PM Abbasi disowns Capt. Safdar’s statements against Ahmedis in NA
Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi distanced himself, the ruling party Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and party president Nawaz Sharif from statements made against Ahmedis by Nawaz’s son-in-law retired Capt. Muhammad Safdar in a speech at the National Assembly two days ago.
In his tirade against Ahmedis in Pakistan, Capt Safdar had lashed out against the community calling them a threat to the “country, its constitution, and ideology”.
Speaking with DawnNews Abbasi agreed that being Nawaz’s son-in-law Capt. Safdar “should not have said what he said. No one in the party would agree with him”. “We should stay away from such statements which create unrest in the society,” he added. Pakistani troops rescue North American family held hostage by Taliban
Upon receiving a tip-off from the United States during an operation near the Afghan border Pakistani troops rescued Canadian Joshua Boyle, his US wife Caitlan Coleman and their three children who had been held hostage since the couple was kidnapped by Taliban while backpacking through Afghanistan in 2012.
“Ms. Coleman gave birth to the couple’s three children while they were in captivity,” US president Donald Trump said in a White House statement. “Today, they are free.” The incident is a “positive moment” for US-Pakistan ties, he added.
Trump says Pakistan is beginning to respect the US again
At a White House event, United States President Donald Trump praised Pakistan’s government saying that their cooperation helped secure the release of a US-Canadian couple and their children from the Taliban-linked, terrorist Haqqani network- showing a renewed respect for the US by Islamabad. “The Pakistani government’s cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America’s wish that it do more to provide security in the region. They worked very hard on this and I believe they are starting to respect the United States again,” remarked Trump.
A person’s religion does not determine their recruitment in the Pakistan Army: ISPR
Responding to a question posed in a television interview, Major General Asif Ghafoor, the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated that the religious, ethnic or sectarian views of a person do not determine their recruitment in the army. His statement comes following retired Capt. Muhammad Safdar’s call for a resolution to ban recruitment of Ahmedis in the army during his speech at the National Assembly two days ago. “Let me tell you that the Pakistan Army is a national army… It’s not true that army can be joined only by Muslims because we are a Muslim country… We proudly say that the army is an institution, which is the best example of national integration.”, said Major Ghafoor.
Election Commission issues non-bailable arrest warrant for Imran Khan
A non-bailable arrest warrant has been issued for Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in an ongoing contempt of court case for “repeatedly failing to appear for the hearing and for failing to send a written apology to the ECP for his absence in court”. On September 14th last month the ECP had issued bailable arrest warrants for Imran Khan on similar charges.
“A new warrant is issued in the same case where a [bailable] warrant was already suspended. We will also look into whether this is contempt of the Islamabad High Court’s full bench or not, and then [the party] we will challenge it,” said PTI member and lawyer Babar Awan.
High level US delegation holds talks in Pakistan to improve bilateral relations
A United States delegation including US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells and deputy assistant to the president and National Security Council senior director for South Asia Lisa Curtis held talks this Thursday with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa during which both sides agreed to continue bilateral engagement at all levels and reinvigorate relationship to achieve the common objective of defeating terrorism.
20% of Pakistan’s population is undernourished: Global Hunger Index Report
Although it is a small improvement from last year’s 22%, the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report this year revealed that Pakistan’s 20% population is still ‘undernourished’- placing the country at the bottom having a ranking of 106 among 119 countries. The GHI rankings- based on undernourishment, child mortality, child wasting (low weight for height) and child stunting (low height for age) have raised an alarming concern for policymakers as the government instead of improving the situation, has delayed releasing the data on some key social indicators like employment status.
Increasing pay of female players will stop them from leaving Cricket: ICC
Clare Connor, former England captain who now heads the International Cricket Council’s women’s committee has urged cricket bodies around the world to follow Australia’s example of increasing the pay of their female players in an attempt to stop them from dropping out of the sport.
“We are all going to think very seriously of how well our players are remunerated.Because if we don’t look after them they will go and choose other sports or other professions and that will be a tragedy” said Connor to AFP.