Daily News Pakistan

At least 19 people have been killed in an explosion at a clinic in Iran's capital Tehran, officials say. Several people were injured at the Sina Athar clinic, and there are fears the death toll will rise further. Iran's state media quoted senior officials as saying the blast was caused by a gas leak. Television pictures showed plumes of smoke billowing in the sky. Firefighters extinguished the blaze several hours later. Most of the victims of Tuesday's blast were women, according to the authorities. Some of the victims "were in upper floors, in operation rooms - who were either patients being operated on or those with them", Tehran fire department spokesman Jalal Maleki was quoted as saying by state media. "They unfortunately lost their lives due to the heat and thick smoke," he said, adding that firefighters had rescued 20 people. The clinic, which carries out light surgeries and medical imaging, had 25 employees inside at the time of the explo...

China imposed a sweeping national security law in Hong Kong, dramatically tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city in a historic move decried by Western nations as a threat to the financial hub’s freedoms. Described by Beijing as a “sword” hanging over the heads of those endangering national security, the law took effect hours after it was signed by President Xi Jinping and just six weeks since it was first unveiled. Fed up with pro-democracy protests that rocked the city last year, China’s top lawmaking body enacted the legislation following closed-door deliberations that kept details secret until its passage. The law gives Beijing jurisdiction over “very serious” national security crimes, with offenders facing up to life in prison, according to the text published late Tuesday. The controversial law also empowers China to set up a national security agency in the city, staffed by officials who are not bound by local law when carrying out duties. The new suite of powers ra...

The Lahore High Court recommended the government form a committee to probe the recent petrol crisis, calling on the National Assembly speaker to include members of the opposition and treasury benches in it. LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan asked Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan to discuss the court’s suggestion with the speaker. He observed that the court wants the parliament to do this job on its own, otherwise, the law will take its course and no official, if found guilty, would be spared. The chief justice was hearing a petition seeking action against concerned authorities for their alleged failure to control shortage of petrol. The chief justice directed the attorney general to assist the court during the next hearing to determine if the speaker does not form a committee, whether a commission under the code of criminal procedure would be appropriate to hold investigation into the fuel crisis. At the outset of the hearing, the counsel of the petitioner sought the court’...

TikTok on Tuesday denied sharing users' data with the Chinese government after India banned the wildly popular app as ties with Beijing deteriorate sharply following a deadly border clash. Blaming each other for the brutal hand-to-hand battle on June 15 as talks make little headway, the Asian giants have been bolstering their border forces as anti-China sentiment grows in India. As India reportedly considered hiking tariffs and with some Chinese imports held up at ports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Monday banned 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, WeChat and Weibo. The ministry of information technology said the apps “are engaged in activities [...] prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”. The move mirrored growing unease about Chinese tech firms in other countries, in particular regarding telecom giant Huawei. TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, allows users to upload and share short vid...

Pop singer Haroon Rashid is the latest celebrity to tie the knot with Farwa amid the coronavirus pandemic. The couple got married in an intimate nikkah ceremony among close friends and family. They complimented each other in matching white outfits and looked stunning. The beautiful photos and videos of their daytime ceremony has been shared by the photographer on social media. Celebs and fans felicitated the newly weds on their wedding. Rashid is a British-born Pakistani singer-songwriter, music producer, composer, director and social activist. He was a member of the pop band Awaz in the 1990s. He has sold millions of singles and albums worldwide and has performed at large venues such as the Wembley Arena.

China approved a contentious national security law that will allow authorities to crack down on subversive and secessionist activity in Hong Kong, a move many see as Beijing's boldest yet to erase the legal firewall between the semi-autonomous territory and the mainland's authoritarian Communist Party system. Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a presidential order on Tuesday promulgating the law after it was approved by the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It will be added to the Basic Law, Hong Kong's constitution. Few details were given but China's liaison office in Hong Kong issued a statement warning opponents of the law not to underestimate the party centre's determination to safeguard Hong Kong's national security or its willingness and ability to enforce the new rules. "We hope the law will serve as a deterrent to prevent people from stirring up trouble," said Tam Yiu-Chung, Hong K...

