Pakistan

Islamabad, Jan 31, IRNA -- The mutual trade gate between Iran and Pakistan has been reopened for local traders in Balochistan, local media reported on Sunday.

The trade gate, which is commonly known as Zero Point Gate at Taftan border crossing had been closed in September last year due to which the activities of local traders on both sides of the border were affected.

01 Feb 2021; AA: Pakistan on Monday received the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine as a gift from its longtime ally China.

A special Pakistan Air Force plane carrying 500,000 doses of the vaccine developed by China’s Sinopharm landed at the Islamabad airport.

The shipment was received by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Chinese envoy Nong Rong. Another 1.1 million pre-ordered doses are expected later this month.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - International troops plan to stay in Afghanistan beyond the May deadline envisaged by the insurgent Taliban’s deal with the United States, four senior NATO officials said, a move that could escalate tensions with the Taliban demanding full withdrawal.

“There will be no full withdrawal by allies by April-end,” one of the officials told Reuters.

Islamabad, Jan 30 (PTI) Pakistan has extended the travel restrictions on several countries, including the UK, till February 28 to contain the spread of the deadly variant of the coronavirus amidst a second wave of infections, authorities said.

The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) on Friday said people from countries in its category-C including South Africa, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Ireland, Portugal and the Netherlands would be affected by the travel restrictions till February 28, Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday.

KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of an Islamist convicted of beheading U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl, a decision that has left his family in “complete shock”, lawyers said.

Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was the main suspect in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl, was acquitted by a panel of three judges.

“By a majority of two to one, they have acquitted all the accused persons and ordered their release,” a provincial advocate general, Salman Talibuddin, told Reuters.

ISLAMABAD, Jan 25 (APP): Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday said that with Pulwama drama exposed before the whole world, and Indian Hindutva regime due to its wrong policies had destroyed the country’s secular image.

As the minorities in India especially Muslims were feeling unsecured, India continued to commit grave human rights violations in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), he added.

ISLAMABAD, Jan 19 (APP): United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) would enroll 61,500 refugee children during the year 2021, providing them an access to primary education.

The children would impart education in 137 schools of 54 refugee villages set up across the country, said UNHCR Pakistan report.

UNHCR had been providing access to primary education to Afghan refugees from the past four decades.

At the outset of their arrival, some 96 percent of the refugee population was living in camps and villages and emergency education was provided on-site, said the report.

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has approved a vaccine by China's Sinopharm for emergency use amid rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.

A handout by DRAP on its official website late Monday read that Sinopharm, one of the two vaccines approved by the authority, has been given emergency use authorization after evaluating its safety and quality.

The authority said the authorization will be reviewed every quarter keeping in view further data regarding safety, efficacy and quality.

ISLAMABAD, Jan 17 (APP): Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday said that India was trying to create instability in the whole region.

In an interview with a private television channel, he said information given by Indian anchor through transcripts has unearthed the sinister design of the enemy country against Pakistan.

Pakistan, he said had already rejected the Pulwama incident created by India to malign our country.

He said Indian ruler’s nexus with its media has been exposed before the world community.

ISLAMABAD, Jan 16 (APP): The war hysteria of Narendra Modi regime is pushing India towards the US sanctions as it shows stubbornness over S-400 air defence systems deal with Russia, to counter China.

The United States has made it clear that India was unlikely to get a waiver on its planned acquisition of Russian S-400 air defence systems and any such move could make the country face sanctions similar to those imposed on Turkey for buying that equipment, Reuters reported.