WASHINGTON: As Indian and Pakistani prime ministers prepare to meet, the United States has said it will welcome “any and all high-level discussions” between the two countries. Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Manmohan Singh are slated to meet in New York later this month while attending the UN General Assembly. The two leaders will also have separate meetings with US President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Four arrested in Lahore rape case
LAHORE: Police teams investigating the rape of a five-year-old girl took four suspects into custody for interrogation on Saturday with the help of CCTV footage and other clues. The victim was still not completely stable and was under treatment at the Services Hospital. Lahore police chief Chaudhry Shafique Ahmad told DNA that no prime suspect had been identified yet. He said a couple of suspects picked up on Friday were released on Saturday after being declared innocent.
No punishment sans evidence of crime: CJP
PESHAWAR: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Saturday said the courts couldn’t punish people unless there was evidence to prove their guilt. “There is an impression that the courts are acquitting culprits. However, the fact is that courts work under the Constitution and judges are bound to follow the Constitution and laws. Nobody can be punished without evidence (of unlawful activity),” he said at the certificate distribution ceremony of master trainers here at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Academy.
Stable prices top priority: Dar
ISLAMABAD: The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) on Thursday asked provinces to play a proactive role in maintaining price stability to provide relief to the public. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who chaired the NPMC’s meeting, called for strengthening of the committee and improving implementation of its decisions to ensure effective monitoring of essential items’ prices. Dar emphasised that consumer associations in the West were playing the role of watchdogs to check rise in prices.
Qaeda chief calls for US attacks, economic boycott
WASHINGTON: Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a speech marking the 12th anniversary of 9/11, called Thursday for attacks on the United States and a boycott of the world’s largest economy. A summary and translated English excerpts of the roughly 72-minute address was made available by the SITE Intelligence Group. The speech was posted on jihadi forums a day after America held ceremonies in honor of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Afghan Taliban attack US consulate, leave two dead
KABUL: Taliban militants attacked the US consulate in western Afghanistan on Friday morning, using a car bomb and guns to battle security forces just outside the compound in the city of Herat. It was not entirely clear whether any attackers managed to breach the facility, but at least two Afghans died, while the US said its personnel were all safe. The attack, which also injured several people and wound up leaving five alleged militants dead, underscored the perilous security situation in Afghanistan, where US-led troops are reducing their presence ahead of a full withdrawal next year.
Police clash with protesters in Istanbul
ISTANBUL: Turkish police used water cannon and tear gas late Thursday to break up fresh anti-government protests in Istanbul, amid anger over the death of a demonstrator earlier in the week. Officers faced 2,000-3,000 angry protesters on a second consecutive day of demonstrations in the Kadikoy district, an opposition stronghold. The police fired tear gas, water cannon and plastic pellets to break up the crowd as it approached the local offices of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).
High-stakes US-Russian talks open, Syria to join chemical arms ban
The United States and Russia began high-stakes talks on Thursday on Moscow’s plan for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons as Damascus formally applied to join a global poison gas ban, but Secretary of State John Kerry underscored that US military force may still be necessary if diplomacy fails.
Sartaj Aziz, Indian FM discuss Nawaz-Singh meeting, LoC
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz on Friday met with Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, DNA reported.
Nine Nato oil tankers torched in Kalat
KALAT: At least nine North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) oil tankers were torched during an attack in the Sohrab district of Balochistan on Friday, DNA reported.
