Tag: London

  • ‘Won’t deny Nawaz met establishment officials from UK, US’

    ‘Won’t deny Nawaz met establishment officials from UK, US’

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah has said that he won’t deny former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s meeting with officials from establishments of the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US).

    The former premier had last month held a meeting with a “mystery man” at his London residence. PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif had brought the man for a meeting with his elder brother Nawaz. The man, who had covered his face, had held a meeting with Nawaz for around 40 minutes until he was guided out the back door of Avenfield Apartments.

    A British journalist of Pakistani origin had, however, recorded a video of the mysterious visitor who didn’t utter a word in response to any questions asked about the meeting. With the video making headlines, speculations regarding the person’s identity had run rife.

    “I won’t deny these meetings. I am not in a position to comment as I have no permission of the party for it,” Sanaullah said when asked about such reports as he spoke to journalists outside the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday.

    “Shehbaz Sharif intends to return home in March,” he further said, adding that the PML-N president would return after the cardiac surgery of ailing ex-PM and his brother Nawaz in London.

    To another question, the PML-N leader said a legal team was holding consultations for extension in bail term of Nawaz as he seeks medical treatment abroad despite jail term after conviction in a corruption case against him.

  • ‘ImaanFest’: World’s first Muslim LGBTQI+ festival to be held in April

    ‘ImaanFest’: World’s first Muslim LGBTQI+ festival to be held in April

    London will on April 11 be hosting the world’s first-ever Muslim pride event, ‘ImaanFest’, which comes after a successful crowdfunding campaign by its organisers, Imaan, a leading Muslim LGBTQI+ group in the United Kingdom (UK).

    LGBTQI stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex, while the ‘+’ represents other sexual identities.

    According to reports, ImaanFest organisers successfully raised close to $20,000 in order to host the event, explaining that LGBTIQ+ Muslims often found themselves isolated, without community and frequently facing homophobic, biphobic, transphobic and Islamaphobic abuse.

    “The event will build on the incredible events we organised in the past, and feature panels, discussions, speakers, arts, culture and history — a first for LGBTQI Muslims,” they were quoted as saying.

    With tickets for ImaanFest now available to members of the public, organisers are now using social media to reach queer Arab speakers and service providers who might like to get involved. Other speakers include queer British-Iraqi writer and filmmaker Amrou Al-Kadhi and trans activist Asifa Lahore.

    An Islamic online news agency, 5 Pillars UK, notes that the event has been organised “despite Islam’s strict prohibition of homosexuality”. The news agency adds that the “practice and promotion of homosexuality is considered a major sin in Islam by all mainstream schools of thought”.

    Imaan group has received a slew of negative tweets from online trolls after announcing the event over social media. But the group is responding to negative responses with “#Islamophobia”.

    Most Muslim-majority countries and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have opposed moves to advance LGBTQI+ rights at the United Nations (UN), in both the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

    A number of Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Iran among others, have strict laws against homosexuality, with punishments for the same being as serious as a jail term or the death penalty.

  • Woman plays violin during brain surgery

    Woman plays violin during brain surgery

    A patient at King’s College Hospital in London has played the violin while having brain surgery.

    The medical team asked Dagmar Turner, 53, to play the violin to ensure parts of the brain that control hand movements and coordination were not damaged during the surgery.

    Ms. Turner was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2013.

       The committed violinist, who plays in Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra, was worried the surgery would result in the loss of her ability to play. Her tumour was located in the right frontal lobe of her brain, close to an area that controls the fine movement of her left hand.

    Professor Keyoumars Ashkan, the consultant neurosurgeon at King’s College Hospital, came up with an idea to operate and reduce the risk.

    The brain tumour specialist holds a degree in music and is an accomplished pianist and shared Ms. Turner’s desire to save her musical skills.

    Before the surgery, doctors spent two hours carefully plotting her brain to identify areas that were active when she played the violin and those responsible for controlling language and movement.

    Ms. Turner played the violin while her tumour was removed, while closely monitored by the anesthetists and a therapist.

  • REBUTTED: Gen Bajwa, ex-ISPR chief meet Sharif family in London

    A report in The News has rebutted claims regarding Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and former Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director general Major General Asif Ghafoor meeting the Sharif family in London, which had earlier led to intense speculations and discussion about the ongoing political situation as well as the future of the same back in Pakistan.

    A few Twitter accounts had claimed that the army chief and Maj Gen Ghafoor were in London, holding important meetings.

    The tweets had spread like wildfire as they also claimed that the military leadership was staying in a hotel on a walking distance from Avenfield Flats — the London residence of former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif and his sons Hasan and Hussain Nawaz.

    The report quoted both official and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) sources as saying that the tweets were factually wrong as neither the COAS nor the former ISPR chief was in London. Both Gen Bajwa and Maj Gen Ghafoor have not been in London for several months, in fact, the latter was in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah around the time of speculation, it added.

