MIAN CHANNU, PAKISTAN — Dozens of villagers gathered in front of the modest home of Pakistan athlete Arshad Nadeem to watch the hulking javelin thrower take part in the Olympic Games final late Thursday. The event was broadcast live by a digital projector onto a screen hanging on the back of a truck in his […]
ISLAMABAD — An accountability court has extended by 11 days the physical remand of jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the new Toshakhana corruption case, media reports said on Friday. The hearing, presided over by Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana, took place on Thursday in the makeshift […]
DHAKA — People in Bangladesh have welcomed the new interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, hoping it would restore order, end repression and hold a fair election to facilitate a democratic transition of power. Yunus, 84, on Thursday took oath as the head of an interim government, replacing Sheikh Hasina who abruptly resigned […]
KABUL — Afghan government employees must attend mosque five times a day or face punishment, Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said Thursday in his latest edict enforcing an austere interpretation of Islam. Since the 2021 Taliban takeover Akhundzada has overseen sweeping restrictions on society — shutting many women and girls out of education, ordering male […]
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s former premier Imran Khan on Wednesday said he will apologise for last year’s May 9 riots if any member of his party is found guilty of participating in the violence. Speaking to journalists in Adiala Jail, 71-year-old founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party demanded the CCTV footage of last year’s May 9 […]
DHAKA — Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus, who is set to lead an interim government after the premier was ousted, called for calm and urged people to use the opportunity to build a better nation. “I fervently appeal to everybody to stay calm. Please refrain from all kinds of violence,” the Nobel-winning microfinance pioneer said in a […]
DHAKA — Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders said that Khaleda Zia has been concerned about the nationwide violence, vandalism, and looting of state resources amid the anti-discrimination student protest, Dhaka Tribune reported. During a meeting with Maulana Mamunul Haque, secretary general of Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis, at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka, she said, “Our state’s resources […]
DHAKA — Nobel winner Muhammad Yunus said on Tuesday he was ready to head an interim government in Bangladesh after mass demonstrations forced longtime ruler Sheikh Hasina to flee the country. “I am honoured by the trust of the protesters who wish for me to lead the interim government,” he said in a written statement […]
DHAKA, BANGLADESH — Families of political prisoners secretly jailed in Bangladesh under the autocratic rule of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina waited desperately Tuesday for news of their relatives, as some of those missing were released. “We need answers,” Sanjida Islam Tulee, a coordinator of Mayer Daak, meaning “The Call of the Mothers”, a group campaigning […]
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has now been behind bars for a year – although there are times you would barely know it. Mr Khan is still the dominant force of Pakistan’s opposition politics; his name still in the papers and the courts. His social media supporters have been unrelenting. With no […]