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has notified the new price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) which was increased up to Rs3.96 per kilogram for the month of July. A notification has been released for the hike in rates which stated that the price of LPG increased by Rs3.96 per kilogram for the month of July, whereas, Rs46.76 per kilogram hiked for LPG cylinder. The new price of LPG will be Rs114 per kilogram. The price of the 11.8-kilogram domestic cylinder set up to Rs1,345.07 while the new price of commercial cylinder reached Rs5,175. Earlier on June 27, the regulatory authority had announced an increased in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for the second time in a week. According to the previous notification, the price of LPG had been increased by Rs5 per kilogram for the month of June which jacked up the rates per kilogram to Rs105. The price of an 11.8-kilogram cylinder had gone up by Rs50 while the price of a commercial cylinder had been increased by Rs2...

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has suspended Pakistan International Airline's air operations permit for a period of six months, the national carrier's spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan said on Tuesday. The suspension will take effect on July 1, at 12 noon UTC time, he said. Therefore, all PIA flights to Europe have been temporarily cancelled. "Those who have a PIA booking can move the date forward or get a refund," the spokesperson said. The EASA told PIA "it is still not sure" if all the remaining pilots are properly qualified, "and thus they have lost their confidence" in the airline, the spokesperson told AFP. "PIA is in constant contact with the agency," he said, adding: "We are taking steps to address their concerns." "It is hoped that the suspension will end soon due to the [remedial] steps taken by the government and the administration," the spokesperson said. In EASA's notificatio...

Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Wahab Riaz, Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Hasnain will fly off and join the Pakistan cricket team in England after they tested negative for the coronavirus a second time. The players were retested on Monday, June 29, following a first negative test on June 26, the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement, adding that they will now start making travel arrangements for the players. Ten players had been left out of the squad travelling to England over the weekend after they tested positive for coronavirus at least once. Shadab, Haris Rauf, Haider Ali, Fakhar, Rizwan, Riaz, Imran Khan, Hafeez, Hasnain and Kashif Bhatti first tested positive last week. Apart from the seven players, one support personnel — the masseur — also contracted the illness after the cricket body had 35 tests carried out for COVID-19 in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar. Hafeez, however, a day later said he had tested negative for the virus. "After tested positive ...

Prime Minister Imran Khan while speaking in the National Assembly on Tuesday said that Pakistan has "no doubt" that India was behind yesterday's attempted attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi. "What happened in Mumbai, they wanted to do the same [in Karachi]; they wanted to spread uncertainty. We have no doubt this was done by India," the premier said, referring to the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which more than 160 people were killed. He praised a police sub-inspector and three security guards who lost their lives while thwarting the attack on the PSX as the "heroes of Pakistan".   "They gave sacrifices and thwarted a major incident, which was planned by India to destabilise us," he said, adding that the attackers had a lot of ammunition and they wanted to take hostages. "My cabinet and its ministers know that all our agencies were on high alert. Our agencies preempted at least four major attempts of terrorism and two of t...

Lieutenant General Nigar Johar has become the first woman officer in the history of Pakistan Army to reach the three-star rank, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Tuesday. The newly appointed lieutenant general, who hails from the Panjpeer village in Swabi district, has been appointed as the first Surgeon General of Pakistan Army, the military's media wing added. In 2017, she became the third woman in the country’s history to hold the rank of a major general in the Pakistan Army. According to media report, Johar is the daughter of Col Qadir, who had served in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and is the niece of retired Maj Mohammad Aamir, a former Pakistan Army officer who served in the ISI as well. Both her parents died in a car accident 30 years ago.

China on Tuesday expressed strong concern over India's ban of Chinese mobile apps as tensions continue to escalate between the two Asian giants following their border clash at Ladakh a few weeks ago. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a daily briefing that India has a responsibility to uphold the rights of Chinese businesses. India on Monday banned 59, mostly Chinese, mobile apps including Bytedance's TikTok, Alibaba's UC Browser, and Tencent's WeChat citing security concerns, New Delhi said in a statement. The apps are "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order", the ministry of information technology said. The ban comes after a deadly border conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations earlier this month in which 20 Indian soldiers have died. "The Ministry of Information Technology, invoking it’s power under section 69A of the Information Technology ...

The Lahore High Court (LHC) proposed on Tuesday that a parliamentary committee comprising members of the government as well as the opposition be constituted to probe the recent shortage of petroleum products in the country. A bench of the high court, headed by Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan, cleared that the law will take its course if National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser does not form the committee that, the court said, will carry out a probe into the matter within 15 days of its constitution. The chief justice expressed displeasure over the absence of the prime minister’s principal secretary from today’s hearing, saying it appears that he will have to be hauled up by issuance of arrest warrants. He asked how much profit did oil companies pocket when prices of petroleum products were jacked up before even completion of one month. He also inquired about storage capacity of oil firms. The top LHC judge remarked that this was a major crisis that the country faced, stressing a n...

