You are here

Pakistan PM congratulates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on becoming UAE deputy PM

Pakistan PM congratulates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on becoming UAE deputy PM
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, attends a virtual meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on March 14, 2024. (WAM/File)
Short Url

https://arab.news/4m25a

Updated 16 July 2024
Follow

Pakistan PM congratulates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on becoming UAE deputy PM

Pakistan PM congratulates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on becoming UAE deputy PM
  • Shehbaz Sharif also felicitated Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan on appointment as UAE deputy PM, defense minister
  • The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and US as well as home to more than a million Pakistanis
Updated 16 July 2024
Arab News Pakistan
Follow

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday extended his felicitations to Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on his appointment as deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, vice president and ruler of Dubai, announced the appointment of Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah as deputy PM as part of the UAE government amendments on Sunday.
He also announced the joining of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum in the UAE government as deputy prime minister and minister of defense in the UAE cabinet.
In his message on X, Sharif also extended his congratulations to Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan on his appointment.
“Wishing them both success in their new endeavors & looking forward to further strengthening of our bilateral ties & deepening cooperation between our two brotherly nations,” the Pakistan prime minister said.

The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States as well as home to more than a million Pakistani expatriates and the second-largest source of remittances to Pakistan after Saudi Arabia. It is also one of Pakistan’s closest allies and has frequently bailed out the South Asian country.

Policymakers in Pakistan also consider the Gulf state an optimal export destination due to its geographical proximity, which minimizes transportation and freight costs while facilitating commercial transactions.

Topics: Pakistan UAE ties

Lahore most polluted city on earth, Agra’s toxic smog hides Taj Mahal

Lahore most polluted city on earth, Agra’s toxic smog hides Taj Mahal
Updated 15 sec ago
Reuters
Follow

Lahore most polluted city on earth, Agra’s toxic smog hides Taj Mahal

Lahore most polluted city on earth, Agra’s toxic smog hides Taj Mahal
  • Smog obscured India’s famed monument to love, the Taj Mahal, and Sikhism’s holiest shrine, Golden Temple in Amritsar
  • Delhi flights faced delays, with tracking website Flightradar24 showing 88 percent departures and 54% of arrivals were delayed
Updated 15 sec ago
Reuters

NEW DELHI: Toxic smog obscured India’s famed monument to love, the Taj Mahal, as well as Sikhism’s holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and delayed flights on Thursday, becoming too thick to see through in several places.

The city of Lahore in neighboring Pakistan ranked as the world’s most polluted in winter’s annual scourge across the region, worsened by dust, emissions, and smoke from fires burnt illegally in India’s farming states of Punjab and Haryana.

In the city of Agra, the Taj Mahal was barely visible from the gardens in front of the 17th-century monument, while dense fog wreathed worshippers at the Golden Temple in Punjab, television images showed.

Delhi flights faced delays, with tracking website Flightradar24 showing 88 percent of departures and 54 percent of arrivals were delayed.

Officials blamed high pollution, combined with humidity, becalmed winds and a drop in temperature for the smog, which cut visibility to 300 m (980 ft) at the city’s international airport, which diverted flights in zero visibility on Wednesday.

More patients flocked to hospitals, particularly children.

“There has been a sudden increase in children with allergies, cough and cold ... and a rise in acute asthma attacks,” Sahab Ram, a paediatrician in Punjab’s Fazilka region, told news agency ANI.

Delhi’s minimum temperature fell to 16.1 degrees Celsius (61°F) on Thursday from 17 degrees C (63 degrees F) the previous day, weather officials said.

Its pollution ranked in the ‘severe’ category for the second consecutive day, with a score of 430 on an index of air quality maintained by the top pollution panel that rates a score of zero to 50 as ‘good’.

Pollution in New Delhi is likely to stay in the ‘severe’ category on Friday, the earth sciences ministry said, before improving to ‘very poor’, or an index score of 300 to 400.

The number of farm fires to clear fields in northern India has risen steadily this week to almost 2,300 on Wednesday from 1,200 on Monday, the ministry’s website showed.

Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab, was rated the world’s most polluted city on Thursday, in live rankings kept by Swiss group IQAir. Authorities there have also battled hazardous air this month. 

Topics: Lahore smog Pakistan New delhi Taj Mahal

Pakistan court rules out Imran Khan acquittal in new state gifts case, will frame charges

Pakistan court rules out Imran Khan acquittal in new state gifts case, will frame charges
Updated 14 November 2024
Follow

Pakistan court rules out Imran Khan acquittal in new state gifts case, will frame charges

Pakistan court rules out Imran Khan acquittal in new state gifts case, will frame charges
  • Case involves jewelry worth over €380,000 gifted to ex-first lady by foreign dignitary when Khan was PM from 2018-2022
  • Huband-wife duo is accused of undervaluing the gift and buying it at a lesser price from the state repository
Updated 14 November 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A trial court has dismissed an acquittal petition and will frame charges against jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife in a case relating to gifts acquired from a state repository, the ex-premier’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said on Thursday.

