Pakistan

Two soldiers of the Pakistan Army were martyred during an attack on a check post in South Waziristan’s Pash Ziarat area late on Wednesday night, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. The ISPR said that terrorists fired on security forces near the checkpoint at night. The forces responded promptly, it said, adding that two soldiers — Havaldar Matloob …

GILGIT: Amid ongoing controversy and protest demonstrations against the alleged rigging in the Gilgit-Baltistan elections, the caretaker government of the region on Wednesday sought Pakistan Army’s assistance to control security situation in the region. Through a letter written to the Federal Ministry of Interior, the GB government has requisitioned two companies of army to maintain law and order situation in …

PESHAWAR: Declaring educational institutions a major source of the coronavirus transmission in general population, the World Health Organisation has expressed concern about the government’s failure to decide about school closures in light of the growing Covid-19 incidence in the country. The WHO representatives based in Islamabad that the Covid-19 positivity in general population would increase if the educational institutions saw more …

ISLAMABAD: US blogger Cynthia D Ritchie on Monday sought unfreezing of her bank accounts citing acute financial constraints. Her counsel filed an application before IHC Justice Aamer Farooq seeking court direction to unfreeze her bank account. The court was hearing the case related to deportation of Cynthia since the interior ministry has pointed out gross violations in issuance of business …

LAHORE: The PML-N has criticised the government for continuing to transport party president Shehbaz Sharif from jail to courts or hospital in an armoured vehicle despite the fact that the opposition leader in the National Assembly suffers from chronic backache. “We condemn the shifting of Shehbaz Sharif to [General] hospital [for his CT Scan there] in an armoured car instead …

LAHORE: The health workers engaged for the Covid-19 testing in Lahore are reportedly committing standard operating procedures (SOPs) violations, posing risks to health and lives of the people being more vulnerable to the virus for exposure to the virus patients. They are neither wearing protective gear, particularly gloves and face masks, nor are following the SOPs introduced by the Punjab …

ISLAMABAD: While the threat perception regarding Covid-19 has decreased across the country, 49 per cent of parents do not want to send their children to school, according to a survey. Moreover, income of 83pc of people has decreased due to the pandemic. But half of Pakistanis are optimistic that the Covid-19 vaccine will be available before the end of 2020. …

ISLAMABAD: The Parliamentary Committee to Protect Minorities from Forced Conversions observed on Monday that there must be clear definitions of, and differentiation between, forced and voluntary conversions. Committee chairman Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar informed members during a meeting that the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) had already been asked to undertake the task of preparing a draft to define forced conversions. …

What happens when the daughter of an assassinated former prime minister and a former president is all set to tie the knot? Chatter, chatter and lots of chatter. As invitations for Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari’s engagement ceremony floated across social media and news outlets, many started speculating intricate details about the newest member about to be associated with the famous political dynasty. …

• Imran-led party bags 10 seats against PPP’s three and PML-N’s two • MWM secures one seat • Independent candidates emerge victorious in seven constituencies GILGIT: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has emerged as the single largest party in the elections for the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly by securing 10 seats, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) which got three seats and …