Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — An aide to Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says has he been shifted from his prison cell to a government hospital in the eastern city of Lahore.

Senator Asif Kirmani says Sharif was taken from his cell in Kot Lakhpat prison on Saturday to the Services Hospital following the recommendation of a government-appointed team of doctors.

Kirmani says Sharif was diagnosed with heart-related issues which could be life threatening.

ISLAMABAD, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake of 5.8 magnitude jolted parts of Pakistan including the capital city of Islamabad on Saturday evening, the country's National Seismic Monitoring Center said.

According to the center, the earthquake struck at 5:04 p.m. local time, with the epicenter determined in Hindu Kush Region in Afghanistan with a focal depth of 80 km.

Islamabad, Feb 2 (PTI) China will provide USD 2.5 billion in loans to Pakistan to boost the foreign exchange reserves of its "all-weather ally", a media report said Saturday.

Pakistan is nearly broke with the drying up of foreign cash reserves and mounting external debt.

The country's USD 8.12 billion reserves, which are below the minimum level that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) prescribe, are sufficient to cover only seven weeks of imports.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan; 27 Jan 2019; AA: A new high-level medical board has been constituted to examine the health condition of jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, local media reported on Saturday.

The third medical board was constituted after doctors said Sharif has uncontrolled blood pressure, stage 3 chronic kidney disease, borderline raised troponin T level with significant history of ischemic heart disease, reported Dawn, a local daily.

Islamabad, Jan 21, IRNA – Authorities in Pakistan’s south western Balochistan province have resorted Iran-Pakistan cargo train service after completing repair works, official media reported.

Lahore, Jan 20 (PTI) The killing of four people, including a man, his wife and their teenage daughter, in what Pakistan's Punjab police called a shootout with "terrorists" has triggered a public outcry and the victims' family held a protest against the "staged" encounter.

The family was travelling in a car when the alleged encounter which the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officials later termed an 'intelligence-based operation' took place on a highway in Sahiwal, about 200 kms from Lahore, on Saturday.

Islamabad, Jan 17 (PTI) Pakistan's Supreme Court Thursday ordered the government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan to lift the travel ban imposed on opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and the Sindh Chief Minister, and asked the country's anti-corruption body to probe their involvement in Rs 35 billion 'fake accounts case'.

As many as 172 suspects were placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) on the recommendations of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by the apex court. A person cannot fly abroad if his name is placed on the ECL.

14 Jan 2019; AFP: Freelance reporter Asad Hashim was named as winner of the 2018 Agence France-Presse Kate Webb Prize on Monday for his coverage of the plight of ethnic Pashtuns and blasphemy issues in his native Pakistan.

The award, named after one of AFP's finest correspondents, recognises journalism by locally-hired reporters in Asia operating in risky or difficult conditions.

Islamabad, Jan 14; PTI/GANASHAKTI: The US' demand for maintaining long-term military bases in Afghanistan has emerged as a sticking point in talks with the Taliban to end the 17-year-long war in the country, according to a media report here.

The report came as the US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, stepped up efforts to bring the Taliban to negotiations, with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Russia and Iran involved in discussions with the Taliban over the past few months.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan; 13 Jan 2019; AA: Saudi Minister for Petroleum and Energy Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz confirmed that his country will establish an oil refinery in Pakistan's southwestern strategic port city of Gwadar at a cost of $10 billion, local media reported on Sunday.

The agreement is likely to be signed during a proposed visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to Pakistan in February, daily Dawn reported.