06-03-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has won a vote of confidence that he sought from the lower house of parliament, following a surprise electoral defeat on a Senate seat earlier this week. Khan is the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which …

06-03-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report BAGHDAD/ NAJAF/ KARACHI: Pope Francis has met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the most senior leaders in Shia Islam, in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf to deliver a message of peaceful coexistence, urging Muslims to embrace Iraq’s long-beleaguered Christian minority. The …

04-03-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ JALALABAD/ ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan remained in shock and outrage erupted Wednesday after funerals were held for the three Shia women journalists assassinated a day earlier here in the country’s eastern city, with international rights and journalist bodies called for a probe …

03-03-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report PERTH/ CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE: Australia’s Attorney General Christian Porter has identified himself as the cabinet minister at the centre of a rape accusation, an allegation he strongly denies. A letter sent to Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week alleged Porter had raped a 16-year-old …

03-03-2021 By SJA Jafri + Agencies SANA’A/ DUBAI NEW YORK: Famine could become part of war-torn Yemen’s “reality” in 2021, the UN warned Tuesday; after a donor conference raising funds to keep millions from starvation fell short by over half. The United Nations had sought Monday to raise $3.85 billion …

02-03-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report JALALABAD/ KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Three female media workers lost their lives after unknown assailants shot at them in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Tuesday, their TV network said, in what appeared to be the latest targeted killing to rock the war-torn country. …

01-03-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE: Chinese investment in Australia collapsed by more than 61 per cent in 2020, according to new figures from the Australian National University (ANU). This followed a 47 per cent fall in 2019 and is the lowest number recorded over the past …

27-02-2021 By SJA Jafri WASHINGTON/ ISTANBUL/ RIYADH: Jamal Khashoggi was killed by a Saudi hit squad operating under the command of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), United States intelligence agencies concluded. A unclassified US intelligence report released on Friday confirms for the first time what role top US intelligence officials …

26-02-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report LONDON/ KARACHI: Karachi’s businessman Jabir Siddiq Motiwala has been granted leave to appeal against his extradition to the United States on the charges of alleged extortion, blackmailing, and import of A-class drugs charges which the Pakistani national strongly denies. Motiwala was arrested in …

23-02-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies PARIS/ ISLAMABAD: The French foreign ministry has summoned Pakistan’s envoy to protest against claims by President Arif Alvi that a French bill cracking down on what it terms “Islamist extremism” stigmatizes Muslims. Addressing a conference on religion on Saturday, Alvi said: …