ISLAMABAD, June 27: British Prime Minister David Cameron will visit Pakistan over the weekend to meet the country’s new leadership. Prime Minister Cameron is likely to reach here on Saturday.His schedule is being kept a tightly guarded secret by the Foreign Office due to security concerns. Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry when asked about the British leader’s visit said: “I am not in a position to confirm the visit.” This would be Mr Cameron’s second visit to Pakistan. He will be the first foreign leader to visit Islamabad after the PML-N government’s formation.
India to engage Nawaz govt soon, says envoy
ISLAMABAD, June 27: Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Sharat Sabharwal has said that India will soon engage the government led by Nawaz Sharif in dialogue in an effort to resolve outstanding issues between the two countries. Mr Sabharwal met the chief of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and informed him about the progress made by the two countries in various areas.
Missing people: SC orders govt to submit plan
ISLAMABAD, June 27: The Supreme Court has asked for the government’s plan on the recovery of missing persons which the latter is expected to submit on July 1.Attorney General Muneer A. Malik is likely to submit a comprehensive plan to the apex court aimed at addressing complaints against enforced disappearances. The plan may envisage opening of a cell in the AG’s office for ensuring implementation of the court’s orders in cases related to missing persons.
Musharraf treason: four-member FIA committee formed
ISLAMABAD: A four-member committee of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been constituted to interrogate former president, General (retd) Pervez Musharraf under article 6 of the constitution, DNA reported.The committee comprises two additional director generals and two directors. They included Additional DG FIA Khalid Qureshi, Azam Khan, Hussain Asghar and Maqsood-ul-Hassan. The committee will present its report in shortest period of time.
Spain beat Italy 7-6 on penalties to reach Confederations Cup final
FORTALEZA: The Confederations Cup has got the final nearly everyone wanted.The World Cup holder against the five-time world champion. The two-time European winners against the tournament host. Spain’s passing wizards vs. Brazil’s new star, Neymar.Spain came through an exhausting scoreless 120 minutes and then a penalty-kick shootout 7-6 over Italy in the semifinal Thursday and will face Brazil in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium on Sunday to cap the World Cup warm-up tournament.
Lithium greatly reduces suicide risk: study
PARIS: The mood-stabilising drug lithium reduces suicide risk by more than 60 percent among people with depression, a study said Thursday. Lithium has long been prescribed to treat unipolar disorder (also called clinical depression) and bipolar disorder (manic depression) — but its use has been declining in many countries, according to Andrea Cipriani, who co-wrote the paper in the online journal bmj.com
IPPs to get Rs326bn after signing MoU
ISLAMABAD, June 27: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved on Thursday payment of Rs326 billion to independent power producers (IPPs), a Rs24bn restructuring plan for the Nandipur project and a Rs2bn Ramazan Relief Package and also decided to terminate bidding for import of 800mmcfd of liquefied natural gas (LNG). A meeting presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar decided to make the payment to IPPs to clear a major part of the Rs506bn circular debt with four major conditions for which a fresh memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed on Friday morning, followed by immediate disbursements, finance ministry spokesman Rana Assad Amin told DNA.
Jackson son to testify, day after death anniversary
LOS ANGELES: Michael Jackson’s son Prince was set to take the stand Wednesday at his family’s trial against tour promoter AEG Live, a day after fans marked the fourth anniversary of the singer’s death. A family spokesman confirmed that the 16-year-old, the eldest of the late star’s three children, will testify at the civil trial in which AEG Live is accused of negligently hiring the doctor convicted over Jackson’s death.
Govt working on plan-B to avoid tough IMF terms
ISLAMABAD: The economic managers are working on a plan-B to shore up declining foreign exchange reserves and stabilise exchange rate in case conditions for a new bailout package from the International Monetary Fund become too harsh to be acceptable. A senior government official told Dawn on Wednesday that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had categorically told his economic aides that if the IMF came up with tough conditions the government would not agree to them and would work immediately on plan-B to avoid becoming hostage to external dictates. “We will accept the IMF programme on our terms and conditions and home-grown policies to repay outstanding loan or go for an alternative plan,” he quoted the minister as saying.
Salman Khan could face culpable homicide charges for 2002 hit-and-run
MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Salman Khan faces the possibility of being tried for culpable homicide in a decade-old hit-and-run, a legal source with direct knowledge of the case said on Monday. A local Mumbai court ruled on Monday that the hit-and-run case would be tried in the sessions court and not the magistrate court where it was being heard earlier.The prosecution had asked for the case to be transferred to the sessions court as the magistrate court does not have the jurisdiction to try cases of culpable homicide.
