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WASHINGTON: In what appeared to be a major disclosure about the investigation, US President Donald Trump said on Friday the Blackhawk helicopter that collided with a regional passenger jet in Washington, D.C. was flying too high at the time of the accident. The US Army did not immediately respond to a request for comment. US military helicopters regularly fly a route over the Potomac river near the busy Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, known as Route 4. For safety reasons, the altitude on those helicopter flights is capped at 200 feet (61 metres). “The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. It was far above the 200-foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???” Trump said in a Truth Social post. The crash remains under investigation by federal transportation authorities. Department of Defence to examine military chopper’s flight recorder; report expected in 30 days US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier said there appeared to ...

The government on Friday slightly raised the price of petrol by Re1 per litre and that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs7 for the next fortnight. A press release from the Finance Division said the new prices were decided after Ogra reviewed and adjusted consumer prices for petroleum products given “recent fluctuations in the international oil market”. The new petrol price is Rs257.13 and that of HSD is Rs267.95. Any changes in the prices of light diesel oil and kerosene oil were not mentioned. Informed sources had earlier said the ex-depot petrol price was estimated to go up by Rs2-3 per litre depending on the final calculation today. Kerosene and diesel prices were estimated to rise by about Rs6 per litre. The estimates were based on the bullish trend in the international market. The Brent prices have risen by up to $2 per barrel last fortnight. These sources said the average prices of HSD increased by more than $2.50 per barrel in the international market while that of petrol i...

RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawal­pindi bench has set aside a previous order in a case involving Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) and the federation of Pakistan, directing that the matter be reconsidered by a single judge of the high court. A division bench, comprising Justice Sultan Tanvir Ahmad and Justice Jawad Hassan, ruled on an intra-court appeal (ICA) filed by ARL against a Nov 10, 2020, order issued by a single judge in chamber. The court found that the previous ruling wrongly delegated the case to the Collector of Customs, who lacked jurisdiction to determine the constitutionality of a law. The case originated from ARL’s writ petition, which challenged the vires of Section 31(A) of the Customs Act, 1969, and Sections 6(1) and 6(1A) of the Sales Tax Act, 1990. Orders rehearing, rules Customs collector lacked jurisdiction Instead of addressing the constitutional challenge, the single judge referred the case to the Collector of Customs, a decision the LHC bench ...

Incarcerated PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan has penned a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, extolling the top judge to bring about an end to the “terror and brutality by the state and the suppression of democracy”, it emerged on Thursday. Titled “Meltdown of the constitutional order in Pakistan”, the letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com , was dated January 24 and signed from Adiala Jail where he is incarcerated. Following the arrest of the ex-premier on May 9, 2023, from the Islamabad High Court’s premises, riots erupted across the country and went on for at least 24 hours. The state subsequently launched a crackdown against him and his party, filing several other cases against Imran since the events of May 9, in many of which he has been acquitted. The period since has been one of political instability with the government and opposition at loggerheads with each other. “You are hereby called upon to exercise all powers vested in t...

• Beach plays down Richard Grenell’s pro-PTI remarks, says he may have been ‘misled’ • Govt offers support as US investors eye Pakistan for investments in several areas ISLAMABAD: A close aide to US President Donald Trump, who is currently leading a delegation of investors to Pakistan to explore business opportunities, said on Wednesday the US administration has nothing but respect for the incumbent leadership of Pakistan, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Gentry Beach, who also met PM Shehbaz, made these remarks at a press conference as journalists asked him questions about Richard Grenell — Trump’s special missions envoy in the new administration — who had tweeted in support of incarcerated PTI chief Imran Khan, stirring controversy. The US investor said Mr Grenell “may have been misled” about Pakistan. “He personally told me there are a number of deepfakes, AI presentations on the internet … it’s not true or real,” he said in response to a question. According to Mr Beach, ...

A man who recently brought his family back to Quetta from the United States on Wednesday confessed to shooting his teenage daughter dead, motivated by his disapproval of her TikTok content, according to the police. The shooting happened on a street in Quetta on Monday night. The suspect initially said that unidentified gunmen shot and killed his American-born 15-year-old daughter before he confessed to the crime, Gawalmandi Station House Officer (SHO) Babar Baloch said. “Our investigation so far has found that the family had an objection to her dressing, lifestyle and social gathering,” Serious Crimes Investigation Wing (SCIW) Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Zohaib Mohsin said. “We have her phone. It is locked,” he told Reuters . “We are probing all aspects, including ‘honour’ killing.” The family recently returned to Balochistan after having lived in the US for about 25 years, SHO Baloch said. He said that the suspect has US citizenship, adding that the suspect told him the ...

