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Israeli strikes kill seven more Palestinians across Gaza

• Israel’s Supreme Court freezes ban on foreign aid organisations in enclave • US public sympathy shifts to Palestinians over Israel, new Gallup poll reveals CAIRO: Relentless Israeli attacks killed at least seven Palestinians in Gaza on Friday, medics said, adding to a death toll of at least 600 people killed by Israeli fire since a US-brokered ceasefire agreement came into effect last October. Gaza’s health officials reported that in southern Gaza, five people were killed and several others were injured, some critically, in Israeli drone strikes. The strikes targeted two police checkpoints in Khan Yunis and in the Abu Hujair area northwest of the Bureij refugee camp later in the day, medics said. Separately, an Israeli airstrike against a group of Palestinians in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood in northern Gaza killed two people and wounded several others. Ban on NGOs frozen Meanwhile, Israel’s Supreme Court decided in a ruling published on Friday to freeze a government ban o...
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With presidential ordinance set to lapse, Senate passes bill for regulating virtual assets

ISLAMABAD: The upper House of Parliament on Friday passed a bill for regulating virtual assets as well as the ‘establishment’ of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) — a body already set up under an ordinance approved by the president in July last year. The development comes as the ordinance was set to lapse in early March. The rules were suspended in the Senate to take up the bill, which was moved by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, for immediate consideration. The preamble of the bill, a copy of which is available with Dawn , stated that it was expedient to establish a dedicated virtual assets regulatory authority to licence, regulate and supervise virtual assets and virtual asset service providers to “ensure investor protection, transparency and market integrity in Pakistan”. It further stated that it was necessary to provide a comprehensive legal framework to empower the said authority to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation finan...
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Seven children die, 22 hurt in Chaman gas cylinder blast

• Explosion occurs in Killi Mahmoodabad on outskirts of border town • Children gathered at a tribal elder’s house to receive yoghurt after breaking their fast • President Zardari extends condolences to victims’ families QUETTA: Seven children aged between 8 and 14 years were killed and 22 others, including women and children, were injured when a gas cylinder exploded in a house in Chaman, a town on the Pak-Afghan border, on Thursday. Officials said the tragic incident occurred in Killi Mahmoodabad, a locality on the outskirts of the district headquarters, Chaman. According to police officials, children from neighbouring houses had gathered at the house of one of a tribal elder to receive yoghurt to eat after breaking their fast. Meanwhile, a powerful explosion occurred in the kitchen, rocking the border town. The blast blew off the roof of the kitchen and damaged other rooms of the house. The children waiting for yoghurt were buried under the debris. Rescue teams, along with poli...
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‘Long live Pakistan’: Politicians united in response to unprovoked Afghan Taliban aggression

Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban, after the neighbouring country opened unprovoked fire on multiple locations across the border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday. In response, leaders across the political spectrum were united in their stance, lauding the country’s armed forces and asserting that any aggression from Kabul would be responded to firmly. President Asif Ali Zardari said Pakistan will not compromise on peace and territorial integrity. “Our armed forces’ response is comprehensive and decisive. Those who mistake our peace for weakness will face a strong response — and no one will be beyond reach,” he warned. In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the people and armed forces of Pakistan were always ready to protect the security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. “There will be no compromise on the defence of the beloved homeland and every aggression will be met...
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IS-Khorasan a ‘bigger threat’, ‘more entrenched’ than TTP

WITHIN hours of the bombing of an Islamabad Imambargah on Feb 6, Pakistani intelligence and law enforcement zeroed in on a home in Hakimabad, Nowshera, 49km east of Peshawar. “It was a race against time. Sifting through technical data, establishing coordinates and isolating the target,” a senior security official said. “It didn’t take long before we knew the location.” By late evening, they had already laid siege to the residence, taken up position and called out those inside to come out, hands raised, and surrender. For a moment, there was no movement. But then, someone showed a raised hand from behind the door, indicating their willingness to surrender. Except that he didn’t. Aiming a 9mm gun straight at the security cordon, the lone gunman fired straight shots, hitting an assistant sub inspector of the police right in the chest, killing him on the spot, and injuring two intelligence officers. The exchange of fire didn’t last long, though. Within minutes, the gunman, said to b...
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President summons joint Parliament session on March 2

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has summoned a joint session of Parliament on March 2, at the start of the new parliamentary year. A notification issued by the National Assembly Secretariat on Wednesday said that in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 54 read with clause (3) of Article 56 of the Constitution, the president has summoned both Houses of Parliament to assemble together at the Parliament House in Islamabad on March 2 (Monday) at 10:30am. Earlier, a post on the Presidency’s X account stated that he had approved the summary for convening the session. The post also said that the session would be convened at 3pm on March 2. Later, the National Assembly Secretariat issued its notification, in which the time was revised to 10:30am. The session is being convened in continuation of the practice of a joint sitting behind held at the start of every parliamentary year. According to Article 56 of the Constitution, the president addresses both Houses of...
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Cost of added scrutiny testing airports’ limits

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• Passengers travelling abroad have complained of long queues stretching out of terminals, repeated questioning, delays in immigration at three main international airports • Situation ‘has improved’ in recent weeks; officials insist there are ‘no unnecessary delays’, added scrutiny takes time • Airport authority, FIA deflect blame for overcrowding onto other agencies THE never-ending queue had already spilled beyond the glass doors when Jawad Ahmad Rizvi arrived at Lahore airport for his flight to Dubai. The line snaked past the entrance, with passengers clutching their passports and boarding passes, shifting their luggage inch by inch. “On my arrival, I found the queue extending beyond the entrance of the main terminal, making me wonder how many people were travelling by air these days. “As the queue was moving slowly, it took me about 20 minutes to put my luggage on the scanner belt, and an additional 15 minutes for the belt to clear,” he told Dawn. The checks did not end there...
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