Pak News Wire

CSI: Pakistan?

CSI: Pakistan?

An expert forensic scientist who helped lock up John Wayne Gacy and Mike Tyson is now cracking cases in Pakistan. CNN's Errol Barnett ha...

‘I am not Charlie; I am with terrorists': French police question 8-year-old student

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/829659/french-police-question-8-year-old-over-terrorism-comments/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/829659-kid-1422543355-928-160x120.jpg" width="160" /> 			</a> 			FRANCE: An eight-year-old boy in France was questioned by police for half an hour Wednesday after he allegedly made comments in school in praise of terrorists, police said. The child triggered concern when he refused to take part in a minute’s silence at his school in the southern city of Nice after gunmen shot dead  12 people at the Paris offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on January 7, according to Marcel Authier, in charge of the region’s public security. The boy’s teacher said the child also expressed “solidarity” with the gunmen. “In the current context, the principal of the school decided to report to police what had happened,” said Authier, who stressed no complaint had been filed against the boy. “We summoned the child and his father to try and comprehend how an eight-year-old boy could hold such radical ideas,” he added. “Obviously, the child doesn’t understand what he’s saying.” The boy’s lawyer Sefen Guez Guez was not immediately available for comment but on his Twitter feed (@IbnSalah) he wrote that the child admitted to police saying the words: “I am with the terrorists”. <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/charlie-hebdo-attack-war-of-ideas-hots-up-as-french-police-quiz-eightyearold-10012076.html" target="_blank">The Independent</a> reported that the child said “I am not Charlie. I am with the terrorists”. Yet when police asked what the word “terrorism” meant, he replied: “I don’t know”, according to the tweet. “Father and son are deeply shocked by their treatment which illustrates the collective hysteria that has engulfed France since early January,” said the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) in a statement. The Charlie Hebdo murders kicked off three days of Islamist attacks in Paris that left 17 people dead and traumatised the country.

‘I am not Charlie; I am with terrorists': French police question 8-year-old student

FRANCE: An eight-year-old boy in France was questioned by police for half an hour Wednesday after he allegedly made c...

ISIS launches attack on Kirkuk

ISIS launches attack on Kirkuk

Kareena has not converted to Islam: Saif Ali Khan

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/830099/kareena-has-not-converted-to-islam-saif-ali-khan/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/830099-SaifKareenawedding-1422603421-816-160x120.jpg" width="160" /> 			</a> 			MUMBAI: Actor Saif Ali Khan has clarified that his wife, Kareena Kapoor, has not converted to Islam, the <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/tabloid/kareena-has-not-converted-to-islam-saif-ali-khan/article1-1311735.aspx#" target="_blank">Hindustan Times</a> reported.  Following her marriage to Saif Ali Khan in October 2012, Kareena has been a target of certain religious groups due to her religion. Saif Ali Khan is Muslim, while Kareena is Hindu. Kareena’s morphed photo was also used on a poster for a ‘love jihad’ campaign. <img alt="" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/0-LINE-1420726462.jpg" /> <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/818635/kareenas-morphed-photo-used-as-warning-against-love-jihad-campaign/" target="_blank">RELATED: Kareena’s morphed photo used as a warning against ‘love jihad’ campaign</a><a><img alt="" /></a>   <img alt="" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/0-LINE-1420726462.jpg" /> “People say she has converted. No, she hasn’t,” said Saif, who feels that his wife is being wrongly targeted by these groups. He referred to the “Love Jihad” campaign as ‘regrettable’ and said “These talks — emotionally, intellectually and socially — do not feature in our lives anywhere. The character, wisdom and intellect of such sources should be considered before taking them seriously.” Saif, 44, feels that Kareena should be recognised for her work more than anything else. “The country should be proud of Kareena’s contribution to cinema and society. She has worked for women’s rights and better health. She should be celebrated as a symbol of a strong, modern individual,” he added.

Kareena has not converted to Islam: Saif Ali Khan

MUMBAI: Actor Saif Ali Khan has clarified that his wife, Kareena Kapoor, has not converted to Islam, the Hindustan T...

Legal lifeline for Australians on death row

Legal lifeline for Australians on death row

Lawyers for two Australian men on death row in Indonesia attempt to throw them a legal lifeline, despite the latter's insistence that th...

Lots favor Guinea at AFCON

Lots favor Guinea at AFCON

There was nothing to separate Guinea and Mali after the group stage at the African Cup of Nations so lots had to be drawn to decide which te...

Defying prejudice to become a star

Defying prejudice to become a star

Supporters demand justice at prosecutor’s funeral

Supporters demand justice at prosecutor’s funeral

UK jets intercept Russia bombers

UK jets intercept Russia bombers

Two UK Royal Air Force jets intercepted a pair of Russian bombers flying over the English Channel near British airspace this week, the Briti...

Andy Murray’s girlfriend unleashes blue volley

Andy Murray’s girlfriend unleashes blue volley

It turns out that it isn't just the players who let the tension of the Australian Open get to them. Kim Sears, the girlfriend of former ...

