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FCC upholds ban on book imports from certain countries

• Rules govt can limit trade with India, Israel on security, foreign policy grounds • Declares ‘right to read’ fundamental to life under Constitution; warns curbs on knowledge risk intellectual, societal decline • Notes digital access makes book bans increasingly ineffective ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) upheld the government decision regarding the ban on imports of books from certain countries based on national security and foreign policy grounds, while simultaneously affirming that a “right to read” is a fundamental right essential for life. In a landmark decision, the court drew a careful line between a citizen’s fundamental right and the government’s broad authority over foreign trade and national security. While the ruling strongly affirmed access to knowledge as a core constitutional liberty, it stopped short of striking down the government’s trade ban, preserving its power to block commerce with nations like India and Israel. Headed by Justice Aamir Far...
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Myanmar cuts ex-leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence, frees former president

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Myanmar has reduced the sentence of imprisoned ex-leader Aung San Suu Kyi, her lawyer told Reuters on Friday, as part of an amnesty by a new president who ousted her government in a coup five years ago. Suu Kyi, 80, was serving a 27-year sentence for a litany of charges her allies said were politically motivated to keep her at bay, ranging from incitement and corruption to election fraud and violating a state secrets law. The sentence has been cut by one-sixth, but it remains unclear whether the Nobel Peace Prize winner will be allowed to serve the rest of her sentence under house arrest, the lawyer said. Suu Kyi, who had dismissed the charges against her as “absurd”, has not been seen in public since the end of her marathon trials, and her whereabouts have been unknown. Earlier, state media reported that President Min Aung Hlaing approved an amnesty for 4,335 prisoners, the third such move in the past six months. Amnesties typically take place in Myanmar each year to mark Indep...
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Govt admits up to seven hours of power outages

• Duration nearly three times more than what was announced earlier • Minister cites LNG import disruption, Middle East crisis as key factors • Shortfall estimated at 3,400MW • Demand spikes from 9,000MW to 20,000MW in days • Nuclear plant maintenance postponed to boost supply ISLAMABAD: Power Minister Awais Leghari on Thursday confirmed six to seven hours of load management — almost three times higher than the government’s public commitment — citing a sudden surge in demand, non-availability of imported gas and lower water discharges for irrigation. Speaking at a news conference, the minister said power shortfalls had been caused by disruptions to LNG imports due to the Middle East crisis and by lower provincial irrigation water requirements, both of which he said were beyond the government’s control. However, he insisted that the government was making every possible effort to minimise both outages and potential tariff increases arising from the use of expensive alternative fue...
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8 killed, 11 injured as gas supply line catches fire in KP’s Haripur

HARIPUR: At least eight people, including children, were killed and 11 others were injured after a Sui Northern Gas supply line located near a factory burst and caught fire in the Hattar Industrial Estate of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Haripur district, officials said. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined. Dr Munawwar Afridi from Haripur district headquarters hospital (DHQ), who is also associated with the rural health centre (RHC) in the Kot Najibullah union council, told Dawn that three of the bodies were brought to the DHQ and five others to the RHC. Haripur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Waseem Ahmed told Dawn it appeared that the deaths were mainly caused by suffocation. He separately told the media that the fire had engulfed three to four nearby houses located within a radius of 200 kilometres of the factory had been affected by the fire. Muhammad Amir, an official of the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), told Dawn that the affected pipeline had a diameter of 16 inch...
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Cuba ‘ready’ for possible US attack: president

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Thursday his country was “ready” for a possible US attack on the communist island following months of mounting pressure from President Donald Trump. “We don’t want that (confrontation) but it is our duty to be ready to avoid it, and if it were unavoidable, to win it,” Diaz-Canel told thousands of people attending a rally in Havana to mark the 65th anniversary of the failed US invasion of the island at the Bay of Pigs. Cuba has been bracing for a possible attack following repeated warnings from Trump that Cuba is “ next ” after he toppled Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro and went to war against Iran. Washington and Havana have held talks on de-escalating tensions, but the discussions between the arch-foes have failed to make significant headway, according to US media reports. Mariela Castro, daughter of late president Raul Castro, said Cubans “want dialogue” with Washington but “without putting our political system up for debate”. She s...
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Amid Lebanon truce talks, Israel kills 3 paramedics

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Wael Sabbagh, whose mother Afaf Sidaoui and brother Hassan were killed in an Israeli strike on an apartment building, stands outside the site of the attack in Beirut.—Reuters BEIRUT: Amid efforts of a ceasefire in Lebanon, Israel continued its attacks and targeted paramedic teams on Wednesday in southern part of the country, killing at least three of them. “The Israeli enemy targeted paramedic teams in the town of Mayfadoun, Nabatiyeh district, three consecutive times,” the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement. “This resulted in the martyrdom of three paramedics and the injury of six others, while one paramedic remains missing,” it said. The Israeli military renewed an order for people to leave a swathe of southern Lebanon as it intensified the attacks on Wednesday, a day after talks with a Lebanese government envoy in Washington, which Hezbollah condemned and termed the Lebanese government move “a national sin” that would widen divisions in a deeply polarised Lebanon. ...
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President Zardari directs all possible efforts be made to minimise loadshedding across country

President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday directed that all possible efforts be made to minimise loadshedding across the country, according to a statement issued by the President’s Secretariat. He issued the directive while chairing a meeting on water resource management at Aiwan-i-Sadr, the statement said, adding that the president also addressed the issue of energy shortfalls linked to the regional situation. President Zardari “stressed that any load management should be carried out strictly in a transparent and declared manner, in line with prior public announcements, so that citizens are fully informed and disruption is reduced”, the statement added. The president’s directive came a day after the government announced more than two hours of daily loadshedding during peak hours in a bid to prevent a sharp increase in electricity tariffs. The move is linked to the suspension of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports following the force majeure declared by Qatar due to attacks on ...
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