Uber is in talks to buy food delivery app Postmates in a multibillion dollar deal, US media reported. The San Francisco-based company has been badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic — last month cutting a quarter of its global workforce — and has been looking to boost its growing food delivery service Uber Eats. Talks for a $2.6 billion deal with start-up Postmates are ongoing, sources told the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, but stressed that nothing was confirmed. The deal would bolster Uber and help Postmates, a nine-year-old firm that has struggled against larger food delivery rivals, the New York Times noted on Monday. A $6 billion Uber offer made last month to acquire Grubhub — another US food delivery app — fell through. Grubhub was later bought by European competitor Just Eat Takeaway. Uber said in its quarterly update earlier this year that it lost nearly $3 billion and its rides business was down some 80 percent in April. The rideshare giant noted, how...

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday termed India’s attempts to alter occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s demographic profile by issuance of domicile certificates to 25,000 Indian nationals illegal and being in violation of UNSC resolutions. In a statement posted on his official Twitter account, the premier said: “First India’s attempt at illegal annexation of IOJK & now its attempts to alter IOJK’s demographic structure incl by issuance of domicile certificates to 25,000 Indian nationals are all illegal, in violation of UNSC resolutions & international law, incl 4th Geneva Convention.” I have approached UN Secretary General and am reaching out to other world leaders. India must be stopped from this unacceptable path that further usurps the legal & internationally guaranteed rights of the Kashmiri people & seriously imperils peace and security in South Asia. — Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 30, 2020 He said he has approached the UN secretary general and is reaching out...

Four employees of a private school in Lahore, including a teacher, were sacked by the administration on Tuesday after they were found guilty by the school of sexually harassing female students. Numerous students said that they were being harassed since 2016 but had decided to report the incidents to the management after it became unbearable. According to the school administration, the four persons against whom the complaint was lodged include a chemistry teacher, an administrative officer, an accountant and a janitor. Administration Officer Aitzaz, Accountant Omar, a chowkidar named Shehzad and chemistry teacher Zahid Warraich were accused of harassment by female students, some of whom had left school a few years ago and others who were still studying there. Students said that they had lodged various sexual harassment complaints over the years against the accused but no action had been taken by the administration. Hence some of them were forced to leave the school and seek admiss...

TikTok denied Tuesday sharing Indian users’ data with the Chinese government, after New Delhi banned the wildly popular app in a sharp deterioration of relations with Beijing two weeks after a deadly border clash. “TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government,” TikTok India chief Nikhil Gandhi said in a statement. “Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity,” he said, adding that it had been invited to a meeting with the Indian government “for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications”. TikTok is owned by China’s ByteDance and was one of 59 Chinese mobile apps banned late Monday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. There are estimated to be about 120 million TikTok users in India, making the South Asian nation of 1...

Pakistan cricketers spent some quality time indulging in recreational activities in Worcestershire. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shared images of its players playing table tennis, darts and snooker on social media website Twitter. The Pakistan team arrived in Manchester on Sunday for their three-match Test series and three T20Is against England, before moving to Worcestershire. They will spend 14 days in isolation here before heading to Derbyshire on July 13. The side are also scheduled to play two intra-squad matches on the tour. The schedule for the two training games, which are to be played behind closed doors, will be announced in due course.

An accountability court on Tuesday issued a bailable arrest warrant for former president Asif Ali Zardari in the Toshakhana reference, in which he is one of the main suspects along with former prime ministers Yousaf Raza Gilani and Nawaz Sharif. During today’s proceedings, Zardari’s counsel Farooq H Naek told the court that he had already filed a plea in court to exempt his client from appearing before the court. “I am a senior lawyer and I am telling the court that Asif Zardari will be present at the next hearing,” Naek said. Naek told Justice Asghar Ali that summoning Zardari to court will cause a lot of people to gather and cause a rush, which will be dangerous due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The court, however, rejected the former president’s plea and issued a bailable arrest warrant for him. "I'll give a long date, Asif Zardari should appear before the court," said Justice Asghar. NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi countered Naek's stance ...