• Dialogue committee to continue working till Jan 31 as speaker says ‘doors still open’ for talks • PTI woos JUI-F again to put up a joint front; Asad Qaiser and Kamran Murtaza tasked with making sure there are no misunderstandings this time around ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to give one more chance to the PTI to rejoin the dialogue after the opposition party did not turn up for the fourth round of talks on Tuesday, in which the government had promised to share its response to its charter of demands . Senator Irfan Siddiqui, the spokesperson for the government negotiation team, said they would wait for the PTI until the end of the month. “Following the meeting of the committee, which was skipped by the PTI, we (the government) sat together and decided… we will wait till Jan 31, the deadline given by the PTI for the fulfilment of their demands.” He said the talks were “ practically ” at an end after the opposition party skipped the fourth round, adding that they would ap...

Islamabad High Court (IHC) senior puisne judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani on Tuesday said that the 26th Constitutional Amendment — which brought numerous changes pertaining to the judiciary — was based on “one letter”. Addressing the IHC Bar Association today, the judge lauded the efforts of Islamabad’s bar and lawyer bodies for preserving their rights and those of the nation. “Only with the law’s correct interpretation and implementation can you see Pakistan on the destination of progress. For that, legal changes, even if it is the 26th Constitutional Amendment, cannot dissuade you from your purposes. “Such stages have kept coming in Pakistan’s history but ponder this, that one letter has changed the entire system in Pakistan. I don’t need to mention it but you’re all witness that the 26th Constitutional Amendment is based on one letter. “To what extent this is sustained? I hope that at the end the full bench of the Supreme Court hears and this issue will be resolved for the pe...

Google Maps will change the name of “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America” once it is officially updated in the United States Geographic Names System (GNIS), Google said in an X post on Monday. “We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources,” a spokesman for the search and tech giant said on Monday. Google said the changes align with its policy of following official US government geographic designations through the GNIS and will come into effect once the GNIS is updated. The change will be visible in the US but the name will remain “Gulf of Mexico” in Mexico. Outside of the two countries, users will see both names on Google Maps. The Trump administration’s Interior Department said on Friday it had officially changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and the Alaskan peak Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, to Mount McKinley. “As directed by the president, the Gulf of Mexico will now...

• PPP senators demand moot to discuss proposed canals • Opposition, journalists walk out over Peca ISLAMABAD: Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar has refused to commit to a date for convening the Council of Common Interests (CCI), to discuss the water-sharing dispute among provinces. The issue of proposed canals on the Indus River cropped up once again in the Senate on Monday, when PPP members raised the issue and sought a meeting of the CCI, which has all four provincial chief ministers as its members. Meanwhile, the opposition PTI walked out of the house after staging a noisy protest over the amendments in the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016. Journalists also walked out of the media gallery in protest against the proposed legislation, most likely to be passed by the Upper House today (Tuesday), following approval from a Senate standing committee a day before. Law Minister Tarar chided the opposition for disrupting the proceedings and said the protest was ...

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Monday rejected an acquittal plea by PTI founder Imran Khan in a case concerning the attack on the army’s General Head­quarters during violent protests on May 9, 2023. The May 9 protests turned violent as supporters torched and vandalised state buildings and military installations, prompted by the arrest of the PTI founder in a corruption case. Following the event, the government launched a crackdown on PTI leaders and supporters, following which several arrests were made. However, many of the leaders were granted bail. Imran was indicted in the case on December 5 last year. The PTI founder, who has been incarcerated in Adiala Jail since August 2023, was arrested by the Rawalpindi police in the May 9 protest case in January 2024. He, however, filed an application seeking acquittal. ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah presided over a hearing for the case today. The prosecution argued that the trial was still ongoing and the testimony of 12 wit...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump spoke in a phone call on Monday, Modi said in a post on X, the first conversation between the two leaders since Trump’s inauguration last week. “We are committed to a mutually beneficial and trusted partnership,” Modi said in the post, adding that he also congratulated his “dear friend” on his historic second term in office. “We will work together for the welfare of our people and towards global peace, prosperity, and security,” Modi said. The United States is India’s largest trading partner and two-way trade between the two countries surpassed $118 billion in 2023/24, with India posting a trade surplus of $32bn. Indian and US diplomats are trying to arrange a meeting of the two leaders as early as February, Reuters reported last week. India, a strategic partner of the United States in its efforts to counter China, is keen to enhance trade relations with the US and make it easier for its citizens to get skill...