The reference, popularly called the new Toshakhana case, was filed in July and involves a jewelry set worth over €380,000 gifted to the former first lady by a foreign dignitary when Khan was prime minister from 2018-2022. The couple is accused of undervaluing the gift and buying it at a lesser price from the state repository.

Before the new case was filed, the ex-premier, who has been in jail since last August, was convicted in four cases. Two of the cases have since been suspended, including an original one relating to state gifts, while he was acquitted in the remaining two.

“The trial court has dismissed the acquittal petition of Imran Khan & Bushra Bibi from Toshakhana Case 2. On Nov. 18, the court will frame charges,” the PTI said in a statement to reporters. 

“This case doesn’t merit proceedings as the prosecution admitted that Imran Khan did not gain any personal benefit from the case, neither do the proceedings meet the law.”

Khan’s convictions had ruled the 71-year-old out of the Feb. 8 general elections as convicted felons cannot run for public office under Pakistani law.

Arguably Pakistan’s most popular politician, Khan says the cases against him are “politically motivated” and aimed at keeping him from returning to power. Pakistani authorities deny this.

The ex-premier is also facing multiple cases relating to May 9, 2023 protests, which saw his supporters attack government and military installations over his brief arrest in another graft case.

On Wednesday, the PTI announced that Khan had called a ‘long march’ protest movement to the capital, Islamabad, over alleged rigging in general elections and to call for the release of political prisoners and the independence of the judiciary.

The PTI is demanding that the government rollback recent constitutional amendments like the 26th amendment that it says are an attempt to curtail the independence of the senior judiciary. 

The party is also calling for the release of all political prisoners, including Khan, and a return of “the public mandate” following what it believes was a rigged general election. 

Pakistan’s government denies being unfair in Khan’s treatment and its election commission denies the elections were rigged. The government also says the recent amendments related to the judiciary are meant to smooth out its functioning and tackle a backlog of cases.

Topics: Imran Khan PTI Bushra Bibi

Pakistan says UAE eyeing investments in Sindh’s desalination, transport, construction sectors

Pakistan says UAE eyeing investments in Sindh’s desalination, transport, construction sectors
Updated 14 November 2024
Follow

Pakistan says UAE eyeing investments in Sindh’s desalination, transport, construction sectors

Pakistan says UAE eyeing investments in Sindh’s desalination, transport, construction sectors
  • UAE is one of Pakistan’s largest trade partners and main source of foreign investment
  • UAE-Pakistan trade volume rose to $7.9 billion in 2023, up by 12 percent from 2022
Updated 14 November 2024
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: A spokesman for the chief minister of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province said on Thursday the UAE was interested in investing in a desalination plant in the port city of Karachi as well as in transport and construction projects.

The announcement came after a meeting between CM Murad Ali Shah and the UAE Consul General in Karachi, Bakhit Atiq Al Rimithiki, on the occasion of the National Day of the Emirates. 

The UAE is one of Pakistan’s largest trading partners and a major source of foreign investment, valued at over $10 billion in the last 20 years, according to the UAE ministry of foreign affairs. The UAE-Pakistan trade volume rose to $7.9 billion in 2023, up 12 percent from 2022.

“Discussions were also held on the investment of UAE companies in various projects in Karachi,” the CM’s office said. “UAE companies are interested in investing in Karachi’s desalination plant, transport and road and bridge construction sectors.”

The spokesman said Shah was also arranging meetings between the provincial investment department and relevant officers of the UAE.

In May this year, Prime Minister Shehbaz said the UAE had committed $10 billion to invest in promising economic sectors in Pakistan.

Earlier this month, Pakistan signed four MoUs with the AD Ports Group, a major investor in Pakistan, to explore opportunities in the maritime, air and rail sectors as well as in logistics and digital services.

With UAE partner Kaheel Terminals, AD Ports Group is already developing, operating, and managing container, bulk, and general cargo operations at the Port of Karachi, Pakistan’s major port, where it has agreed to invest almost $400 million over 15 years. 

The joint venture has agreed to invest $75 million over the next two years in superstructure and equipment, followed by $100 million within five years to increase efficiency and capacity by 75 percent, enabling the terminal to handle up to 14 million tones per annum.

