As housekeepers prepare the White House for President-elect Joe Biden, over 25,000 National Guard troops will be occupying the streets of Washington. That is five times more than the number deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq combined. Acting US Secretary of Defence Christopher Miller said on Monday there were “25,000 Guardsmen” who would leave “no stone unturned in securing the capital”. “There are …

The head of the Arab League expressed hope on Monday that the Biden administration will change President Donald Trump’s policies and launch a political process supported by regional and international parties to achieve independence for the Palestinians. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary-general of the 22-member organisation, told the United Nations Security Council that a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict …

KARACHI: Police on Monday informed a court that two suspects booked in a case pertaining to the death of Dr Maha Shah in Defence Housing Authority were avoiding giving their DNA samples despite repeated notices. The police had initially said that the 24-year-old doctor, practising at a private hospital in Clifton, had allegedly committed suicide by shooting herself in her …

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad on Monday assured protesting employees of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) and restaurant owners that he would take up their issues with the prime minister in the upcoming meeting of the cabinet. Giving assurance to the Pims employees holding a sit-in at D-Chowk, the minister said he would play his role in bringing …

India’s technology ministry has asked Facebook Inc-owned WhatsApp to withdraw the changes to its privacy policy announced by the messenger earlier this month, saying the new terms take away choice from Indian users. “The proposed changes raise grave concerns regarding the implications for the choice and autonomy of Indian citizens,” said the tech ministry’s email addressed to WhatsApp boss Will …

PESHAWAR: A single-member Peshawar High Court bench on Monday issued a notice to former woman MPA Meraj Humayun Khan seeking her response to the prime minister’s petition for the consolidation of the pending defamation lawsuits filed by her and another former MPA Fauzia Bibi against him. Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan fixed Jan 25 for the next hearing into the …

ISLAMABAD: The opposi­tion Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakis­tan Peoples Party (PPP) on Monday challenged the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to produce evidence of its claim that they had received funding from abroad. The counsel for the two parties appeared before the scrutiny committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and argued that they had not received any foreign …

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to give a free hand to the 10-party anti-government Pakistan Democratic Movement alliance for holding a protest outside the Election Commission of Pakistan on Tuesday (today). Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told a press conference on Monday that the government had decided to give a free hand to PDM to organise a rally in the …

ISLAMABAD: On the complaint of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the entire staff of Banigala police station, except the station house officer, has been removed. Two separate notifications were issued from the office of the senior superintendent of police in this regard. Over a dozen subordinates (constables and head constable), three sub-inspectors and three assistant sub-inspectors were removed. A senior police …

ISLAMABAD: The controversy over UK-based asset recovery firm Broadsheet LLC echoed in the Senate on Monday, with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar chiding the PPP for making $1.5 million payment to a wrong company and the PML-N for keeping the August 2016 decision of the award in the Broadsheet case a secret. Speaking in the Senate, …