IN his efforts to restore America’s supposed greatness, Donald Trump has launched a crackdown on migrants — mostly undocumented but also some with papers. Soon after re-entering the White House a week ago, the US president signed a raft of executive orders designed to deliver on his campaign promises. These orders have included the rounding up of migrants signalling the start of what the White House press secretary has termed “the largest massive deportation operation in history”. Moreover, a ‘Muslim ban-plus’ has been announced; it goes even further than the 2017 order, which prevented citizens from certain Muslim-majority countries from travelling to the US. Foreign students in America who dare to speak up for Palestine also risk being put on a plane back home. Also, the US president has frozen the asylum and refugee programmes; at least 25,000 Afghans waiting to move to the US in Pakistan now find themselves in limbo . For Mr Trump and his MAGA support base, these moves ar...

Donald Trump’s border czar on Sunday defended raiding churches and schools as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration while acknowledging that deporting all undocumented people in the United States was not “realistic.” Trump began his second term on Monday with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling US immigration. His administration quickly moved to ramp up deportations, including by relaxing rules governing enforcement actions at “sensitive” locations such as schools, churches and workplaces. Asked about the rule change, Tom Homan, a former head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tapped to oversee Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda, said on Sunday that it sends a clear message. “There’s consequences of entering the country illegally. If we don’t show there’s consequences, you’re never going to fix the border problem,” he told ABC News’ ‘This Week’ programme. Such actions would nonetheless be made on a “case by case” basis, he said, noting that “man...

• Appeal calls for overturning his conviction • Accuses NAB of withholding critical evidence, failing to present witnesses from NCA ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan has raised multiple objections to the verdict that convicted him in the £190 million corruption case , citing significant procedural flaws, mishandling of evidence and allegations of political victimisation by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The appeal calls for his conviction and 14-year sentence to be overturned, emphasising the lack of credible evidence and procedural lapses. Mr Khan’s legal team, headed by Barrister Salman Safdar, highlighted critical points in the appeal, including the findings of the UK Court of Appeal’s judgement dated Nov 26, 2021. The judgement, delivered by Lady Justice Nicola Davies, Lord Justice Nugee and Lord Justice Snowden, clarified that the funds at the centre of the controversy were neither proceeds of crime nor linked to any illegal activity. The National Crime ...

WASHINGTON: Pete Hegseth narrowly secured enough votes on Friday to become the next US defence secretary, a major victory for President Donald Trump after fierce opposition from Democrats and even some Republicans to his controversial nominee. Hegseth was confirmed after a 50-50 vote in the Senate, when Vice President JD Vance came to the chamber to break the tie in his role as president of the Senate, after three Republicans joined every Democrat and independent in voting no. Hegseth, a former Fox News personality and decorated veteran, is promising to bring major changes to the Pentagon. But his leadership will be under intense scrutiny after a bruising confirmation review that raised se­­rious questions about his qualifications, temperament and views about women in combat. Hegseth is the most divisive candidate to clinch the US military’s top job, a position that has historically gone to candidates with deep experience running large organisations and who enjoy broad bipartisan s...

US tech billionaire Elon Musk gave a video address to a campaign rally of Germany’s anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on Saturday, his latest show of support ahead of the country’s election next month. Musk told a gathering of thousands of AfD supporters in the eastern city of Halle that their party was “the best hope for the future of Germany”. Musk has raised concern from some mainstream leaders who have accused him of interfering in European politics with comments on his social platform X about politicians in countries including Germany and Britain . He also drew criticism this week for making a public hand gesture that was seen by some as resembling a straight-armed Nazi salute. “The German people are really an ancient nation which goes back thousands of years,” he said in Saturday’s address. “I even read Julius Caesar was very impressed (by) the German tribes,” he said, urging the supporters to “fight, fight, fight” for their country’s future. He said...

ONE step forward, two steps back. That had been the progress so far in long-awaited negotiations between the opposition PTI and the ruling coalition, but all talks have now been called off by the PTI’s incarcerated founder after a ‘raid’ on an allied lawmaker’s residence. Following the raid, former prime minister Imran Khan decided on Thursday that the government was being ‘non-cooperative’ and, therefore, there was little to be gained from continuing negotiations with it. One wonders if he was a tad impatient in making that call. After all, his party had previously announced that talks would be given a chance at least till the end of January , after which it would take decisions regarding its next steps forward. The government, too, had promised to respond to the PTI’s written demands by Jan 28 and had repeatedly asked the party not to abandon the committee set up for parleys between the two political camps. It was, no doubt, a poor play by the authorities to sanction a raid ...

