‘He failed to prove himself as leader’, Afridi on Babar’s role as skipper after World Cup 2023 debacle

Ex-cricketer Shahid Afridi on Monday expressed disappointment with the Pakistan team’s poor World Cup run and said that skipper Babar Azam failed to prove himself as leader and captain ever since accepting the coveted role. The Green Shirts were eliminated from the World Cup 2023 following a rather dismal performance in all three departments leading to five losses in nine matches of the tournament. Speaking at an event in Karachi, Afridi said: “”As much of a star Babar is as an individual player, it was my wish that he also…

Moonis declared PO in money laundering case

LAHORE: An accountability court on Monday declared Moonis Elahi, former federal minister, a proclaimed offender in a money laundering case. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) finished the process to declare him a proclaimed offender and submitted a report to the court. The court issued permanent arrest warrants for Elahi. The judge mentioned that an advertisement was published for him to appear in court, but he did not show up. In a hearing presided over by Judge Naseem Ahmad Virk, NAB Prosecutor Waris Ali Janjua was asked by the court to…

Terror attack on private company vehicles martyrs soldier, two civilians in DI Khan

RAWALPINDI: A terrorist attack on a private company’s vehicles martyred a soldier and two civilians in the general area of Darazinda, Dera Ismail Khan, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement on Tuesday.  The militants fired upon vehicles of a private company working on a development project in the area, according to the military’s media wing.  “Resultantly, two innocent civilian employees of the company, Muhammad Faisal, 35 and Asif Kamran, 29 who were residents of district Karak embraced shahadat,” said the statement. ISPR also said that Sepoy Syed Muhammad Shaheen Shah,…

Customs seizes smuggled auto parts in Karachi SITE

KARACHI: During a major operation at the Karachi site, Directorate of Customs Intelligence personnel seized foreign spare parts worth Rs300 million which were smuggled and stored in the warehouse at various times. According to Director Customs Intelligence Habib Ahmad Waraich, his team conducted a raid in a warehouse in the SITE area on Saturday evening, which continued till 9 pm. Meanwhile, foreign auto parts worth more than Rs300 million were recovered from the warehouse, which were smuggled into Pakistan and were to be supplied to the market. According to Habib…

‘Not sure Bushra Bibi will stand by Imran’

ISLAMABAD: Syed Inamullah Shah, the former in-charge of ex-prime minister Imran Khan’s Bani Gala residence, said Saturday he was not sure whether the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief’s wife Bushra Bibi would stand by his side in the days to come as they face uphill tasks on the legal front. Since Imran’s ouster as the prime minister in April 2022, both — the PTI chief and his wife — have faced multiple cases that eventually led to the cricketer-turned-politician’s incarceration and disqualification. Sources had also told The News that Bushra Bibi may find…

Thousands in London, Paris, Brussels call for Gaza ceasefire

LONDON/PARIS/BRUSSELS: Huge pro-Palestinian supporters crowds marched through Paris, Brussels and the British capital on Saturday, making their latest mass call for a ceasefire. The “National March for Palestine”, organised by the Stop the War Coalition, set off after a two-minutes’ silence to remember Britain’s war dead on Armistice Day was observed at The Cenotaph war memorial in central London at 1100 GMT. Huge crowds of protesters waved black, red, white and green Palestinian flags and held aloft placards proclaiming “Stop Bombing Gaza”, just over a month since a Hamas attack…

Punjab lockdown to be lifted tomorrow after rain washes away smog

The Punjab government is set to lift the lockdown imposed in light of the smog situation in the province tomorrow (Saturday) after a heavy spell of rain in different areas washed away the impurities present in the air, caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced on Friday. The authorities had imposed a smart lockdown in the city as thick smog had engulfed several districts, deteriorating the air quality to a dangerous level. However, the downpour washed away the smog, subsequently improving the air quality. “After assessing improved air quality post recent…

ECP regrets officials’ attempts to undermine polls fairness

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) remains steadfast in its commitment to ensuring transparent and fair upcoming elections, expressing regret over efforts by high-ranking officials to cast doubts on the process. In a statement, an ECP representative without naming anyone noted that a senior official is attempting to question the transparency of the election, considering such conduct unsuitable.

Xi, Biden to meet next week to ‘stabilize’ ties, says US

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet on November 15 in the San Francisco area to try to “stabilize” relations after recent tensions between the two superpowers, US officials said. The meeting, which had not previously been confirmed, is not expected to produce major outcomes but is aimed at avoiding conflict between China and the United States, said senior administration officials. Biden and Xi will also discuss pressing global crises such as the Israel-Hamas war and Russia´s invasion of Ukraine, as well as tensions over…

WhatsApp rolls out ability to format, customise messages text

After announcing the enhanced search option for the web client, Meta-owned messenger WhatsApp is now releasing the new text formatting tool to improve the messaging capabilities for its desktop users, WABetaInfo reported. The new set of tools will enable the users to format the text and customise the appearance and layout of their messages. As per the WhatsApp news tracker, the update will be available to some beta testers prior to being rolled out to more users. “Following successful testing with a select group of beta testers over the past…