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Around 200 Pakistani students stuck in Afghanistan seek to return

ISLAMABAD: Nearly 200 Pakistani students stranded in Afghanistan for months due to the closure of the border have demanded permission to cross the Torkham border, according to their representatives. Taliban authorities have told them that Pakistani diplomatic missions should officially approach them and verify the list with an official stamp. However, Pakistani officials are reluctant to do so, the affected students told Dawn from Kabul and Jalalabad. The Taliban allowed the first group of 26 students to cross Torkham on Jan 12, and Pakistani authorities also opened the border specifically for them. However, the students who arrived at Torkham on Jan 13 have not yet been allowed to cross, as Taliban authorities insist that the Pakistani embassy or the consulate in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, should officially verify the list. Dr Riazullah Wazir and Amanullah Wazir, representatives of the students in Kabul, said students had met the Nangarhar governor and offici...
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Reports regarding shutting down of National Assembly’s YouTube channel termed ‘incorrect’

A statement posted by the National Assembly’s official account on the social media platform X said that reports regarding the shutdown of its YouTube channel were “incorrect”. The statement came after the media reports emerged alleging that the YouTube channel had “disappeared”. The reports also said that NA proceedings, which are typically shown live, had not been broadcast on the official YouTube channel or on state television over the past few days. The reports had emerged as a joint sitting of Parliament was held in Islamabad on Friday. In the statement posted on X, the NA’s official account said, “It is hereby clarified that reports published and broadcast in newspapers and television channels regarding the shutdown of the NA YouTube channel are incorrect. “Furthermore, the YouTube channel was not shut down at any point,” the statement said. “Temporary technical issues occurred due to a social media server outage, which affected accessibility for a limited period have ...
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5 killed, 10 injured in suicide blast at peace committee member’s residence in KP’s DI Khan

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: At least five people were killed while 10 others were injured in a suicide attack at the residence of a peace committee member near Qureshi Mor on Friday night, according to officials. In a statement, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmed Faizi said five bodies and 10 injured had been taken to the hospital. He said that seven ambulances, a fire vehicle and a disaster vehicle reached the site of the incident soon after it was reported, adding that a rescue operation was still under way. Dera Ismail Khan District Police Officer (DPO) Sajjad Ahmed Sahibzada confirmed the number of casualties to Dawn. He said the attack occurred at the residence of peace committee leader Noor Alam Mehsud, where a wedding ceremony was being held. “The explosion was a suicide blast. It is premature to say anything about the casualties,” DPO Sahibzada said. He said that an emergency had been imposed at the District Headquarter Hospital. Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa G...
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Kite flying to remain banned in Lahore parks over Basant

• City admin to monitor festival using drones, safe city cameras for compliance • Nearly 2,500 kite sellers, traders and associations apply for registration LAHORE: The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) has imposed a ban on kite flying in public parks and greenbelts on Basant, as the Lahore administration decided to digitally monitor the three-day festival, starting Feb 6, to ensure compliance. PHA Managing Director Raja Mansoor Ahmad said the decision was made to ensure that kite flying and related celebrations did not harm trees and other park infrastructure. “Since the Basant festival is being held for three days in Lahore alone, the arrival of a number of people from other cities of Punjab, other provinces and abroad is expected here for kite flying and other related activities. In such a situation, the people may rush for the public parks and green areas for kite flying and other related celebrations…” he told Dawn. He said the decision was made to prevent any untow...
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Trump to sue New York Times over unfavourable opinion poll

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he will sue The New York Times over an unfavourable opinion poll and suggested that what he called “fake” surveys should be criminalised. Trump lashed out after publication of a New York Times /Siena University poll finding only 40 per cent approval for the 79-year-old Republican — in line with multiple other polls showing declining support a year into his second term. “The Times Siena Poll will be added to my lawsuit against The Failing New York Times,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “They will be held fully responsible for all of their Radical Left lies and wrongdoing!” Expanding on the threat, Trump posted that “Fake and Fraudulent Polling should be, virtually, a criminal offence”. Trump has fired off multiple defamation lawsuits against media companies, including the BBC , CNN , Wall Street Journal , CBS and ABC . Some have ended in multi-million-dollar settlements. He first filed a $15 billion defamation su...
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Greenland PM says does not know what is in agreement announced by Trump following meeting with Nato chief

Greenland’s prime minister said Thursday that he was not aware of the contents of a framework agreement about the Danish autonomous territory that US President Donald Trump announced after a meeting with Nato’s chief, but stressed no deal could be made without involving the island. “Nobody else than Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark has the mandate to make deals or agreements about Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark without us,” Jens-Frederik Nielsen told a press conference. “We have some red lines. We have to respect our territorial integrity. We have to respect international law, sovereignty,” he added. US President Donald Trump backed down on threats to seize Greenland by force after meeting Nato chief Mark Rutte on Wednesday, saying he had reached a “framework” of a deal on the Danish autonomous territory. Details of the agreement made at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos remain scant. Nielsen said he was “happy” that Trump had stated that the us...
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FBR flags tax evasion in Sindh solar imports

• Report highlights trade-based money laundering in solar kit imports • Senate panel fumes over absence of economic minister, provincial secretaries ISLAMABAD: Another episode of massive under-invoicing for tax evasion and trade-based money laundering through the import of solar kits came to light before a parliamentary committee, which expressed serious displeasure over the continued absence of the minister for economic affairs and provincial secretaries. The Senate Secretariat released selected operational parts of a report presented to the Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), detailing grave irregularities in the import of solar home system kits under the Sindh Solar Energy Project (SSEP). The report revealed that solar kits were declared at $16-$23.4 per unit for tax purposes by contractors, while payments of up to $112.44 per unit, or about 700 per cent higher, were made by the World Bank for the SSEP, reflecting a difference of ...
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