ISLAMABAD: Member of the National Assembly Junaid Akbar Khan, belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), was unanimously elected as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) during a meeting on Friday. JUNAID Akbar Khan The position had been vacant since the February 2024 general elections, which brought the PML-N government to power. The election process was completed over a month after NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had asked both sides of the aisle in the lower house of parliament to nominate candidates for the PAC chairmanship within a week. The PAC chairmanship is usually held by leader of the opposition or their nominee, though there is no legal requirement for this parliamentary tradition. The Friday election followed nominations by senior political figures, including PML-N’s chief whip Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan, and Leader of the Opposition in Senate Shibli Faraz. These nominations were supported by othe...

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would like to get rid of the main federal agency that responds to natural disasters during a visit to areas of North Carolina that were devastated by Hurricane Helene in September. Trump, on his first trip since reclaiming the presidency on Monday, accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) of bungling emergency relief efforts in North Carolina. He vowed to sign an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally overhauling or eliminating the agency. “Fema has turned out to be a disaster,” he said during a tour of a neighbourhood destroyed by Helene where trees were downed and homes had boarded-up windows. “I think we recommend that Fema go away.” Fema brings in emergency personnel, supplies and equipment to help areas begin to recover from natural disasters, and funding for the agency has soared in recent years as extreme weather events increase the demand for its services. The agency, which has 10 regional offices and...

QUETTA: Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti has said Balochis­tan is Pakistan’s gateway to regional and global trade, highlighting that the province offers immense investment opportunities and has the potential to become a leading economic hub for the global community. “Balochistan is emerging as an attractive destination for investors worldwide, and we are committed to steering it further on the path of development,” he said while addressing an international event organised by the Pathfinder Group in Switzerland. The chief minister was the guest of honour at the event on Wednesday, which was atten­ded by business leaders and development experts from across the globe. According to CM House officials, Mr Bugti in his address highlighted that Pakistan, with its population of 240 million, boasts a significant proportion of youth, serving as a crucial asset for the country’s development. “Balochistan, the largest province of Pakistan, covering 44pc of the country’s landmass, is rich in natura...

A federal judge in Seattle on Thursday blocked US President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing an executive order curtailing the right to automatic birthright citizenship in the United States, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional”. US District Judge John Coughenour at the urging of four Democratic-led states issued a temporary restraining order preventing the administration from enforcing the order, which the Republican president signed on Monday during his first day in office. “This is [a] blatantly unconstitutional order,” the judge told a lawyer with the US Justice Department defending Trump’s order. The order has already become the subject of five lawsuits by civil rights groups and Democratic attorneys general from 22 states, who call it a flagrant violation of the US Constitution. “Under this order, babies being born today don’t count as US citizens,” Washington Assistant Attorney General Lane Polozola told Senior US District Judge John Coughenour at the star...

MUZAFFARABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday strongly condem­ned the Indian army for its continued cruelty and oppression in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, reaffirming Pakis­tan’s unwavering political, moral, and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris until their right to self-determination as enshrined in relevant UN resolutions is realised. Addressing the foundation-laying ceremony of the first Daanish School Science and Technology Centre of Exce­ll­ence in Bhimber, the souther­nmost district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), PM She­hbaz praised Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir for his unparalleled steadfast commitment to the Kashmir cause. He expressed confidence that the sacrifices of the Kashmiri people would not be in vain and that freedom would ultimately dawn in the occupied territory. Highlighting the challenges faced by the people in occupied Kashmir, the prime minister focused on the importance of education as a tool of empowerment. Lays foundation st...

• Jaishankar dismisses possibility of trade with Pakistan • Diplomats trying to arrange Modi-Trump meeting WASHINGTON: Following the inauguration of Donald Trump, India has flexed its muscle in the US, with its foreign minister being among the first to meet the newly-minted secretary of state, and efforts already underway to arrange a meeting between the new US president and Narendra Modi. Indian Foreign Minister Dr S. Jaishankar, whose meeting with Marco Rubio marked the latter’s first bilateral engagement after taking office, also held a press conference, where he dismissed the possibility of resuming trade with Pakistan any time soon. Rubio’s tenure began with a clear focus on countering China’s expanding influence, underscoring the US reliance on India as a strategic counterbalance in the Asia-Pacific region. On his first day in office, Rubio’s multilateral meetings prioritised the Quad nations — India, Japan, and Australia. US media outlets interpreted these moves as a sig...