- Over 50 lawmakers to be briefed on Afghanistan at GHQ
Over 50 parliamentarians belonging to the treasury and the opposition parties will visit the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on Monday for a “security briefing” with respect to the situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.
- Two arrested for raping boy, selling video clips in Kasur
The Allahabad police claimed on Thursday to have arrested two persons who allegedly raped a student, made his video and sold it to young people at Gahlan Hithar village.
- Clerics reject proposed anti-forced conversion law
Clerics belonging to all the four mainstream schools of thought on Thursday rejected the draft Anti-Forced Conversion Bill, calling it a conspiracy and suggested that the government should not fall into the trap of the West by taking the draft bill to parliament.
- Woman among three convicted for forging properties’ record
A special anti-corruption court on Thursday convicted three accused, including a woman, after they were found guilty of trying to get illegally transferred properties of Tariq Islam — a cousin of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto — located in Clifton, Karachi, on forged documents.
- Opposition terms govt’s performance ‘below zero’
The country’s major opposition parties on Thursday lambasted the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government over its three-year performance and rejected claims made by Prime Minister Imran Khan about improvement in the governance and economic indicators.
- Artificial shortage of petroleum: LHC restrains FIA from action against oil companies
A Lahore High Court (LHC) two-judge bench has restrained the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from taking any adverse action against the oil marketing companies (OMCs) in light of the recommendations by a commission made to probe artificial shortage of the petroleum products that had hit the country in the first half of 2020.
- NAB may auction Eden property to compensate scam-hit people
After death of the prime suspect in the Eden Garden Housing Limited case, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is likely to initiate the auction of its properties worth over Rs25 billion to compensate over 11,000 people who were affected by the scam.
- Biden vows to avenge US deaths as death toll from Kabul airport attack rises to 85
US President Joe Biden ordered American military commanders to develop operational plans to strike ISIS-Khorasan assets, leadership and facilities as the death toll of suicide blasts at Kabul airport rose to 85.
Two blasts and gunfire rocked the area outside the airport on Thursday evening, witnesses said. Videos shot by Afghan journalists showed dozens of bodies strewn around a canal on the edge of the airport.
A health official and a Taliban official said the toll of Afghans killed had risen to 72, including 28 Taliban members. The US military said 13 of its service members were killed.
ISIS-Khorasan, an Islamic State affiliate claimed responsibility. ISIS, an enemy of the Taliban as well as the West, said one of its suicide bombers targeted “translators and collaborators with the American army”.
- Police officers sue Trump, allies over Capitol insurrection
US Capitol Police officers who were attacked and beaten during the Capitol riot filed a lawsuit on Thursday against former President Donald Trump, his allies and members of far-right extremist groups, accusing them of intentionally sending a violent mob on Jan 6 to disrupt the congressional certification of the election.
- European Council chief calls PM Imran, thanks for Afghan evacuation
European Council President Charles Michael on Thursday telephoned Prime Minister Imran Khan and discussed the situation unfolding in Afghanistan and thanked him for evacuating European nationals working for different international organisations in the war-torn country.
- Pakistan, US should move on and work together in Afghanistan: NSA
The United States and Pakistan have a shared interest in working together in Afghanistan, National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf said in a phone interview with The Washington Post on Thursday. But the NSA pointed out that cooperation would require fixing the bilateral relationship by “moving past problems”.
- Over 210 killed in Ethiopia’s ethnic feud
More than 210 people were killed over several days of ethnic violence in Ethiopia’s tense Oromia region last week, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said on Thursday.
COVID-19 Updates
- With 4,016 new COVID-19 cases, 95 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours
- 92,844 COVID-19 cases are active in the country
- The total death tally of Covid-19 stands at 25,415
- 3,235 people recovered from Coronavirus in the last 24 hours
- The positivity rate of Covid-19 is recorded at 6.4%
- Over 214.5 million are infected globally
- More than 4.4 million have died due to the virus
- US coronavirus hospitalizations hit eight-month high over 100,000
- 1,101,973 Covid vaccine doses administered across Pakistan on Aug 26: NCOC
- Islamabad, GB and AJK collectively report 624 Covid infections
- KP records 519 new Covid-19 infections, 25 deaths
- Punjab logs 1,320 Covid infections, 40 deaths
- Pakistan reports 3,235 Covid-19 recoveries
- New Zealand eases nationwide lockdown but Auckland shut off
- Sydney cases dip as Australia debates Covid-19 reopening plans
- New Zealand reports 70 new cases of Covid-19 ahead of lockdown decision