    Sources said that a few serving and retired military officers were in London to take part in a few seminars on security on South Asian by a leading think-tank in London and for a few official meetings, but none of the military leaders, as claimed, were in London.

    The delegation stayed in London for a week and then left for Pakistan on the weekend. A PML-N source termed it unfortunate that social media was used to spread news as if the military leadership was engaged in discussions with Nawaz or his brother and PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif, both of whom are in London.

    The PML-N source further told the English daily that Nawaz was in London for medical treatment and was not holding any talks with anyone. Shehbaz, on the other hand, has reportedly not held any meeting with anyone on Pakistani politics.

  • Have seen Nawaz’s photo, they’re all fraudsters: PM

    Have seen Nawaz’s photo, they’re all fraudsters: PM

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said he had seen the viral photograph of ex-premier Nawaz Sharif dining out in London, adding that “all of them were fraudsters”.

    According to The News, the federal cabinet on Tuesday discussed Nawaz’s photograph that showed him at a London restaurant. During the course of the cabinet meeting, some of the members reportedly asked PM Imran if he had seen the photograph.

    “With a smile, the premier said he had seen the picture, and exclaimed ‘all are fraudsters’,” the report said.

    Ex-PM Nawaz, who is currently in London on bail for medical treatment, was on Sunday spotted out and about with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif, his son Hussain and other party leaders, including former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

    With netizens not going easy on Nawaz, who was allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment despite his conviction and subsequent jail sentence in a corruption case, and Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry also criticising him for dining out while being “seriously ill”, Hussain on Monday stepped up to clarify the situation.

    Speaking to reporters outside Avenfield Apartments, the ailing former premier’s son said that Nawaz had been taken to the restaurant on his doctor’s recommendation as the ex-PM felt claustrophobic at home.

    “We insisted that father visited a restaurant so he could get acclimatised… he left the residence on our insistence,” said Hussain.

  • VIDEO: ‘Took ailing father to restaurant on his doctor’s advice’

    VIDEO: ‘Took ailing father to restaurant on his doctor’s advice’

    Amid criticism that followed former ailing prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s photograph at a London restaurant, Hussain Nawaz has said that his father was taken out after they were “told to do so by the doctor”.

    In his latest photos seen on social media, the ex-PM was spotted at a London restaurant with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif, his son Hussain and other party leaders, including former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

    With netizens not going easy on Nawaz, who was allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment despite his conviction and subsequent jail sentence in a corruption case, and Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry also criticising him for dining out while being “seriously ill”, Hussain on Monday stepped up to clarify the situation.

    Speaking to reporters outside Avenfield Apartments, the ailing former premier’s son said that Nawaz had been taken to the restaurant on his doctor’s recommendation as the ex-PM felt claustrophobic at home.

    “We insisted that father visited a restaurant so he could get acclimatised… he left the residence on our insistence,” said Hussain.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “Doctors ordered us that Nawaz needed to go on small walks at least twice a day and we paid heed to their recommendation.”

    “Scenes of a meeting in the intensive care unit of a London hospital, the treatment for binge-eating is underway with sheer concentration, all patients are feeling better,” Minister Fawad had sarcastically tweeted earlier in the day.

  • ‘Lahore beats London’: Twitter goes crazy as mercury drops to 35-year low

    Twitterati, especially those from Lahore, lost it over the micro-blogging website after the residents of Punjab’s provincial capital woke up to the coldest winter morning in over 35 years.

    According to The Express Tribune, the temperature in the provincial capital was equivalent to Murree at 2°C early on Monday, which was followed by a minimum of 3°C and a maximum of 8°C on Tuesday.

    Data by Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) showed that shivering low temperature of 1°C was recorded in Attock and Dera Ghazi Khan, 2°C in Lahore, Murree, Rawalpindi, Multan, Chakwal and Bahawalpur, 3°C in Jhelum and 4°C in Sahiwal, Faisalabad and Sargodha.

    As winter blues grip Lahore, here’s what Twitterati have to say about it:

    https://twitter.com/fakihawajihaJvd/status/1211901883822071808

    Meanwhile, Chief Meteorologist Muhammad Riaz has highlighted that the current chilly spell would continue till mid-January.

    “Although climate change has some impact on weather patterns, there is nothing unusual. The coldest winter spell is witnessed from mid-December to mid-January every year,” he added.

    Weather reports issued by the PMD indicate that continental air is prevailing over most parts of the country and a shallow westerly wave is likely to affect the western and upper parts of the country from Tuesday (today).

  • ‘Nawaz is really sick,’ confirms Pakistan High Commission in UK

    ‘Nawaz is really sick,’ confirms Pakistan High Commission in UK

    A cardiothoracic surgeon at London’s University College Hospital, Dr David Lawrence, has confirmed that ailing former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, who is currently undergoing medical treatment in the United Kingdom (UK), is really sick and his health can deteriorate further.