PM Nawaz arrives in Karachi for security meeting

PM Nawaz arrives in Karachi for security meeting

KARACHI: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday arrived in Karachi to discuss the overall security situation in the ci...

Balochistan gender exclusion: Not a single woman on 1,450 seats

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/829979/balochistan-gender-exclusion-not-a-single-woman-on-1450-seats/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/829979-riggingafpx-1422592194-621-160x120.jpg" width="160" /> 			</a> 			<div>QUETTA:  Authorities in Balochistan may eventually earn the distinction of becoming the first province to have a functional local government system but not a single political or religious outfit thought it fit to nominate any woman candidate for top positions at the city, town or union council levels. </div> “All were men. There was not a single woman candidate for 1,450 slots of chair and deputy chair of four municipal corporations, 52 municipal committees, 32 district councils, and 635 union councils throughout Balochistan,” said Election Commissioner Balochistan, Sayed Sultan Bayazeed. “The women were elected merely on the reserved seats no woman contested on general seats of LB polls,” he added. The coalition partners in Balochistan government—ruling National Party (NP) and its partner the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and PML-N claim to be more moderate parties and believe in granting rights to women — the most oppressed people in Balochistan. However, these parties did not nominate or encourage women to contest for a leading position in the local government system. There were 2,232 reserved seats for women during the LB polls out of which 2,180 had been elected while 152 were still lying vacant. There was no woman candidate for the 7,168 general seats for councillors in December 2013 LB polls. <img alt="" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Sultan-Bayazeed.jpg" /> The provincial chief of PkMAP, Usman Kakar, blamed low literacy rate and lack of awareness for exclusion of women. “It is simply a male-dominated society and no one knows women leaders, which is why, party supports such candidates which are well known,” Kakar told The Express Tribune. “The political parties in Balochistan are also socially regressive in their views about gender,” he said. According to the PkMAP provincial chief, the culture of Balochistan is not like Sindh and Punjab where women contest elections on general seats and occupy leading positions. Women are mostly elected on reserved seats whether it is national assembly, provincial assembly or the local bodies in Balochistan. However, he said that PkMAP strongly believes in equal participation by women. Senior vice president of NP Mir Tahir Bizenjo has said there is lack of participation from women in Balochistan politics. “I do not think there is any kind of obstacle for female participation in the elections nowadays as there was four to five decades ago,” he said.  However, some women leaders in the coalition government did complain that they are sidelined when it comes to policy making and decision making. According to Advisor to Balochistan CM on Education Sardar Raza Mohammed Badech the female literacy rate is around 19 per cent and male literacy is about 39 per cent which can give a picture of the exclusion of the women from politics. Published in The Express Tribune, January 30th, 2015.

Balochistan gender exclusion: Not a single woman on 1,450 seats

QUETTA: Authorities in Balochistan may eventually earn the distinction of becoming the first province to have a funct...

Divers begin recovery of Civil War ironclad

Divers begin recovery of Civil War ironclad

Body parts found in suitcase on sidewalk

Body parts found in suitcase on sidewalk

Police answering a suspicious package call in San Francisco made a most unpleasant discovery when they opened a suitcase and found it contai...

US warns Russia, welcomes new EU sanctions

<a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/830060/us-warns-russia-welcomes-new-eu-sanctions/"> 				<img alt="" height="120" src="http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/830060-image-1422575853-584-160x120.jpg" width="160" /> 			</a> 			WASHINGTON: The United States warned Russia on Thursday that it is mulling fresh sanctions over the fighting in Ukraine and welcomed an EU move to broaden existing measures imposed on Moscow. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the agreement by EU foreign ministers to expand existing European sanctions “is just a further sign that the actions of the last several days and weeks are absolutely unacceptable and that there will be new consequences put in place.” The move in Brussels, where EU foreign ministers were meeting, was “building on a large sanctions effort that’s been going on for months now,” Psaki said, dubbing Thursday’s announcement a “positive step.” She had no prediction about when the next round of US sanctions would come into force, or who would be targeted. “Sometimes we add names, sometimes we add sectors or companies, and that’s the same thing for the EU,” Psaki said. “We’ll continue to consider others that we could add.” Earlier this week President Barack Obama pledged to increase pressure on Russia and, in cooperation with US allies including Europe, to look at other options to tackle the issue. “I will look at all additional options that are available to us, short of military confrontation, and try to address this issue,” he said. Psaki also condemned intensifying attacks on Debaltseve, in eastern Ukraine, where rebels have almost surrounded the town. The town lies 13 kilometers (about eight miles) beyond the ceasefire line set in a September accord, she said. “Over the past week, the separatists have fired countless rockets at the city, killing and wounding scores of innocent people and prompting the Ukrainian government and local NGOs to organize a city-wide evacuation,” Psaki told reporters. “There can also be no mistake about Russia’s role in the escalation of violence,” she said, adding Moscow had “equipped the separatists with tanks, armored vehicles, heavy artillery, rocket systems and other military equipment.”

US warns Russia, welcomes new EU sanctions

WASHINGTON: The United States warned Russia on Thursday that it is mulling fresh sanctions over the fighting in Ukrai...