Today’s Top Story 10 February 2021

 

1. WASHINGTON:

The Biden administration would like to rebuild America’s relationship with Pakistan and make it more productive than it has been during the recent past, says a senior US scholar.

At a recent briefing on the new US administration’s foreign policies, James M. Lindsay, a senior vice president at the Council for Foreign Relations, also predicted a better understanding between the White House and the Pentagon on the deployment of American troops in Afghanistan.

2. QUETTA:

Pakistan has completed 182km of the 213km-long fence at the Afghan border and work on the remaining 31km fence is expected to complete till April, a senior official told the meeting of civil and military officials

The meeting, which was presided over by Balochistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langove, discussed the ongoing border-fencing project, land settlement due to border fencing between the two countries and the overall law and order situation.

3. KARACHI:

Pakistan International Airlines claimed  that it had paid compensation to the families of 20 victims at Rs10 million per deceased person, and said it was still waiting for succession certificates from 77 families to complete the process and bring the chapter to a close.

4. ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued contempt of court notices to 17 lawyers including Islamabad Bar Council member Naseer Kayani and candidates vying for top position of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) election scheduled to be held on Feb 27.

5.YANGON:

Myanmar’s military raided the Yangon headquarters of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, officials said, as the United States joined the UN in “strongly” condemning violence against protesters demanding a return to democracy.

6. BANGKOK:

A Thai court denied bail to four prominent democracy activists after they were indicted for violating the kingdom’s royal defamation law — the first formal charges laid against the leaders of a movement calling for reforms to the monarchy.

Demonstrations in Bangkok last year against the government of former army chief Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha drew tens of thousands at their peak, with many calling for changes to the country’s once unassailable royal family.

 7. KARACHI:

The administrative judge of the antiterrorism courts remanded five foreigners held for allegedly working for the Afghan and Indian intelligence agencies in police custody.

The Counter-Terrorism Department on Monday claimed to have foiled a major terrorist activity in the metropolis by arresting five Afghan nationals for having links with Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) and India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).