Worldtouching

In his State of the Union address early Wednesday morning, US President Donald Trump said they will not avert their “eyes from a regime that chants ‘death to America’ and threatens genocide against the Jewish people.” He was referring to Iran. He claimed that his decision to pull the US out of the nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions on the country has put immense pressure on the regime and stifled its regional ambitions, as well as slowed its ability to obtain a nuclear weapon. “My administration has acted decisively to confront the world’s leading state sponsor of terror: the radical regime in Iran,” he said. “To ensure this corrupt dictatorship never acquires nuclear weapons, I withdrew the United States from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. And last fall, we put in place the toughest sanctions ever imposed on a country.” Tensions between the two countries have escalated following mutual strikes. Trump recently insisted he wants to keep troops in neighbouring Ira...

Moscow: The Taliban entered a second day of unprecedented talks Wednesday with powerful Afghan politicians in Moscow, sidestepping the Kabul government as it pursues a leading stake in the war-torn country. The rare public appearance that kicked off a day before saw Taliban officials spell out their vision for Afghanistan in front of rolling cameras and a host of political heavyweights, including former president Hamid Karzai. The insurgents went around President Ashraf Ghani and sat down with his chief rivals for an extraordinary meeting that saw Karzai and other sworn enemies of the Taliban praying with the militants. No government official was invited, despite Ghani´s offers to talk peace, underscoring the Taliban´s hostility toward the increasingly marginalised Kabul administration. The Moscow meet comes a week after the Taliban held separate talks toward ending 17 years of fighting with American negotiators in Doha, where Ghani was again not invited to the table. Pres...

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday night ordered an investigation into an attack on a Hindu temple in Khairpur's Kumb area, where earlier this week assailants set fire to statues and holy books before fleeing. Khan said the Sindh government "must take swift and decisive action against the perpetrators" of the attack. "This is against the teachings of the Quran." Local police today are continuing their efforts to trace and arrest those involved in the attack. No one has claimed responsibility for Monday's attack, which was condemned by Hindus as well as local Muslims. MNA Ramesh Kumar, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister, went to Kumb on Tuesday along with the Sukkur commissioner, Khairpur deputy commissioner and Sukkur deputy inspector general in order to visit the temple and examine the damage caused to it. He also spoke to members of the local Hindu community and collected details of the incident. Sindh Governor Imran Ismail also took no...

Inter-State Gas Systems (ISGS) and Gazprom on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to conduct a joint feasibility study regarding gas supplies from the Middle East to South Asian countries, according to a press release issued by the Russian energy giant. The MoU was inked by ISGS Managing Director Mubeen Saulat and Gazprom board member Vitaly Markelov during a meeting between a Russian delegation and Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan. The agreement penned today was a follow-up to the one signed by the two countries in September 2018 for a planned offshore gas pipeline. “The two countries have concluded various proposals in the energy sector, including construction of North-South Gas Pipeline, import of LNG from Russia, installation of air mix plant and establishing a 600MW combined cycle power plant,” Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal had said regarding the MoU when it was finalised in June 2018. The project, which has been under disc...

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and senior provincial minister Aleem Khan has resigned following his arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Aleem Khan has confirmed the news saying that he has forwarded his resignation to Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar, Geo News reported. Aleem Khan said, “NAB has taken me into custody, therefore, I am resigning on moral grounds.” Elected from PP-158 (Lahore-XV) in July 25 polls last year, Aleem Khan was Punjab’s Senior Minister for Local Government & Community Development, Planning & Development. Aleem was tasked by Prime Minister Imran Khan to lead the party’s efforts in achieving 100-Days agenda. He was taken into custody after he appeared before the NAB Lahore Office on Wednesday. He will be presented for remand in the accountability court tomorrow, the NAB said in a statement.

 A medical board constituted to examine Nawaz Sharif will review his medical test results at Lahore's Services Hospital on Monday, where the former prime minister is under treatment after he was shifted here from prison over the weekend. On Saturday, the deposed prime minister was shifted from Kot Lakhpat prison to the hospital where he was examined by a three-member medical board. According to hospital sources, Nawaz has been diagnosed with a kidney stone, but his blood test, ECG, uric acid and other reports were all clear. The medical board will review the reports and decide on the treatment course, the sources added. An official of the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC) who had seen Nawaz's medical reports told Geo.tv, on the condition of anonymity, that the committee had recommended shifting the former prime minister to a hospital where he could be examined by a kidney specialist and a diabetologist. Nawaz's daughter Maryam along with other family memb...

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan launched on Monday the first phase of Sehat Card Scheme in an inauguration ceremony at the federal capital. During the launch he stated that whenever there is an illness in a household, the budget gets immensely disturbed and through the service poor households will get a protection. Moreover, the premier revealed that the health card service had initially been launched in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. PM Khan also revealed that the card will get distributed to families in the tribal areas as well.  "We will soon introduce a unified poverty alleviation programme which will be the first of its kind and include a number of organisation under its umbrella," he stated. The Health Ministry and State Life on January 30, signed a contract for facilitating health cards to over 15 million families for execution of Sehat Sahulat Program (SSP) all over the country with services worth over Rs720,000.

In view of referring to the International Monetary Fund and getting the loan in June 2019, the value of US dollar will be exceeded by 150 rupees, while the increase in external debt volume will increase in Pakistan also. It is possible that economist Ashfaq Toda has said Pakistan Wing During the address of Mills Association's Tax Seminar. Ashfaq Toda said that going to the IMF program will exceed 45,000 billion rupees of external debt on Pakistan till June 2021. He said that every level of survival of the SME sector of India is an important requirement for the survival. The research sector in Pakistan has been extremely weak, that is why people who research themselves prefer only their interests. SMEs in Pakistan have made negative impact on the economy. Pakistan is the fourth largest country in the production of cotton, while Yarn is the third largest country in production.