    As per the details, Advocate Amjad Pervez, who is representing the former premier in the Al-Azizia and Chaudhary Sugar Mills references, on Friday submitted Nawaz’s medical reports to the Lahore High Court (LHC).

    According to the medical report, the ex-PM is seriously ill and suffering from various health problems, including the coronary artery disease. It added that Nawaz’s platelets were also not stable even now and a platelet count of at least 50,000 to 100,000 was required for proper treatment and recovery.

    The report by Dr Lawrence, which has also been verified by Pakistan High Commission in UK, further said that the health of the ex-premier had improved after bypass surgery; however, they were far from diagnosis and so further medical tests had to be done.

    While his deteriorating health can also lead to a stroke, Nawaz might be suffering from a serious disease such as an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in some part of the body, it added.

    Last month, the LHC, in its order regarding permission to Nawaz to go to London for treatment, had ordered the ailing former premier to continue submission of his health report to the court.

    He had earlier been granted bail in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases against him and allowed to fly to London on medical grounds for eight-weeks.

    The premier can stay out of the country for as long as his treatment continues.

  • ‘PTI’ supporters in London raise slogans ‘to shoot Nawaz dead’

    A group of alleged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters held a protest outside the Avenfield flats in London, where they raised slogans to shoot former premier Nawaz Sharif and attempted to break down the main gate, The News International reported.

    According to the details, around 40 protesters, led by Tariq Mehmood who runs a group called ‘Pakistan Patriotic Front’, raised slogans in support of the ruling PTI and many were wearing PTI caps.

    Reports claim that many of the protesters who were present outside Avenfield flats are seen often at the PTI protests earlier, but the party’s elected body has issued a statement distancing itself from the protest.

    One of the protesters can be heard shouting in the video that “some shoot him” in reference to former prime minister’s presence on the third floor in Avenfield flats and slogans for Taliban style bombing of the Avenfield apartments were also made during the protest.

    Video footage from the protest also shows at least three protesters banging the front gate in order to break down while two protesters entered premises from the side entrance and they were asked by the police to come out.

    Ahead of Nawaz’s arrival, elected senior official of PTI in United Kingdom (UK) Soraya Aziz had issued a similar call for violence on Twitter.

    Soraya Aziz, who is head of Computing at the Beths Grammar School in Bexley, Kent had wrote, “For his own safety, I strongly recommend Nawaz Sharif not leave his Avenfield apartments. If he’s seen shopping in Knightsbridge, overseas Pakistanis will give him response even his few remaining platelets won’t know where to hide!!”.

    Soraya later deleted her Tweet.

    Meanwhile, PTI’s Information Secretary London Taqveem Ahsan Siddiqui, in a statement issued on Sunday had said, “The PTI has not called for any demonstration outside disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s residence.”

    “It has been brought to our attention that an invite to demonstrate outside his residence is in circulation. PTI UK does not have any intention to call or join any demonstration outside Nawaz Sharif’s residence until he abides by his bail condition”, Taqveem added.

    Former premier Nawaz is in London for a medical check-up after the Lahore High Court (LHC) granted him exemption on medical grounds. The court had earlier directed Nawaz to return to Pakistan after four weeks.

  • Nov 26: News you need to know before heading to work

    Nov 26: News you need to know before heading to work

    PTI’s conscience clean in foreign-funding case: PM Imran

    • Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that the opposition was misleading the people in the foreign-funding case.
    • Speaking to his party’s spokespeople PM said, the PTI submitted all relevant details to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), noting that the leaders of two of the country’s biggest political parties made money through money-laundering.
    • Reacting to opposition’s call for APC he said they were doing so and protesting to mask their embarrassment. However, the people have rejected their protest.

    Nawaz to be admitted in hospital upon cardiologist’s advice

    • Dr Adnan Khan, has said that Professor Simon Redwood of the London Bridge Hospital had recommended hospital admission for the former prime minister to undergo angiogram followed by further intervention.
    • “Once he has gone through all haematological investigations, we will then have a clear picture of what is required next and what the exact treatment should be”, Dr Adnan added.

    Treason case: Musharraf, Govt file petition against special court’s verdict on Nov 28

    • The federal interior ministry and former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf both submitted pleas in the Islamabad High Court on Monday, requesting it to stop the special court from announcing its reserved verdict in the high treason case against the former army chief.
    • The special court, constituted to try the former military ruler for high treason, was set to announce its verdict on November 28. The IHC will hear the case on Tuesday.
    • The ministry in its plea has stated that the accusers to be tried with Pervez Musharraf were not included in the trial. The prosecution team was denotified on Oct 23, but it proceeded with the case on Oct 24 without having an authority in the matter.