Category: English

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday extended warm greetings to the Hindu community in Pakistan and around the world on the occasion of Diwali, reaffirming their commitment to protecting minority rights and promoting religious harmony. In their separate messages, both leaders described Diwali as a symbol of the triumph of light over darkness, hope over despair and good over evil, emphasising its message of tolerance, compassion and peaceful coexistence. President Zardari said the Hindu community was an integral part of the country, acknowledging its contributions…

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New Zealanders faced weeks of uncertainty on Sunday over who ‌will govern the country after their general election, with the current coalition holding a slim majority but a potentially decisive slice of votes still to count. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s National Party and its partners ACT and New Zealand First were on track for 67 of the currently projected 131-seat parliament, Electoral Commission preliminary results of Saturday’s vote showed. Sixty-six seats are needed ​for a majority. But special votes, around 14% of the total, remain to be counted, the commission…

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Usman Khawaja on Sunday denied that he had “thrown anyone under the bus”, a day after an excerpt from the former Australian cricketer’s autobiography ​claimed the entire team had been aware of ball-tampering during ‌a 2018 tour of South Africa. The scandal, dubbed “Sandpapergate” over Australia’s scuffing of the ball with sandpaper in the March 2018 test in Cape Town, sparked a major integrity ​crisis for Cricket Australia. However, only captain Steve Smith and batsmen David ​Warner and Cameron Bancroft, who was caught with the sandpaper ⁠in his pocket, were…

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Polling began on Sunday in by-elections for National Assembly constituency NA-77 in Gujranwala and Punjab Assembly constituency PP-203 in Sahiwal, with voting scheduled to continue until 5pm. The PP-203 seat fell vacant following the death of PML-N lawmaker Chaudhry Haneef Jutt. Seven candidates are contesting the by-election, with a close contest expected between PML-N candidate Chaudhry Asad Haneef Jutt and Tehreek-e-Ahsas Pakistan’s Owais Mahmood Gujjar. A total of 258,122 registered voters are eligible to cast their ballots at 185 polling stations in the constituency. Eleven polling stations have been declared…

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India Under-19 won the toss and elected to bat first against defending champions Pakistan in their Under-19 Asia Cup clash in Muscat, Oman, on Sunday. The much-anticipated encounter is being played in the Omani capital, with both sides facing off in a key fixture of the tournament. Pakistan are the defending champions, having beaten India by 191 runs in last season’s final to lift the title.

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A Polish gunman likely influenced by far-right ideology killed six ​people in the main square of the southern city of Krakow before police shot and arrested him, officials said on Saturday, adding that three more bodies were found in his home. The scenes of ‌blood and bodies strewn across the historic heart of one of Poland’s main tourist attractions shocked a nation that has long viewed itself as safer than western European neighbours that have witnessed such attacks in the past. The mass shooting of unprecedented scale adds to the…

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Saudi Arabia’s civil defence on Sunday lifted alerts in ​several areas of the kingdom’s ‌oil-rich Eastern Province, including Dhahran, home to the headquarters of oil major Saudi Aramco, ​shortly after warning of potential ​danger. The all-clear also applies to Dammam, ⁠Abqaiq and Al Ahsa governorate, the ​civil defence said. The Eastern Province contains the ​majority of the kingdom’s oil and gas reserves as well as Saudi Aramco’s headquarters, ​which suffered extensive damage in an ​attack in October. Shortly after the all-clear, the Saudi-led coalition ‌fighting ⁠in Yemen said it had…

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At least 33 people were killed, and 39 wounded in what the Houthi-run Saba news agency said ​were Saudi air strikes on a village near Yemen’s capital Sanaa ‌on Saturday, in one of the deadliest reported attacks since fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned group resumed in July. Reuters could not independently verify the account. ​Saudi Arabia’s Centre for International Communication said it was investigating the report. The ​renewed fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis has shattered ⁠a 2022 UN-brokered truce that largely halted attacks between the Saudi-led…

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Israel’s president on Saturday chose Gadi Eisenkot, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strongest rival, to try to form ​a new government following a deadlocked election that left neither man with a clear path to power. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, is ‌fighting to stay in office after his religious-nationalist coalition lost its majority in an October 27 election but still emerged as the largest bloc in parliament. Eisenkot, a former military chief, has declined to join forces with Arab parties, whose support would give him a majority of seats in parliament. But…

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US forces have disabled a commercial cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman after its crew allegedly ignored repeated warnings and attempted to violate Washington’s naval blockade against Iran, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday. The St Kitts-flagged vessel, M/V Huda, was struck by precision munitions fired from a US military aircraft, targeting its stern and leaving it unable to continue sailing, CENTCOM said. According to the command, the crew had been instructed to leave the targeted areas before the strike was carried out. The vessel had reportedly…

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