Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan in a parliamentary no-confidence vote early Sunday set Pakistan on an uncertain political path, with Khan calling on supporters to take to the streets in protest and the political opposition preparing to install his replacement.

Islamabad, Apr 9 (PTI) Pakistan's Army on Saturday conducted a successful flight test of the surface-to-surface medium-range ballistic missile Shaheen-III which can strike targets up to 2,750 kilometres, bringing a number of Indian cities under its range.

The test flight was aimed at revalidating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system, the military's media wing Inter Services Public Relations said in a statement.

ISLAMABAD, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Saturday conducted successful flight test of Shaheen-III surface-to-surface ballistic missile, the Pakistani military said.

"The test flight was aimed at re-validating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system," a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

The flight test was witnessed by Director General of Strategic Plans Division Lt. Gen. Nadeem Zaki Manj, other senior military officials, scientists and engineers of strategic organizations of the country, the statement added.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s embattled prime minister faces a tough no-confidence vote Saturday, introduced by political opponents who say they have the votes to defeat him.

A combined opposition that spans the political spectrum from the left to the radically religious says it has the 172 votes it needs in Pakistan’s 342-seat Parliament to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 8 (APP): President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday called for strengthening bilateral relations between Pakistan and Somalia in all areas of mutual interest, particularly trade and economy.

The president said Pakistan had initiated the ‘Engage Africa Policy’, which would further boost bilateral relations with all African countries.

The President expressed these views while talking to the outgoing Ambassador of Somalia Khadija M. Almakhzoumi, who paid a farewell call on him, here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 08 (APP): Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday expressed his firm resolve not to let an “imported government” be imposed in Pakistan to serve the interests of foreign powers.

In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is confronting an opposition alliance of around a dozen religio-political parties, said, “The people of Pakistan are not slaves.”

Islamabad, Apr 7 (PTI) Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday resumed the crucial hearing on the dismissal of a no-confidence vote against embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan through a controversial ruling by the deputy speaker of the National Assembly and the subsequent dissolution of Parliament by the president.

A five-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel took up the case in the morning.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A rare video has appeared of al-Qaida’s chief praising an Indian Muslim woman who in February defied a ban on wearing the traditional headscarf, or hijab. The footage is the first proof in months that the man who was once Osama bin Laden’s No. 2 is still alive.

Rumors of the death of Ayman al-Zawahri have persistently circulated, but in a video released Tuesday and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, the reclusive al-Qaida chief praises Muskan Khan who defied a ban on the wearing of the hijab in schools in India’s southwestern state of Karnataka.

ISLAMABAD, April 5 (APP): Russian Federation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said that there was an attempt by the US to interfere in the internal affairs of an independent state.

Commenting upon the political developments in Pakistan the other day, she said from facts and reports, it emerged that a conspiracy against the government was inspired and financed from abroad.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 5 (APP): Pakistan on Tuesday strongly condemned the “senseless” vandalization and burning of more than 40 houses of the Muslim community in Karauli area of Rajasthan, India by radical Hindu zealots belonging to BJP-RSS dispensation with the connivance of local security authorities.

“Equally alarming is the apathy of state machinery which wantonly looked the other way and failed in its basic duty of protecting the lives and properties of its citizens,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.