Pakistan News

The man accused of trying to kill the author Salman Rushdie has been charged with terrorism for allegedly acting on behalf of Hezbollah, according to documents unsealed Wednesday. This is the first time the United States has so clearly singled out Lebanon’s powerful Iranian-backed movement over the attack on Rushdie . Hadi Matar, a 26-year-old American of Lebanese descent, was already charged by the state of New York for the 2022 stabbing attack. He has now been indicted by a grand jury on three counts that include attempting to provide material to support a “foreign terrorist organization”, according to the indictment dated July 17 but not unsealed until now. In August 2022 Rushdie, now 77, lost his sight in his right eye after the attack by a knife-wielding assailant who jumped on stage at an arts gathering in New York state. Rushdie was stabbed about 10 times. The Indian-born author, a naturalized American based in New York, had faced death threats since his 1988 novel “The Sat...

ISLAMABAD: Appreciating Pakistan’s contribution to counterterrorism, US Ambassador Donald Blome on Wednesday underlined the US commitment to supporting Pakistan in various areas, including countering regional threats, economic collaboration, renewable energy, climate management and education. He made these remarks at an international conference titled ‘Strengthening Pakistan-US Relations’ hosted by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) in collaboration with Beaconhouse National University (BNU) Lahore. Mr Blome discussed the importance of the US-Pakistan relationship, emphasising the long history of partnership and cooperation between the two nations. He highlighted Washington’s recognition of Pakistan’s potential, particularly its dynamic young population and economic opportunities. He underscored that the US-Pakistan partnership went beyond security and included significant investments in health, trade and development sectors. Additional Secretary (Americas), Min...

Vice President Kamala Harris opened up a marginal two-percentage-point lead over Republican Donald Trump after President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign and passed the torch to her, a Reuters /Ipsos poll found. That compares with a marginal two-point deficit Biden faced against Trump in last week’s poll before his Sunday exit from the race. The new poll, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, followed both the Republican National Convention where Trump on Thursday formally accepted the nomination, and Biden’s announcement on Sunday he was leaving the race and endorsing Harris . Harris, whose campaign says she has secured the Democratic nomination, led Trump 44 per cent to 42pc in the national poll, a difference within the 3-percentage-point margin of error. Harris and Trump were tied at 44pc in a July 15-16 poll, and Trump led by one percentage point in a July 1-2 poll, both within the same margin of error. While nationwide surveys give important signals of American support f...

Bibi Nazhatoon, the mother of missing persons activist Sammi Deen Baloch, marked the 15th anniversary of her husband’s disappearance on June 28. Dr Deen Baloch was abducted in 2009 — a day his wife remembers as if it were yesterday. That fateful day, it was not just her life partner who was snatched from her but also her identity. For the past decade and a half, Bibi Nazhatoon has been living a life where she does not know whether she is a widow or not — a fate she shares with hundreds of fellow Baloch women. Not once has she worn colourful clothes, attended weddings or celebrated festivals such as Eid in all these years. Today, scores of women across Pakistan live in a state of uncertainty — not knowing whether their fathers, brothers or husbands are alive or not. According to a report released this month, a total of 197 missing persons cases were reported in the first half of 2024 alone, with a vast majority recorded in Balochistan. Pakistan has been haunted by the chronic mal...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will deliver a landmark speech to the US Congress on Wednesday, seeking to rally support at a time of tensions between his country and its main military backer over the offensive in Gaza. Washington has been increasingly critical of the mounting toll on civilians from more than nine months of onslaught in the narrow coastal territory, while protests in Israel by families of hostages taken by Hamas are also causing headaches for Netanyahu at home. The Israeli premier’s visit comes at a time of political upheaval in the United States, with a gunman targeting Republican candidate Donald Trump, and President Joe Biden bowing out of the 2024 race for the White House and endorsing his deputy, Kamala Harris. Prior to departing Israel on Monday, Netanyahu said he would “seek to anchor the bipartisan support that is so important for Israel” in his address to Congress. “I will tell my friends on both sides of the aisle that regardless who the Amer...

PARIS: Australia would not pick a convicted rapist for the Olympics, team chief Anna Meares said on Monday after the Nether­lands selected a beach volleyball player convicted of that offence. Steven van de Velde, named last month in the Dutch Olympic team for Paris, was sentenced to four years in prison in Britain in 2016 following the rape of a 12-year-old girl two years earlier when he was 19. After serving part of his sentence there, he was transferred to the Nether­lands and his sentence came under the rules of Dutch law. Meares said she would not comment specifically on another team’s selection criteria and processes. “If an athlete or staff member had that conviction they would not be allowed to be a member of our team,” Meares told media. “We have stringent policies on safeguarding within our team.” Van de Velde has been competing in beach volleyball again since 2017. The Dutch team have said it has taken steps to mitigate the impact of his participation by moving him to a...

PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that France was ready to host the Paris Olympics as he visited the Athletes’ Village four days before the Games begin. “We are ready and we will be ready throughout the Games,” Macron said. “We have been working on these Games for years now and we are at the start of a decisive week which on Friday will see the opening ceremony and then the Olympiad which will be held in Paris, 100 years since the last one.” He added: “This is the fruit of an immense amount of work which has profoundly changed the country, in particular the area” of Seine-Saint-Denis, where the Athletes’ Village is situated. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach also visited the Village to the north of the French capital, where thousands of athletes and officials are arriving, with up to 14,500 expected there at the peak of the Games. Comprising 40 different low-rise housing blocks, the complex has been built by employing innovative construction techn...