Author: Dena Qalat

Two police officers and four attackers were killed on Saturday when gunmen and suicide bombers stormed a police station in the mostly Sunni city of Zahedan in Iran’s restive southeast, state television reported. Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province, was scene of some of the bloodiest protests during a wave of nationwide unrest last year triggered by the death of a young Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police. A militant group operating in the area called Jaish al-Adl, or Army of Justice, claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack in a social media post, saying it was in retaliation for…

The Special Commemorative 12th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is to be held on Tuesday in Beijing, as the two countries celebrate a decade of achievements linked to the project, the Global Times learnt from the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing on Saturday. Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning and Development who will lead Pakistani delegation, said before his departure for China that the two sides will explore new avenues of cooperation and chart the future course for the CPEC in emerging sectors during the meeting. This year marks a decade of the CPEC.…

Pakistan has constituted a negotiation committee to finalise a deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for handing over the Karachi port terminals. This move may mark the first intergovernmental transaction under a law enacted last year to raise emergency funds, The Express Tribune reported. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar chaired the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions. The cabinet committee decided to set up a committee to negotiate a commercial agreement between the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and the UAE government, according to the decision. The negotiation committee has also been permitted to finalise a draft operation,…

Pakistan and China signed a $4.8 billion deal on Tuesday to build a 1,200-megawatt nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, hailing the investment by a country that Pakistan views as its most dependable ally. Work on the Chashma 5 project would begin immediately, Sharif said on state-run news channel PTV following the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between China National Nuclear Cooperation and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. “Investment from China in this project to the tune of $4.8 billion sends a message loud and clear that Pakistan is a place where Chinese companies and investors continue…

Pakistan Navy Ship (PNS) SAIF while carrying out routine patrolling in the Arabian Sea, expeditiously respond­ed to a distress call by a stranded Fishing Vessel AL ZUBAIR and saved the valuable lives of six fishermen. The fishing vessel had suffered engine failure and subsequent flood­ing due to rough sea conditions, a Pakistan Navy news release said. PNS SAIF swiftly responded to the distress call at night and safely recov­ered six stranded fishermen. Medical assistance was provided onboard and the fishermen were sub­sequently shifted to Gwadar. The fish­ermen’s community has lauded the efforts of the Pakistan Navy in saving precious lives…

The wife of a prominent Pakistani rights activist and lawyer says her husband has been “abducted” from the southern city of Karachi. In a video released on social media late on Thursday night, Jibran Nasir’s wife Mansha Pasha said the couple was returning home from a dinner when some men forcefully took Nasir away. “We were coming back to our home. A white Vigo car intercepted our car and barged towards our vehicle. Around 15 men in plain clothes forcefully took him away,” she said in her video, tearfully calling for Nasir’s safe return. She later filed a police complaint,…

New satellite pictures obtained by the UK Ministry of Defence show that Russian forces have assumed “sandbag fighting positions” on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The MoD claimed the move is proof Putin’s troops are increasingly worried about a major Ukrainian offensive. In its latest update, the Ministry said: “Imagery shows that by March 2023, Russian forces had established sandbag fighting positions on the roofs of several of the six reactor buildings at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). “Russia has controlled ZNPP since March 2022. However, this is the first indication of the actual reactor buildings being integrated in tactical defence planning. “Russia has likely constructed these positions because…

After months of apparent reluctance to engage with Kyiv on the same level as Moscow, China said Wednesday that it will send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties on resolving the crisis there. Chinese state media said that President Xi Jinping told his Ukrainian counterpart President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call that Beijing will focus on promoting peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, and would make efforts for a cease-fire to be reached as soon as possible. Commenting on the call, which he described as “long and meaningful,” Zelenskyy said he believed it would “give a powerful impetus…

Governments and institutions around the world are working around the clock to fight COVID-19. Some individuals, first of all, entrepreneurs, make their input too. Kenes Rakishev and Saby Fund spent more than 40 million USD to help his country and its people to keep COVID-19 numbers low. As soon as COVID-19 struck Kazakhstan or even somewhat earlier responsible local businessmen started to brace for impact. Those who participated in charity begun to accumulate funds and develop programmes to help Kazakhstani people drive through the pandemic. Kenes Rakishev supported people with the help of Saby fund. He also aided at least two other…

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan said Thursday that it was buying discounted Russian crude oil with the implicit approval of the United States, and the first shipment is expected to arrive in the country soon.Masood Khan, the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., made the remarks at a conference in Washington organized by the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute on the future of relations between the two countries.”We have placed the first order for Russian oil, and this has been done in consultation with the United States government. There’s no misunderstanding between Washington and Islamabad on this count,” Khan said.The top diplomat was responding…