Pakistan Daily Beast

In a first, women throng Saudi stadium for national day RIYADH: Hundreds of women thronged a sports stadium for the first time to mark Saudi Arabia´s national day Saturday, celebrated across the conservative kingdom with a raucous display of concerts, folk dance and fireworks. The presence of women at the King Fahd stadium marks a departure from previous celebrations in the Gulf kingdom where they are effectively barred from sports arenas by strict rules on public segregation of the sexes. Women were allowed to enter the stadium, a previously male-only venue used mostly for football matches, with their families and seated separately from single men to watch a musical show and a play on Saudi history. As a swell of enthusiastic women cheering swept through the stadium, with a few wearing colourful wigs on top of their veils, some Saudi men on social media lauded their participation as a "historic" moment. Ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia has some of the world´s

Singapore bodybuilder dies after kickboxing match SINGAPORE: A Singaporean bodybuilder has died after taking part in a celebrity Muay Thai kickboxing match, organisers said Sunday.   The bout on Saturday was the first time Pradip Subramaniam, 32, had taken part in a kickboxing fight.  He was competing against Steven Lim, a former contestant on a reality song contest known as Singapore Idol, who is also a kickboxing amateur.  According to The Straits Times, Pradip appeared shaken after the match, which Lim won through a technical knock-out.  He was helped out of the ring and taken to hospital where he died on Saturday evening.  Fight organisers AFC Holding Singapore said that acording to a preliminary medical report Pradip suffered "a cardiac arrest respiratory failure episode." Pradip was a last-minute replacement after singer Sylvester Lim, whom Steven Lim was originally slated to fight, pulled out due to insurance reasons.  The match was part of the

Pak-China joint air exercise underway BEIJING: The PAF contingent, comprising combat pilots, air defense controllers and technical ground crew is participating in an exercise "Shaheen-VI," between Chinese and Pakistani air forces. During the exercise, the contingents from both sides demonstrated mutual trust by sitting in the same fighters. In the ongoing joint drills, air force personnel cooperated in planning and implementing strategies, as well as learning operational concepts and tactics from each other. The previous drills only provided experience of sitting in the same fighter instead of co-operating in fighting. JF-17 Thunder, Mirage, F-7PG and ZDK aircraft from PAF along with PLA Air Force J-8, J-11, JH-7 and KJ-200 AWACS aircraft and ground forces including surface-to-air missile and radar troops are taking part in the exercise, which commenced at Korla Air Base in China on September 7. Li Wengang, Head of China-Pakistan joint training command o

Grand auto show in Indonesia The three day annual auto show in the convention center of Indonesia’s Surabaya will conclude today with the organizers terming it a huge success. New vehicles by auto giants Mercedes Benz, BMW, Nissan, Land Rover, Chevrolet, Jaguar, Ford and Honda were the highlights of the show. Like every year, car makers from around the world introduced hundreds of spectacular and luxurious models as well as showcased vehicles with advanced systems and innovations. Started on September 20, the auto show will end on September 24. There are many models of luxury cars, vintage cars, driverless cars, sports cars, advanced trucks and bikes and Street cars on display in the exhibition.

US warplanes fly off North Korea coast in new show of force WASHINGTON: US bombers and fighter escorts flew off the coast of North Korea Saturday in a show of force against its nuclear weapons program, escalating already sky-high tensions. The hermit state´s foreign minister, meanwhile, assailed US President Donald Trump at the United Nations, deriding him as a "mentally deranged" leader whose threats had increased the chances of military confrontation. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un have exchanged increasingly bellicose rhetoric in recent days, as international alarm mounts over Pyongyang´s weapons ambitions -- including a hint this week that the country is considering detonating an H-bomb over the Pacific. US bombers have carried out similar flights before, as the United States and the international community struggle to rein in North Korea´s weapons programs. But in a new stage for such show of force operations, the Pentagon stressed this w