The number of confirmed Corona cases in Pakistan rose to 209,337 on Tuesday after new infections were confirmed in the country. The province-wise break up of the total number of cases as of June 30, is as follows: Total confirmed cases: 209,337  • Sindh: 81,985 • Punjab: 75,501 • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 26,115 • Balochistan: 10,426 • Islamabad Capital Territory: 12,775 • Gilgit-Baltistan: 1,470 • AJK: 1,065 Deaths: 4,304 • Punjab: 1,727 • Sindh: 1,343 • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 935 • Balochistan: 119 • Islamabad Capital Territory: 128 • Gilgit-Baltistan: 24 • AJK: 28 RECOVERED: 95,407 More than 10.3 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 504,269 have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.      

Nearly $66 million were invested via foreign funds in government securities during June without any outflows recorded during the month, data from the State Bank of Pakistan showed. Foreign funds amounting to $37.5 million were invested in treasury bills and $28.1 million in Pakistan investment bonds, according to the data from the central bank. The robust inflows are an indication of foreign investors’ interest in high-yielding debt market despite back-to-back rate cuts by the central bank over the past three months. Tahir Abbas, the head of Research at Arif Habib Limited said foreigner investors sense that there is a less likelihood of further rupee depreciation. “Indeed, they are betting on potential [rupee] appreciation… together with good returns that means a win-win situation.” The SBP brought interest rate cumulatively down by 625 basis points to 7% since March 17 to boost the economy amid the coronavirus crisis. However, the rate is still one of the highest across the reg...

Governments are set to pledge billions of dollars in aid for Syrians at a virtual conference on Tuesday to help refugees enduring Syria’s ninth year of armed conflict, as COVID-19 and high food prices worsen the plight of millions. This year, the United Nations is looking for almost $10 billion for people in Syria and surrounding countries. It hopes much of that will come from the 60 governments and non-governmental agencies gathering by video link on Tuesday from 0800 GMT. The European Union is hosting the event. The pledging, now an annual event, breaks down into a U.N. appeal of $3.8 billion for aid inside Syria and $6.04 billion for countries hosting refugees. Only a fraction has been raised so far. “The needs have never been greater,” said Corinne Fleischer at the World Food Programme, a U.N. agency. In Syria, more than 11 million people need aid and protection, the U.N. says, while 6.6 million have fled to neighbouring countries in the world’s largest refugee crisis. Many ...

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry had signed a new deal recently with public speaking agents. And while it was understood that the couple will share their thoughts on a myriad of social issues, it looks like they might be expected to spill “steaming cups of royal tea” as well. Editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, Ingrid Seward said that the two will have to speak up about some of the stories about their royal lives as well or they wouldn’t be able to justify their speaking fee. Talking to The Mirror, she said: "No one wants to pay to hear them sounding off about gender equality and the environment. Harry and Meghan will really have to up their ante, and they will absolutely have to tell some stories about the Royal Family." Last week, Meghan and Prince signed an engagement speaking deal with agency Harry Walker Agency – which also works with high-profile personalities like Barack and Michelle Obama, Hillary and Bill Clinton, and Oprah Winfrey. As reported by Page Six, Har...

The COVID-19 pandemic is not even close to being over, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Monday. Tedros noted that, six months after China first alerted the WHO to a novel respiratory infection, the grim milestones of 10 million confirmed infections and 500,000 deaths had been reached. “Most people remain susceptible, the virus still has a lot of room to move,” he said. “We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over. Although many countries have made some progress globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up.” The head of the WHO’s emergencies programme, Mike Ryan, told the briefing that tremendous progress had been made towards finding a safe and effective vaccine to prevent infection, but there was still no guarantee the effort would succeed. In the meantime, countries could fight the spread of the disease by testing, isolating confirmed cases an...

Twenty-three people died and dozens more were missing on Monday after a ferry capsized in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka following a collision with another vessel, rescue officials said. “We have so far recovered 23 bodies from the sunken ferry,” fire brigade official Enayet Hossain told AFP. “There were 50 people on board… Our rescue divers are still searching,” she said. The Morning Bird vessel was hit by another ferry at Farashganj, just metres (yards) from the country’s largest river port Sadarghat. Several witnesses told local television stations that the boat was carrying more than 50 people, with many stuck in cabins. Ferry accidents are common in Bangladesh due to poor safety standards in the country’s many shipyards. The ferries are often overcrowded and sink in bad weather.

