BRUSSELS – A Belgian court sentenced Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam and a co-accused to 20 years in prison on Monday for trying to kill police during a shootout in Brussels in 2016. Judge Marie-France Keutgen told the courtroom that 28-year-old Abdeslam and Tunisian Sofien Ayari, 24, had been found guilty of “attempted terrorist murder”…

By Naeem Ashraf Butt LAHORE: Janoobi Punjab Sooba Mahaz general secretary Tahir Bashir Cheema has said that 40 lawmakers from the PML-N are ready to join his newly launched political front in the coming days. “We are in contact with 35 to 40 people and of those, 20 are MNAs and the rest are MPAs….

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has categorically rejects Indian allegations of “attempts to incite Indian pilgrims” on the issue of ‘Khalistan.’ The Khalistan is a Sikh nationalist movement that wants to create an independent state for Sikh people, via peaceful struggle, inside the current North-Western Republic of India such a state existed in Punjab. “By spreading such falsehoods,…

QUETTA: The protest against the killing of Hazara community members in Quetta entered its seventh day. The main protest at Alamdar Road is held at 5 pm on everyday basis. No government official or political leader contacted the protesters to listen to their demands, according to demonstrators. The killing of a Hazara man on March…

ISLAMABAD: PTI MNA Asad Umar has slammed the tax amnesty scheme announced by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to whiten undeclared local and foreign assets and money. According to the Foreign Assets Declaration and Repatriation Ordinance issued by the government, dollar account holders in Pakistan who have purchased dollars through undeclared money can also regularize…

WANA: Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa met the father of Naqeebullah Mehsud who was killed in a “staged” encounter by police in Karachi in January this year. The meeting took place at Makeen in South Waziristan, where the army chief announced two mega projects. The army chief offered Fateha said that…

ISLAMABAD: The one-time tax amnesty scheme will have positive effects on the country, said Miftah Ismail, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance.  “We have tried to make matters easy with the amnesty scheme,” he said. In response to a question, he said that people who have been named in the Panama Papers will be…

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has unveiled five-point radical reforms aimed at bringing more people under tax net and providing one-time amnesty to non-filers. “Unfortunately, only 700, 000 people pay income tax from across the country and of that many have no other option but to pay it. About 500,000 people pay zero tax,”…

Three run outs in the seventh over whilst chasing 114 against Pakistan completely derailed Sri Lanka in the decisive third Women’s Twenty20 International, played at Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club on Saturday 31 March. Asked to bat first, Pakistan struggled to get going, but Javeria Khan continued to be the standout batter on tour with a…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed is expecting a relatively weakened West Indies to give the hosts a tough time in the upcoming T20 series.   Many star players such as Chris Gayle, Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite pulled out of the tour over security reasons, prompting the West Indies Cricket Board to name a second-sting…

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has continued his criticism of Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, saying that the little-known politician from Balochistan was elected through bought votes. His remarks came a day after Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Qudduz Bizenjo threatened a long march on Islamabad against Abbasi’s criticism on Sanjrani. “We have to end this…

ISLAMABAD: Balochsitan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo has called for Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to retract his ‘inappropriate’ remarks about Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. His demands came four days after Mr Abbasi told a gathering in Lahore that Sadiq Sanjrani had brought insult to his office as votes were purchased for his election as…

ISLAMABAD: Ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has tried to salvage his anti-judiciary narrative by launching a fresh broadside against Chief Justice Saqib Nisar on Wednesday, according to media analysts. “Had Nawaz Sharif endorsed the meeting between Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief Justice, this would have damaged his public stance,” Mazhar Abbas, a senior…

ISLAMABAD: PTI MNA Shafqat Mahmood said that the meeting between Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief Justice Saqib Nisar was an attempt by the ruling PML-N to protect its vested interests.   “National Reconciliation Ordinance has become a symbol to achieve vested interests through non-judicial means and the meeting between PM Abbasi and the…

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan army chief spokesman Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor on Wednesday said that Chief of the Army Chief General Asif Bajwa’s off-the-record interaction with anchorpersons had nothing to do with the ‘Bajwa doctrine’. “The Bajwa doctrine should be seen with a security lens, adding that the judiciary and 18th amendment have no place in the doctrine,” said…

ISLAMABAD: Balochistan government spokesman Senator Anwar ul Haq Kakar announced that a new political party would be formed by the disgruntled PML-N and PML-Q lawmakers in two to three days. “God willing, we will launch the party in two to three days. We will initially set up an interim council and summon a meeting of general…

ISLAMABAD: Ousted MQM-P leader Dr Farooq Sattar said that his removal would be remembered as a black decision.   “It’s an illegal and unconstitutional decision,” said Farooq while responding to ECP’s decision to oust him as MQM-P’s head over recent intra-party elections which saw Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui elected as the party’s new convener. Dr Farooq…

PESHAWAR: Peshawar Zalmi captain Darren Sammy said that the cricket would be the winner in Karachi which had not hosted a major cricket game in nearly a decade.   “I have been told they have a lot of Pashtuns here. So I want them to come out dressing the yellow shirts. In the end, cricket…

Three people were killed in southwestern France on Friday when a gunman held up a car, opened fire on police and then took hostages in a supermarket. Police later stormed the supermarket in the small town of Trebes and Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said on Twitter that the attacker had been killed. A source at…

LAHORE: An impressive flag lowering ceremony has been held at Wagah border land crossing on Friday, which was witnessed by a sizeable number of people. People from all walks of life visited the Wagah border to attend the ceremony and express love with their motherland. The air echoed with the slogans of ‘Allahu Akbar’ ‘Ya…

WEB DESK: Senior lawyer and former acting President of Pakistan Wasim Sajjad opined that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family should be allowed to travel to UK to meet Kulsoom Nawaz, who has been battling cancer in a London hospital.   Her remarks came after an accountability court rejected a plea moved by…