International News Alert

07/05/2024

Israel’s military has issued a call for residents of eastern Rafah to “evacuate immediately,” a day after the country’s defense minister told troops inside Gaza to expect “intense action in Rafah in the near future.”

Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, wrote, “For your safety, the Defense Army urges you to evacuate immediately to the expanded humanitarian area at the checkpoints.”

Israel’s constant bombardment of Gaza since October 7 has devastated the besieged enclave, reducing whole neighborhoods to rubble, throttling food, fuel and water supplies, and forcibly displacing many of those seeking shelter in Rafah multiple times in the seven months of war.

07/05/2024

Boris Johnson was turned away from a polling station while trying to vote in the United Kingdom’s local elections after forgetting to bring photo ID – a requirement he introduced while prime minister.

05/05/2024

سرکاری اعداد و شمار کے مطابق رواں مالی سال مارچ تک 282 ارب 97 کروڑ 50 لاکھ روپے مالیت کی کُل 34 لاکھ 49 ہزار 436 میٹرک ٹن گندم درآمد کی گئی، جبکہ موجودہ حکومت کے پہلے ماہ 6 لاکھ 91 ہزار 136 میٹرک ٹن گندم درآمد کی گئی۔

مقامی کسانوں سے گندم کی خریداری کے بجائے بیرون ملک سے گندم درآمد کرنے کا اسکینڈل منظرعام پر آنے کے بعد حکومت پر شدید تنقید کی جا رہی ہے۔

03/05/2024

As farmers from across the province thronged The Mall to record their protest against what they believe to be an unfair wheat procurement policy, a heavy contingent of Punjab police in anti-riot gear rounded up scores of their number, on Monday.

The farmers had taken to the streets against an inordinate delay in the purchase of grain and the decision to reduce the provincial procurement quota from over 4 million tonnes to 2.3m tonnes.

03/05/2024

Uber said on Tuesday that it had made the decision to cease operating its ride-hailing app in Pakistan.

“We’ve made the decision to cease operating the Uber app in Pakistan,” a spokesperson for Uber told Dawn.com.

“Our subsidiary brand Careem will continue to operate, with the Careem app offering ride-hailing services across Pakistan and earning opportunities for drivers,” the spokesperson added.

Read more: https://www.dawn.com/news/1830577

“We’ve made the decision to cease operating the Uber app in Pakistan,” spokesperson says.

03/05/2024

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday said it had received the final $1.1 billion tranche from the International Monetary Fund under the stand-by arrangement.

On Monday, the Fund had approved the immediate disbursement of approximately $1.1bn to Pakistan. Its executive board met in Washington and completed the second review under the SBA, bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to about $3 billion.

03/05/2024

The Election Commi­ssion of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday took up for hearing yet another case pertaining to the PTI’s intra-party elections, but without sharing the details of the objections against it with the party.

When a five-member full bench of the ECP headed by Chief Election Commi­ssioner Sikandar Sultan Raja took up the matter, ECP Director Gene­ral (Political Finance) Masood Akhtar noted that PTI had conducted intra-party elections afresh after Supreme Court and ECP directives in this regard, but the objections to the polls needed to be clarified.

03/05/2024

New York City police raided Columbia University late on Tuesday to arrest dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, some of whom had seized an academic building, and to remove a protest encampment the Ivy League school had sought to dismantle for nearly two weeks.

Shortly after police moved in, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik released a letter in which she requested police stay on campus until at least May 17 — two days after graduation — “to maintain order and ensure that encampments are not re-established”.

Within three hours the campus had been cleared of protesters, said a police spokesperson, adding “dozens” of arrests were made.

Read more:

Footage shows mostly masked counter-demonstrators throwing objects and trying to damage pro-Palestinian encampment.

03/05/2024

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has expressed dismay over the conduct of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa during the Supreme Court proceedings on the issue of meddling by intelligence agencies in judicial affairs, alleging that the entire judiciary was on one side while the CJP was on the other.

PTI central information secretary Raoof Hasan at a press conference on Wednesday reiterated the party demand that a full court hear the matter on a daily basis, but the CJP should disassociate himself from the bench.

03/05/2024

وزیراعظم محمد شہباز شریف کا چلاس بس حادثے میں قیمتی جانوں کے نقصان پر افسوس کا اظہار.وزیراعظم کی جاں بحق ہونے والے افراد کی بلندی ء درجات کیلئے دعا، لواحقین سے اظہار تعزیت
وزیراعظم کی زخمیوں کی جلد صحت یابی کیلئے دعا .وزیراعظم کی زخمیوں کو ہر ممکن طبی امداد فراہم کرنے کی ہدایت
CM Shehbaz

03/05/2024

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday reserved its verdict on a petition filed by ex-premier Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi seeking her transfer form her Banigala residence — which had been declared a sub-jail — to Adiala Jail, where her husband is incarcerated.

Although the petition had been disposed of last month due to the former first lady’s lawyers failing to appear before the court, a plea was filed the same day seeking its restoration.

03/05/2024

At least 20 people died while 21 others were injured on Friday morning when a passenger bus overturned on the Karakoram Highway in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district, rescue officials said.

According to Diamer district rescue officer Riaz, the bus, which belonged to a private company, was travelling from Rawalpindi to Gilgit when the driver lost control near Gunar Farm.

Subsequently, the bus overturned and landed near the banks of the Indus River, Riaz said. The accident took place at around 5:30am, he said.

Read more: https://www.dawn.com/news/1831177