JERUSALEM: An Israeli delegation visited Sudan on Wednesday to discuss normalising relations following the Jewish state’s US-brokered deals with UAE and Bahrain, according to sources in Khartoum and Jerusalem. The one-day return trip has heightened speculation Israel could soon strike a peace deal with the Arab-led African country with which it is technically at war. President Donald Trump has pushed …

US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden offered sharply contrasting views on the still-raging coronavirus pandemic at Thursday’s final presidential debate, seeking to persuade the few remaining undecided voters 12 days before the November 3 election. Trump, a Republican, adopted a more restrained tone than he did during the chaotic first presidential debate in September, when he repeatedly …

ISLAMABAD: Questioning results of the 2017 census, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) on Thursday approached the Supreme Court to seek an order for the conduct of a fresh, transparent census in Sindh, especially in urban areas such as Karachi and Hyderabad. Moved by the party’s Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and senior party leaders like Mohammad Amir Khan, Kanwar Naveed …

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Thursday established a ministerial body to probe the arrest of retired Capt Safdar Awan, husband of PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz and alleged manhandling of the “highest level of police”. According to a notification issued by the home department of Sindh, the government of Sindh has constituted a cabinet committee to probe/inquire the incident/matter pertaining to …

RAWALPINDI: The government has imposed a fine of Rs100,000 on Turkish Airlines for violating standard operating procedures (SOPs) for prevention of Covid-19 on its flight. The airline has also been asked to bear the traveling expenses for transporting the passenger to Lahore along with the cost of testing and quarantine. Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has directed Turkish airlines to …

MUZAFFARABAD: The PML-N will sweep next year’s general election to the Azaad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly without entering into an alliance with any party or group, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider said on Thursday “The steps taken for development, economic self-reliance and employment opportunities over the past four years have started bearing fruit and [AJK] voters will …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) chairman Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi was on Thursday appointed Special Repre­sentative of the Prime Minister on Religious Har­mony and the Middle East. Talking to reporters, Hafiz Ashrafi said Pakistan wants unity of Ummah and it has brotherly relations with all Muslim as well as Arab countries. He said more than five million Pakistanis are working …

KARACHI: Gulshan-i-Iqbal police on Thursday registered a case against “responsible persons” over death of five people and injuries to 27 others and damage to property because of a gas leakage explosion inside a private bank located in a multistorey residential building in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Wednesday morning, said officials. The police registered the case on the complaint of the bank’s manager but no …

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Health Services and provincial and area health departments have finalised an evidence based universal health coverage (UHC) benefits package for the country. An inter-ministerial health and population forum met in Islamabad to review and provide concurrence on the UHC benefits package on Thursday. The meeting was attended by health ministers and ministers for population welfare, …

ISLAMABAD: With Lahore in the lead, nine districts in the country account for a gap of over three million between male and female voters — around one-fourth of the total difference of 12.41m between the two sets of voters. The district-wise data of voters released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) reveals that as many as 16 districts have …