind bars.

    “And today we are hearing that those politicians who have to go through this ordeal are facing difficulties,” he said about Imran Khan, the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    “We are trying to tell them that ghabrana nahi hai (do not worry). It is time for you and politicians like you to learn. You are being given experience and training and you are now being made a politician.”

  • Wasim Akram’s hilarious response to question about his 90’s haircut has internet in hysterics

    Wasim Akram’s hilarious response to question about his 90’s haircut has internet in hysterics

    A clip from the sports podcast Batta Fast is going viral on Twitter where left-arn great Wasim Akram finally addresses an important question: How he led the burger haircut wave throughout Pakistan because of his hairstyle in the 90’s.

    “I suppose 90’s mein I do feel responsible’ cackled the Sultan of Swing. “I don’t know mera kis ne karwaya tha because when I look at it and think, what the hell was I doing,” Akram said as hosts Osman Samiuddin and Ahmer Naqvi burst into laughter.

    “I didn’t have any idea about fashion, whatever the nai in Lahore used to say I had done it. ‘Sir ye naya fashion aya hai Lahore mein’.”

    The tweet since then has gone viral and has social media in fits.

    https://twitter.com/faizanusuf/status/1699964150435213633?s=20

  • Fear of further delay in Fatima case after police officers transferred

    Fear of further delay in Fatima case after police officers transferred

    There are fears of further delay in 10-year-old Fatima’s case as police officers working on the child’s mysterious death have been reappointed.

    Currently, the new SSP Khairpur, Samiullah Soomro, has taken charge of his post.

    Pir Asad Shah, the main suspect, and compounder Imtiaz Merasi, are on physical remand while accused Hina Shah and her father could not be arrested.

    Police say that Asad Shah’s recovered DNA samples have been sent to Lahore, adding that it will take more time to receive relevant reports.

    According to police sources, the final post-mortem report of the girl has not been received yet.

    Fatima’s case

    A domestic maid, 10-year-old child Fatima Phuriro was found dead under suspicious circumstances in Ranipur city, District Khairpur.

    The child had been working as a domestic worker at a haveli owned by an influential local, Pir Asad Shah Jilani.

    Fatima’s mother, Shabana, was informed about the death by the employer who asked her to remove the body from the premises where two of Fatima’s sisters are also employed.

    According to DIG Sukkur Javed Jiskani, the parents initially did not share the facts of the case with the police and claimed that the girl was suffering from gastroenteritis. While her diagnosis was also confirmed by Dr Abdul Fatah Memon who treated her, the DIG revealed that Fatima was taken to the hospital either by the Pir or his staff and that the SHO was present at the time she was pronounced dead.

    It was not until videos of torture were leaked by an unknown source and circulated in social media that the case caught media’s eye. By then, the family had buried Fatima on August 15.

    The body was later exhumed and sent for an autopsy which revealed that the child had been raped both vaginally and anally.

  • 12 women raped daily on average: report

    12 women raped daily on average: report

    According to The News, War Against Rape (WAR), an advocacy organisation, published a report based on data taken from Punjab Home Department and Ministry of Human Rights which reveals that 21,900 women were raped in the province between 2017 and 2021. This indicates that an average of 12 women were raped daily or one woman assaulted every two hours.

    However, as per the organisation, this number is only representative of a small portion as many cases are not reported due to stigma, fear, victim-blaming, and systemic biases in the justice system.

    18 per cent of women are subjected to early and forced marriages. There are about 19 million child brides at the moment. Sindh has legalised marriage for boys and girls at 18 while other provinces have set the age for girls at 16.

    Karachi
    As per the police surgeon’s office in Karachi, there were 3,649 cases of domestic violence reported in 2022.

    WAR team investigated 66 cases of different forms of sexual violence from July 2022 to June 2023.

    The News highlighted statistics from the report: 44 survivors were children under 18 years with the most vulnerable age group being 4-11 years; the average age of survivors was only 13 years, with the youngest survivor being mere four years old; and of these cases, 85 per cent involved women and female children.
    A total of 35 of the 66 cases were of rape, 11 were gang rape cases, another 11 were attempted rapes, and nine involved incest.

    Additionally, in 10 cases, boys were also victims while 12 children were murdered after being subjected to sexual violence, including nine girls and three boys.

    Korangi has been deemed a red alert zone as it has the highest sexual violence cases with 31 per cent, followed closely by Surjani Town with 30 per cent of reported cases.

    The Saeedabad area reported 11 per cent of the cases, Iqbal Market nine per cent, Orangi Town seven per cent, Mehmoodabad six per cent and Gulshan-e-Iqbal reported five per cent of the cases of sexual violence.

    Cases underreported
    The official data from three major public hospitals of Karachi revealed the conduction of 1,256 medico-legal examinations (MLEs) in sexual assault cases from January 2021 to December 2022 whereas only 499 first information reports (FIRs) were filed in this same duration.

    WAR report stated: “This underscores the urgent need for improved mechanisms to encourage survivors to report incidents. In the first six months of 2023, Pakistan witnessed a harrowing increase in child sexual abuse cases, with an average of 12 children sexually abused daily, totalling 2,227 cases. The comparison with 2021-22 data shows a disturbing upward trend in child sexual abuse cases.”

    Workplace harassment
    The News highlights that the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat for Protection Against Harassment (FOSPAH) reveals that more than 2,000 complaints were filed between 2018 and 2022 in the government sector and around 1,400 cases in the private sector, involving both men and women.

    “Due to harassment, a large number of complainants end up leaving their jobs or normalising the harassment and hostile work environment. This discourages women from entering the workforce and restricts them from reaching financial independence”

  • Nawaz Sharif confirms return to country next month

    Nawaz Sharif confirms return to country next month

    Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has announced that he will be returning to Pakistan in October of this year, Geo News has reported.

    Nawaz, who has been living in self-imposed exile in London since November 2019 for medical treatment, confirmed his return for the first time on Friday at a meeting with party members and supporters at Stanhope House. Former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as well as PML-N leaders Chaudhary Tanveer, Danyal Chaudhary, Chaudhary Nadeem Khan, Dr. Anjum, and others were present.

    Although Nawaz will arrive in Pakistan next month, according to sources present at the meeting at Stanhope House, no specific date has been confirmed as yet.

    Geo News had reported that the three times former Prime Minister was expected to return to Pakistan in the middle of October.