Author: Gence Hasni

Two police officers and four attackers were killed on Saturday when gunmen and suicide bombers stormed a police station in the mostly Sunni city of Zahedan in Iran’s restive southeast, state television reported. Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province, was scene of some of the bloodiest protests during a wave of nationwide unrest last year triggered by the death of a young Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police. A militant group operating in the area called Jaish al-Adl, or Army of Justice, claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack in a social media post, saying it was in retaliation for…

Nepal has conceded a 9-run defeat to Pakistan ‘A’ in a match held on Tuesday under the ACC Women’s T20 Emerging Team Asia Cup 2023.  With this win, Pakistan ‘A’ has topped the Group ‘A’ leaving Nepal behind at the second position. Chasing the 88-run target posted by Pakistan, Nepal was limited to 78 runs in the allotted 20 overs at the loss of six wickets. For Nepal, opener Kabita Kunwar hit the highest 20 runs off 32 balls. Kabita Joshi remained unbeaten on 15 runs off 17 balls. However, other batters could not reach a double-digit score. For Pakistan…

The mayor of Nepal’s capital has banned the screening of hugely popular Indian films after a movie inspired by the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana sparked controversy. Critics have taken issue with lines of dialogue in the film Adipurush, which was released globally in Hindi and four other Indian languages on Friday. The inspiration for the movie, the Ramayana, centres on King Rama’s attempt to save his kidnapped wife Sita. Sita was believed to have been born in Janakpur, a southern district of Nepal, but the film suggests she was born in India, triggering anger in Kathmandu. Before the film’s release,…

LAHORE: The caretaker Punjab government presented on Monday a budget that surprised many financial experts because of some lofty goals, such as paying off the provincial debt of Rs600 billion and providing ‘public relief’, without giving details about the inflow of money for that purpose. The government unveiled the budget for the next four months – from July 1, 2023, to October 31, 2023– under Article 126 of the Constitution. The expenditures for this period are estimated at Rs1,719 billion. On the revenue side for the same period, the province expects to collect Rs881 billion in receipts from the federal…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the Russian Federation will hold the 5th round of Bilateral Political Consultations here today (Tuesday) to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations by identifying areas of mutual interest for further cooperation. According to a statement of the Foreign Office, the Russian delegation will be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko who will visit Islamabad on 20-21 June 2023. Foreign Secretary Dr Asad Majeed Khan will lead the Pakistan delegation. “The two sides will review the state of bilateral relations, identify areas of mutual interest for further cooperation, and exchange views on important regional and global…

Tokyo, Berlin (6/6 – 50) The Defense Agency Ground Staff Office in Japan has established a “guide unit” or an escort service in the Ground Self-Defense Force 1st Airborne Brigade (headquartered at Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture). Its task is to transport and escort overseas Japanese nationals in such emergency situations as a conflict and a natural disaster in a foreign country. The service is staffed with about 100 personnel. In the event of a dispute or coup breaking out in a foreign country, the government will dispatch the Self-Defense Force (SDF) aircraft or transport vessels with escort personnel aboard to…

Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan, Colonel-General Ruslan Zhaksylykov has met with National Defense Minister of China Li Shangfu, Kazinform reports. The sides discussed the current state and prospects of the bilateral military cooperaion of Kazakhstan and China. Ruslan Zhaksylykov arrived in New Delhi to participate in the regular meeting of the defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Earlier, he met Minister of Defense of India Shri Rajnath Singh for discussing the state and prospects of the bilateral military cooperation, the press office of the Kazakh Defense Ministry said. Source : Inform Kz

LAHORE – Health authorities in Punjab’s capital on Sunday said they were investigating two suspected cases of monkeypox in the metropolis, likely adding the Punjab region to the list that is reporting recent infections of the contagious virus. Both the suspected patients have developed symptoms of monkeypox and are under isolation and treatment. One of the patients also suffered from skin rash and enlarged blisters. The suspected patients will undergo a PCR test for confirmation of the virus, while close contacts of both patients will be traced to curb the spread. The current outbreak has raised alarms in South Asian nation and prompted officials…

We never had a lot. But before last summer, most people living in my neighbourhood in Pakistan’s Sindh province got by, were safe and could afford to feed our children. Last summer, everything changed when heavy rains and extreme floods – worse than anything I’ve ever seen in my life – brought misery to us all. I do not know anyone whose home wasn’t at least partially destroyed. Luckily, two rooms in my house were spared, but some extended family had their entire homes washed away, so we put them up and I slept in a car on the side…

The holy month of Ramadan kicked off Thursday in Peshawar, Pakistan, with Muslims preparing for a month of dawn-to-dusk fasting intended to remind them of the less fortunate and reinforce the need to be thankful. Ramadan starts from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next, during which believers eat and drink nothing after the pre-dawn meal called Sehri, until Iftar, the nightly feast to share with families and friends. People wait for Iftar on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in Peshawar, Pakistan on March 23, 2023. (Photo by Umar/Xinhua) People have Iftar on the…