The United Arab Emirates named the next two astronauts in its space program on Saturday, including the country’s first female astronaut. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai who also serves as the autocratically ruled country’s prime minister and vice president, named the two astronauts on Twitter. He identified Noura al-Matroushi as the UAE’s first female astronaut. …

Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed three soldiers who were sentenced for “high treason” and “cooperating with the enemy”, a statement from the kingdom’s defence ministry said. It said that the three had been sentenced to death by a specialist court after a fair trial. The ministry did not name the alleged “enemy” but the executions were carried out in the …

Five people were killed in fresh election bloodshed in the Indian state of West Bengal on Saturday, including four shot dead by paramilitary troops “in self-defence”, officials said. West Bengal in eastern India has seen thousands killed in decades of political violence, and the current state election campaign has triggered deadly clashes between rival parties. The latest incident in the …

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday supported a resolution in the provincial assembly to frame specific laws and procedures regarding the adoption of children in the province. Member of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party Nighat Yasmin Orakzai moved the resolution seeking a legal mechanism and cover for the protection of adoptees, especially shelterless children. The treasury and opposition benches …

KARACHI: The Sindh culture department is set to enrich its archive after half a dozen centuries-old statues were recovered during a recent campaign in Thar for the restoration of a heritage site. The announcement came from the Endowment Fund for Trust for Preservation of the Heritage of Sindh on Friday, which said its volunteers found the statutes while restoring a …

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority has allowed providing iftar meal boxes to passengers’ onboard domestic flights during Ramazan. The authority has issued a directive to all scheduled and chartered airline operators (domestic) in this regard. Serving meals and beverages onboard domestic flight operations within Pakistan was forbidden by the PCAA in light of the surge in Covid-19 cases in …

• Move may lead to cancellation of house membership of Ishaq Dar and Chaudhry Nisar • Government ‘agrees’ on issuance of production orders for Shehbaz, Asif for talks on electoral reforms ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Friday approved amendments to Elections Act 2017 that may lead to cancellation of membership of two Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwarts — former finance …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has dual nationality arrangements with 12 European countries including France, Italy, Belgium, Iceland, Finland, Switzerland, Netherland, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark, Germany and Norway. This was stated by an official of the Interior Ministry on Friday while briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development. He told the committee that dual nationality arrangements with Portugal, …

ISLAMABAD: The local government elections, which are supposed to be held before Aug 15 this year, seem to be in the doldrums as so far required amendment has not been made to Local Government Act 2015 to start the delimitation process. The five-year term of the first ever local government in Islamabad ended in February this year and as per …

KARACHI: The Supreme Court ruled that Sindh government was bound to make provision for expansion of the Sindh High Court at Karachi and restrained it from any construction for expansion of the Sindh Secretariat on two plots adjacent to the SHC building. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed issued the restraining order after it was …