Tehran: Iran has launched an advanced technology-equipped cruise missile after 40 years of revolution. According to the International News Agency, a 10-day celebration is being celebrated for 40 years of revolution in Iran. The cruise missile launcher targeted a target of 1300 km on the occasion, which can fly at a low height. On the other hand, armed fighters attacked the military base in Sistan and Baluchistan, south of southern southern Iran, resulting in a 1 member of the Guantanamo Revolution and killed 5. Iran's official media has declared this attack in 'Nic City' as a terrorist action, but at the official level, currently a specific group is not considered responsible for the attack. Josh al-Adal, an active militant group in Iran, has accepted responsibility for the attack on the military camp. The attack was done when a ten-day celebration is being celebrated for 40 years of revolution in Iran.

Baker Mayfield was the first overall choice. Saquon Barkley went second. Both proved worth it with rookie-of-the-year type seasons. But only one could win offensive rookie of the year, and that went to the Giants running back. Barkley also won the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year award voted on by fans. He received that earlier in the week. Mayfield and Barkley had a small wager on the award, with the winner getting a chain from the runner-up. So Barkley will get his choice of jewelry. “I did win, so I do get a chain,” Barkley said in his press conference. Barkley received 26.5 votes to 21.5 for Mayfield. Colts offensive guard Quenton Nelson, the only offensive rookie to make first-team All-Pro, received the other two votes. Barkley led the league in yards from scrimmage with 2,028. Mayfield threw for 3,725 yards and 27 touchdowns.

Calling his remarks against Sheikh Rashid a mistake, Pakistan Poeple's Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has agreed that he should maintain the high standards of decency he has set for himself. Speaking to the media at the Karachi Press Club,  the PPP chairman had criticized the firebrand politician from Rawalpindi in a language that has been frowned upon even by his supporters. "This language doesn’t suits you BBhuttoZardari You are way above of this dirt. Whatever filth he carries and talks, it’s not your calibre to go down to their level.U r a Oxford graduate, Yr Grandparents,parents were Prime Minister & President of Pakistan. What is he?, nothing!," a user wrote on Twitter tagging Bilawal Bhutto Zardari  in an obvious reference to the Railways minister. The PPP chairman, however, didn't defend his remarks and conceded "You are right I should maintain the high standards of decency set for myself.Sometimes mistakes happen".

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday said election in India was an internal matter of the neighbouring country and Islamabad would try to hold talks with the new government if it wanted to work with Pakistan. Talking to the media, he said that Pakistan had neither interfered in its internal matters with any other country nor it intended to do so. “Although, issues are emerging in India but Pakistan has no role in that,” he added. He said that he had spoken with Kashmiri leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and India should not make it an issue. “We want to resolve the Kashmir dispute through dialogue but India is making undue hue and cry,” he said. Qureshi said the Kashmir dispute needed to be resolved, adding that Pakistan, India and the Kashmiri people were the three parties to the dispute. He told reporters that he would highlight Pakistan’s view point on Kashmir issue at an event in the House of Common in London this week. The foreign minister maintained that ...

Former chairman All pakistan Muslim League, Dr Muhammad Amjad, who was once considered close aide of ex-president General (retired) Pervez Musharraf, has announced to join pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Dr Amjad known as on Imran Khan at PM House and announced joining his party, according to the announcement. PTI’s secretary general Arshad dad and Special Assistant to PM Imran Khan Naeem-ul-Haq were also present on the occasion. PM Khan welcomed Dr Amjad in Tehreek-e-Insaf. Later, talking to media, Dr Amjad expressed full confident in PTI leadership......

Hamza Shahbaz will leave for London tomorrow PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz will leave for London on Sunday. HamzaShahbaz has informed Lahore High Court (LHC) in writing about his schedule of visit. His counsel, Azam Nazir Tarar, informed the court on Friday that Hamza Shahbaz will depart for London on February 3 and scheduled to return on February 12. It is pertinent to mention here that Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan of the Lahore High Court had granted one-time permission to leader of the opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz to flyabroad.

Hamza Shabaz bashed the government during a news conference. Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz criticized the government saying that it is showing apathy over the health of Nawaz Sharif. Speaking during a news conference, Hamza asserted that Prime Minister will bear the responsibility of something happened to Sharif. “PM promised to create a separate province. We have offered unconditional assistance for South Punjab province,” he said. “When we left the Punjab government, the development budget was more than Rs600 billion. The present government did not use it. I ask them to have fear of Allah,” bashed the PML-N leader. “The budget of South Punjab was increased from 16 to 36 percent. We had fixed it rs228 billion. Information Minister has termed Orange Line as a ‘white elephant’. 393km Multan-Sukkur motorway project was completed in our tenure. But the metro bus project in Peshawar has yet not completed,” he condemned. 

LAHORE: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been shifted to the hospital, Maryam Nawaz said on Saturday days after a medical board examined him at Kot Lakhpat Jail.  A special medical board, constituted to examine Nawaz Sharif’s health, had recommended that PMLN supreme leader should be shifted to a hospital. The board  sent the report to the provincial home ministry, urging the Punjab government to shift the ousted PM to a hospital. Nawaz Sharif is said to have   developed cardiac complications. According to Geo News, the provincial government  decided to shift Sharif  to the hospital as his health is said to be deteriorating further. The orders were issued to beef up the security arrangements at the hospital before the arrival of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo. The board, which was formed on January 25 by the Punjab government, comprises cardiac experts from Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC), Punjab...