Pakistan has been pushing for foreign investment in recent months in a bid to shore up its $350 billion economy as it navigates a tough reforms agenda mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Topics: Pakistan UAE ties desalination

Premature blast kills suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan, harms no one else — police 

Premature blast kills suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan, harms no one else — police 
Updated 14 November 2024
AP
Follow

Premature blast kills suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan, harms no one else — police 

Premature blast kills suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan, harms no one else — police 
  • Suicide bomber riding a motorcycle set off an explosive device prematurely on a deserted road in Charsadda district 
  • Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, often target security forces in KP province with suicide bombings
Updated 14 November 2024
AP

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle set off an explosive device prematurely on a deserted road in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing himself but harming no one else, police said.

Local police official Masood Khan said the blast happened in Charsadda district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, where Pakistani Taliban and other insurgents often target security forces.

Khan said the intended target was unclear and bomb disposal experts and police were still investigating whether the man was wearing the explosives or they were attached to his motorcycle.

The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, often target security forces in the province with suicide bombings and other violence. 

TTP are separate from the Afghan Taliban but have been emboldened by the group’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

Topics: Pakistan attack Charsadda Arab News Pakistan

20 million Pakistanis daily attempt to access porn sites, telecoms authority says

20 million Pakistanis daily attempt to access porn sites, telecoms authority says
Updated 14 November 2024
Follow

20 million Pakistanis daily attempt to access porn sites, telecoms authority says

20 million Pakistanis daily attempt to access porn sites, telecoms authority says
  • Latest figures from PTA come as it introduced a new portal for the registration of VPNs earlier this week 
  • Digital experts say government trying to block vital tools that allow users to bypass restrictions amid digital crackdowns
Updated 14 November 2024
Aamir Saeed

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said on Thursday around 20 million Pakistanis were daily attempting to access pornographic websites, which authorities have banned since 2011.

In November 2011, the PTA announced it was in the process of banning the 1,000 most-frequented porn websites in Pakistan. In 2016, the government ordered Internet Service Providers to block more than 400,000 websites which contained pornographic content, while in 2019, around 800,000 additional porn sites were banned by the PTA. 

“There are approximately 20 million daily attempts from within the country to access pornographic websites which are blocked at the international gateway,” the PTA statement said. 

“However, users bypass restrictions via VPNs and access porn contents. PTA remains fully committed to curbing this issue, taking all necessary measures to block this content effectively.

“So far PTA has blocked a total of 100,183 blasphemous URLs and 844,008 pornographic websites.”

The latest figures from the PTA come as it introduced a new portal for the registration of VPNs on Tuesday, a move that is being widely seen as an attempt by the government to block vital tools that allow users to bypass government restrictions amid a wave of digital crackdowns. 

Pakistan has already blocked access to social media platform X since the February general elections, with the government saying the blocking was to stop anti-state activities and due to a failure by X to adhere to local Pakistani laws. Rights activists say the blocking is designed to stifle critical voices and democratic accountability in the country, which the government denies. 

VPN users in Pakistan reported significant disruptions to services last weekend (Nov. 9-10), with issues relating to connectivity and restricted access. Downdetector reported disruption to TunnelBear VPN and VPN Unlimited but none of the best VPNs appeared to be affected.

The Proton VPN Observatory, run by the developers of one of the most secure VPNs, Proton, reported a spike in VPN usage in Pakistan on Nov. 9 and recorded a 350 percent increase in VPN sign-ups in Pakistan over Nov. 9-10. 

There are also reports Pakistan is imposing a national firewall, which the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) has said could cost the economy up to $300 million. In August, the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) warned that frequent Internet disruptions and low speeds caused by poor implementation of the firewall had led many multinational companies to consider relocating their offices out of Pakistan, with some having “already done so.”

Digital rights activists say Islamabad is implementing the Internet firewall to monitor and regulate content and social media platforms, but the government denies the firewall is meant for censorship purposes. 

Topics: Porn sites Pakistan

Latest updates

COP29: Saudi Arabia signs major green energy pact with Central Asian nations
COP29: Saudi Arabia signs major green energy pact with Central Asian nations
Cricket battles to address its sustainability issues
Cricket battles to address its sustainability issues
Strike hits south Beirut after Israel evacuation warning
Strike hits south Beirut after Israel evacuation warning
Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez and Halle Berry hit the stage at landmark Elie Saab show in Riyadh
Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez and Halle Berry hit the stage at landmark Elie Saab show in Riyadh
KSrelief continues medical outreach in Kyrgyzstan, Yemen
KSrelief continues medical outreach in Kyrgyzstan, Yemen

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2024 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.