Rulers on way out, not to get back: Khursheed SUKKUR: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah on Saturday said rumours were doing the rounds that the current rulers were on their way out and will not get back home. Addressing a ceremony here, he said the country’s situation was discouraging, as the state institutions were on a collision course. He said confrontation among the state institutions bode no good for the country, adding that anyone weakening parliament was not loyal to Pakistan. He lashed out at former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, asking him to get back and face cases rather than passing statements while sitting abroad. Musharraf stirred up a hornets’ nest when he alleged that the PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari was involved in Benazir and Murtaza Bhutto murders. “Return to the country like Benazir did, do politics like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and spend time in prison like Asif Ali Zardari,” said the opposition lead

Musharraf’s statement riddled with self-contradictions ISLAMABAD: Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf triggered a national level debate when he alleged that the PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari had masterminded the murders of Benazir Bhutto and her brother Mir Murtaza Bhutto. Musharraf quickly rose to his defence when the finger was pointed at him for the murder of Ms Bhutto. Mincing no words, he said Zardari and some powerful elements in Afghanistan (Hamid Karzai and TTP leader Baitullah Mehsood) were behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The PPP leader was martyred in a gun and bomb attack at Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007 while leaving the venue after addressing a rally. Musharraf appeared to be clear in his statements, but he may not have realised that it was riddled with self-contradictions, negating his own claims. The plain and simple fact is that being the  president  at that time he cannot absolve himself of his responsibilities.

Hung parliament, shaky govt in 2018? ISLAMABAD: New political phenomenon and realities that transpired, though at a micro level, in the result of NA-120 Lahore by-election are clear pointers and undercurrents of future electoral dynamics that may lead to a split mandate. However a must prerequisite to achieve the desired hung parliament is that the new factors put in place by this by-poll persist in the upcoming general elections and produce similar performance nationwide or at least in several key federal and provincial constituencies. The new elements, billed as spoilers, were brought in with a conscious effort to “manage” the grand national electoral exercise so that no major political party is able to get even a simple majority to land in a position to form federal government single-handed. An apparent wish may be that a hodgepodge of parliamentary parties emerge with none having a dominant say, giving birth to an unstable, shaky setup that will be effortlessly put un

People supported my stance: Nawaz LONDON: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said his stance on disqualification by the Supreme Court was endorsed and supported by the people of Pakistan during his public rallies from Islamabad to Lahore through GT Road. Speaking to media here, Nawaz said his stance has once again been vindicated in NA-120 by-polls from where the PML-N won the seat with a majority vote of about 14,000. Terming his disqualification as vendetta and political victimisation, he said he was disqualified purely on political grounds and the mandate of the voters has been disrespected. In reply to a question, he said he had requested Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to investigate the kidnapping of key PML-N activists from NA-120 constituency, hours before start of the voting process. Nawaz said he had requested Khaqan Abbasi to “personally investigate as to why they were kidnapped and  who was responsible for it.”  Answering a question about election ca

Army lieutenant martyred as Afghan-based militants attack Rajgal PESHAWAR: A young officer Lieutenant Arsalan Alam was martyred in an attack by the Afghanistan-based militants in Rajgal area in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Saturday. The ISPR said the security forces retaliated and killed three militants and injured two others. It added that the militants took away the bodies of the slain men and also their injured associates and escaped to Afghanistan. According to the statement, soon after the incident the security forces cordoned off the area and carried out a search operation in Rajgal valley. The Pakistan Army recently cleared the remote Rajgal valley of militants, who were said to have escaped to Afghanistan. The military action in Rajgal was part of the Khyber IV operation. Pakistani militants based across the Pak-Afghan border sneaked into Rajgal to carry out the attack on a newly built border post