Gold rates in Pakistan increased Wednesday to Rs104,400 a tola as the world economy headed towards a recession due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. According to rates issued by the All Sindh Sarafa and Jewellers Association (ASSJA), prices moved up Rs1,600 per tola on Monday. It further noted that the price of 10 grammes of gold bumped up Rs1,372 to Rs89,506. On the other hand, the international gold rate has gone up $10 an ounce to almost $1,772. The upward price fluctuation, however, was still considerably less than the surge that came last week when gold rates went up Rs2,000 a tola. On June 24, the ASSJA said that the gold rates had shot up Rs2,000 per tola as prices around the world surged to their highest in nearly eight years as signs of an acceleration in the coronavirus cases kept investors on edge. With the increase in gold rates, the price was at that time ascertained to be at Rs105,100 per tola, whereas the price of 10 grammes of gold bumped up Rs1,715 to R...

Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the terrorist attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday, saying the whole nation was proud of the jawans who bravely fought militants off to avert massive casualties. “Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan condemns the terrorist attack on the Karachi Stock Exchange. The security forces bravely fought the enemy and thwarted the attack,” PTI’s Shahbaz Gill said in a tweet. Gill added the whole nation was proud of its brave jawans. “I have extended my heartfelt condolences to the families of the martyrs and pray for the recovery of the injured.” Four terrorists were killed by the police around 10am today after they opened fire and killed four security guards and a police sub-inspector. Armed militants stormed the PSX compound in a sedan and attempted to enter it from the parking ground side, according to initial reports and eyewitness statements. They were seen shouldering backpacks and carrying automatic weaponry in an amateur video capture...

The National Assembly of Pakistan approved the federal budget for the fiscal year 2020-2021 on Monday, despite the opposition's vow to not let it sail through the House. Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar had presented a Rs7.14 trillion budget for fiscal 2020-21 on June 12. Today, the government benches were also successful in getting approved the Finance Bill 2020 to give effect to the financial proposals. The amendments proposed by the Opposition in the bill were rejected by the House. Prime Minister Imran Khan also arrived at the National Assembly session, where the clause-wise amendments to the Finance Bill began in order to sail it through the House. As the process began, the NA speaker said that any amendment to remove an entire clause will not be acceptable. The speaker made the statement after PPP’s Shazia Mari proposed amendment to remove an entire clause. After approval of the budget, the House adjourned the session until 11am on Tuesday. ...

Pakistan batting coach and former great Younis Khan singled out fast-rising paceman Jofra Archer as a ‘major threat’ in his team’s forthcoming matches against England. The Pakistan squad left from Lahore on Sunday for England, where they will play three Tests and as many Twenty20 Internationals, starting in the first week of August. Younis said 25-year-old Archer has made a reputation for himself since qualifying to play for England and going on to play a key role in last year’s Ashes and triumphant World Cup campaign. “He [Archer] is a real match winner and a threat,” Younis said before the team’s departure from Allama Iqbal International Airport. “Archer has strong nerves which he proved while bowling a crucial super over in the World Cup final,” said Younis of England’s nail-biting win over New Zealand at Lord’s last year. “He has bite in his bowling and his high arm action is very good and gives him nip in his bowling.” But Younis — who himself played a key role in Pakistan’...

West Indies will wear “Black Lives Matter” emblem on the collars of their shirts during England series, Cricket West Indies (CWI). Premier League soccer clubs have been wearing the logo since the season’s restart as a tribute to protests against racial injustice following the death of a Black man, George Floyd, who died in police custody on May 25 in Minneapolis. The same logo will be used on the shirts, which is designed by Alisha Hosannah, whose partner Troy Deeney is the Watford football club’s captain. Deeney was contacted by CWI for approval and the ICC gave permission for the emblem to be worn on the teams’ collars. “We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness. This is a pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team” West Indies skipper Jason Holder said in the statement. “We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the ...

Gigi and Bella Hadid’s father and real estate tycoon, Mohamed Hadid has been entwined in quite some trouble for a while now over one of his properties. The $50 million Bel Air mega-mansion in Los Angeles has kept him locked in a court war but that came to a close earlier this month after Hadid’s last-ditch appeal was turned down by California’s Supreme Court. Talking to Vanity Fair earlier this week, Hadid termed the entire debacle as nothing more than a decision tainted by ‘racism’ and ‘prejudice.’ “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life and I’ve been doing this for 40 years,” he said, labelling the verdict as “political lynching.” “They’re racist. Absolute racist. There is something beyond the normal that has happened here. I know that, I’m 100 percent, and I want to write about it,” he added. He went on to lash out at his “nightmare neighbour,” Joe Horacek, alleging that he turned the entire hood against him with a smear campaign. “This guy had nothing to do except me...