pakistan news

Gaza City, Palestinian Territories: A fourth Palestinian died from Israeli fire in clashes sparked by mass demonstrations along the Israel-Gaza border on Saturday, the health ministry in the enclave said.Billal al-Najjar, 17, was shot by Israeli forces east of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, it said in a statement.Two others aged 17 and a 20-year-old man were killed, according to ministry statements, as tens of thousands gathered to mark the first anniversary of weekly protests along the frontier. from The News International - World https://ift.tt/2CMTR4n

Washington: Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg called Saturday for governments to play a "more active role" in regulating the internet, urging more countries to adopt versions of sweeping European rules aimed at safeguarding user privacy.Facebook and other internet giants have long resisted government intervention, but the leading social network has reversed course amid growing calls for regulation, in an apparent bid to help steer the debate."I believe we need a more active role for governments and regulators," Zuckerberg wrote in an op-ed published in The Washington Post."By updating the rules for the internet, we can preserve what´s best about it -- the freedom for people to express themselves and for entrepreneurs to build new things -- while also protecting society from broader harms," he said.Zuckerberg argues that new regulations are needed in four areas: harmful content, protection of elections, privacy and data portability.Facebook has drawn fire over...

MUMBAI: Former Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldier, who was dismissed from service in 2017, has announced to contest elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Tej Bahadur Yadav was dismissed from service in 2017 after he complained about the poor quality of food served to Indian security forces.Talking to media Haryana’s Rewari, Tej Bahadur said he raised the issue of corruption in Indian security forces but he was sacked. “My first objective will be to strengthen and eliminate corruption in the forces," he said according to Indian media.The dismissed soldier said he will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Varanasi constituency in Uttar Pradesh.He said he would contest elections as an independent candidate.Tej Bahadur, in 2017 had shared some video clips on social media about the quality of food being served to security forces posted in the frontier areas. He was dismissed from service by the Summary Security Force C...

GHOTKI: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said government has decided to change the name of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).The demand to change the name of BISP was made by Grand Democratic Alliance, ally of PTI government in a meeting with PM Imran Khan at the residence of Ali Gohar Mahar here.The demand was put forward by GDA leader Makhdoom Mohsin.Sources said during the meeting a GDA leader said the name of BISP should be changed, over this PM Imran Khan replied abruptly “BISP name is being amended.”It may be noted that the Benazir Income Support Programme was established in 2008 by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani who took the advice of former president Asif Ali Zardari. The program's name is a tribute to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007.Under this programme, poor women are granted Rs 5000 per month. from The News International - World https://ift.tt/2UjkQyC

Kabul: Taliban fighters on Saturday attacked a convoy carrying Afghanistan's vice president Abdul Rashid Dostum, in an assault that left the former warlord unscathed but killed one of his bodyguards, an official told AFP.Enayatullah Babur, Dostum´s former chief of staff, said the hour-long attack also left several others in the convoy wounded.The attack occurred in the northern province of Balkh, where Dostum had held a rally earlier in the day.On Twitter, a Taliban spokesman said the insurgent group had carried out the attack and claimed four of Dostum´s bodyguards had been killed.Dostum, a powerful ethnic Uzbek leader, is notorious in Afghanistan for extreme barbarities and for repeatedly switching loyalties over 40 years of conflict.Despite a catalogue of war crimes attached to his name and accusations of organising the rape and torture of a political rival, Dostum became Afghanistan´s first vice president in 2014.At the rally in Balkh, Dostum had claimed he could clear northern...

Pakistan projected its flagship project ‘Billion Tree Tsunami’, as one of its leading efforts to fight climate change at a high level event on the subject organized by the President of the United Nations, General Assembly.The project, the UN was told, had become the first entity under the global ‘Bonn Challenge’ to surpass the pledge of restoring 3.48 million hectors and created half a million green jobs and has now been transformed into a nation-wide '10 Billion Tree Tsunami', inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan.During the meeting, Pakistan stated that climate change, besides causing widespread devastation, threatens countries’ abilities to accomplish national priorities and achieve sustainable economic growth while also mentioning that Pakistan, with its contribution to the total global Green House Gas (GHG) emission limited to only 0.8%, was considered the eighth most climate vulnerable country in the world.According to the press release, it was brought to the attention...

Tens of thousands of Gazans gathered at the Israeli border Saturday to mark a year since protests and clashes erupted there, but fears of mass bloodshed were averted after late Egyptian-led negotiations.Israel deployed several thousand troops along the border, with the anniversary coming at a sensitive time ahead of its April 9 elections.Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, one during an overnight demonstration and a 17-year-old in clashes later Saturday, the health ministry in Gaza City said. Another 207 Gazans were wounded.But fears of a repeat of similar protests and clashes to those that saw more than 60 Palestinians killed on May 14, when the United States transferred its Israel embassy to Jerusalem, did not materialise.Egypt tried to mediate between Israel and Gaza´s miltant rulers Hamas to rein in violence.Hamas officials said Friday an understanding had been reached that would see Israel ease its crippling blockade of Gaza in exchange for the protests remaining calm.Te...