Police Act, judicial system enforced in Fata PESHAWAR: The federal government has enforced Police Act 1861 and judicial system to Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) in an attempt to give policing powers to the Levies force in the region, sources said on Saturday. The Levies offices have been replaced by police  and no officer less than the rank of Naib Tehsildar would be appointed as police officer. The policing powers and judicial structure, along the lines of Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have been enforced in Fata, after approval by President Mamnoon Hussain, the sources said, reported Geo News. The changes empower the political agent with judicial powers. The changes dictate judicial role for the political agent, subordinate offices as well as nomenclature changes in the office of the Levies forces that substitute the Police Act to be implemented in the villages but with changes in the context of Fata. The term ‘Commandant of the Federal Levies Force’

Abbasi leaves for home after US, UK visit LONDON: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Sunday left for Islamabad after a week-long visit to the New York and London.  Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is also accompanying me back to the country, the prime minister said while speaking to media before his departure here. The prime minister was was seen off by Pakistan's High Commissioner in London, Syed Ibne Abbas, at the Heathrow Airport. Earlier, an accountability court had issued arrest warrants for Ishaq Dar in a corruption case against him after he failed to appear before the court on Sept 20.

India is rape capital of the world, Pakistan tells UNHRC GENEVA: A Pakistani diplomat told the United Rights Commission (UNHRC) that India has become the ‘rape capital of the world’ as 327,000 crimes against women were registered in a single year in India, most of these involving rape or rape attempts. Availing right of reply at the current 36th Session of the Human Rights Council, diplomat Murk Aijaz told quoting India’s National Crime Records Bureau statistics that more than 35,000 incidents of rape had occurred just in three years in India and almost 93 rapes were committed in the country each day. “India has surely become the rape capital of the world where no woman is safe due to their own disgraceful policies against women,” she said. She quoted reports by Asian Watch and Physicians for Humans stating that rape is used as a means of targeting women by the Indian security forces in an attempt to punish and humiliate the entire community. She told the UN forum

CM attends majlis of Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that he had invited the spiritual leader of Dawoodi Jamaat Syedna Aliqadar Mufaddal Saifuddin to spend Muharramul Harram in the city and address majalis and he kindly consented to his request. This he said while talking to media after listening to the majlis of Syedna Aliqadar Mufaddal Saifuddin at Tahri Masjid Saddar on Sunday. He said that Syedna was addressing the majalis of his jamaat in the city in which his followers have come from others countries also. “We have made necessary security arrangements for his majalis,” he said and added “our Bohri brothers are peaceful, cooperative and gentlemen.” Murad said that peace has been restored in the city with constant efforts and political will of the government. “This credit goes to the people of Karachi who supported the targeted operation and also extended their full support to the government, Rangers, poli

We have taken oath to defend our motherland at all costs, says COAS RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Sunday said “we have taken oath to defend our motherland at all costs. "We hv taken oath to def our motherland wtvr cost / sacrifices. We hv been, we are & we shall keep doing it. Salute to Martyrs of Pak" COAS.  pic.twitter.com/jpop3PJEQ9 — Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR)  September 24, 2017 In a message posted to Twitter by DG ISPR Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, the COAS said that the Pakistan Army has, is, and will continue to defend the motherland. Salute to the martyrs of Pakistan, Gen Bajwa added. Hostile foreign efforts in destabilising Pak. Exposed & being defeated by a resilient nation https://t.co/l6NEk47Iyw https://t.co/uCiE9HgsIJ pic.twitter.com/QC7KWbsDxy — Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR)  September 24, 2017

Nawaz to return home tomorrow to appear before accountability court: sources LONDON: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has decided to immediately return home from London, where had been staying due to treatment of his wife Kulsoom Nawaz, to appear before an accountability court in a reference on Tuesday. Sources said that the former prime minister will reach home via PIA’s flight PK-786 on Monday at 7am. The decision to return home was taken during a meeting held on Sunday with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the sources said. Some party leaders had advised the former prime minister not to appear before the NAB but the latter decided against that idea, the sources maintained. After return, Nawaz would convene a high-level meeting of PML-N. The Punjab chief minister would return home according to his schedule between Sept 28 and 30 while Maryam Nawaz, Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz would stay there with their ailing m