Pakistan News

Ahead of Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif's visit, US has quietly authorized releasing over $1.6 billion as economic and military assistance to Pakistan. Aid to Pakistan has been renewed after it had slowed down in recent months due to deterioration of ties between the two nations. Sharif headed Washington just days after China and Pakistan struck a $9.6 billion deal.

Waar, claimed as the most expensive Pakistani film ever made, has set new records at box-office collection on Eid-occasion, thanks to its aggressive storyline that showcases Pakistan's fight against terrorism and blames India for all terrorist activities on its soil. The film is also rumored to be partly funded by Pakistani military, though the director Bilal Lashari denies the charge.

Amnesty International (NGO focused on human rights) has asked US to investigate reports of civilians killed and wounded by CIA drone strikes in Pakistan. Several reports from different organisations indicate that 153 to 926 people(out of total 2,065 to 3,613 people) killed in Drone Strikes were thought to be civilians. Amnesty said that innocent victims have received no compensation yet.

Pakistan approved the controversial Drone strikes by CIA for years under a secret deal with America, reported 'The Washington Post' citing top-secret CIA documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos obtained by it. The report also mentioned Pakistan's ties to militant groups involved in attacks on American forces. Notably, Nawaj Sharif asked Obama to end the drone strikes during recent US visit.

Amid questions raised by international rights groups over controversial US drone attacks, death of '2160 militants and 67 civilians' in the attacks have been reported by Pakistan. Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif raised the issue with US President Obama in their maiden meeting on October-23. However, US claims that drone attacks are precision proof and have killed many top terrorists.

Pakistan's PMO on Sunday expressed it's willingness to review it's disrupted relationship with the US, after the death of the Pakistani Taliban leader, Mehsud, in a U.S. drone strike. Pak government condemned the killing of Mesud, who had a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, as a US bid to derail the talks between them.

Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was granted bail on Monday in a case related to death of a cleric of Lal Masjid during 2007-military operation ordered by him. With this ruling, Musharraf is now free on bail in the cases against him, including the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and can return to politics, though he can't leave Pakistan till judgement.

Two days after Musharraf was granted bail in final case against him, he was freed on Wednesday after six months of house arrest. Spokesperson for Musharraf's APML party said the notification --declaring Musharraf's farmhouse a sub-jail-- would be withdrawn and Musharraf would brief media soon. A senior-member of Musharraf's legal team said his release was not part of any deal.

The Pakistani Taliban elected Mullah Fazlullah, the commander whose men shot schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai last year, as their new leader on Wednesday, dampening expectations of any peace deal between the insurgents and the government. The election of Fazlullah, known for his hardline Islamist views, follows the death of former leader Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone strike last week.

Commenting on the continuous failure of Pakistani batting that lead to 1-4 loss in ODI-series against South Africa, former Pakistan captain Muhammad Yousuf said the batsmen lacked proper role model. "We don't have batsmen like Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli because we developed wrong role models, he added while blaming present skipper Misbah for setting wrong example for others batsmen.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority imposed Rs.10-million fine on ten Pakistani entertainment television channels for airing excessive Indian and foreign content, much more than prescribed limits, said a media report on Monday. PEMRA permits Pak TV-channels to air only 10% foreign content and directs that 60% of that 10% should be Indian and other content, while 40% may be English.

The Lahore high court on Tuesday imposed restrictions on the screening of Indian films across the country and laid down certain conditions for their release. The court directed authorities not to allow the screening of films that are imported using "fake" documents and are not sponsored by a Pakistani or foreign national.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has reported that 56 women have been killed in Pakistan this year for giving birth to a girl rather than a boy. Apart from this, statistics show that there were 90 acid attacks on women, 72 cases of burning caused by other means and 491 cases of domestic violence, between Jan-2012 and Sep-2013.

According to reports, India has retained the world title beating Pakistan by 48-39 in the 4th men's Kabaddi World in Ludhiana. Pakistan had defeated the American team in the semi-finals. Prior to the match, Pakistan Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif had said that if India wins, they would congratulate India.

Pakistan on Thursday appointed career diplomat Abdul Basit (55) as its new high commissioner to India. Basit, a former foreign office spokesman, will take over in New Delhi from former foreign secretary Salman Bashir at a time when PM Nawaz Sharif is pushing for better ties with India and the resumption of the composite dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues.

Former Pakistan president retired General Pervez Musharraf sought 'forgiveness' for any misdeeds he may have committed during his nine-year rule. In a TV interview, an emotional Musharraf said he could have done may wrong things but his intentions were never bad.

China has committed $6.5 billion to finance the construction of a major nuclear power project in Karachi (Pakistan), as it seeks to strengthen ties with its strategic partner, officials said. Both the nations consider each other close friends and their ties have been underpinned by common wariness of India and a desire to hedge against US influence in South Asia.

Pakistan's PM Nawaz Sharif has a net worth of Rs 1.824 billion, according to his election affidavit filed in June 2013. According to the declaration, he owns six agricultural properties with over 1,700 canals worth Rs 1.43 billion and a house in Upper Mall, Lahore valued at Rs 250m.

With five new polio cases reported in Pakistan, the total number of cases of the crippling disease in the country has reached 82 this year. Victims include children aged between 10-28 months, who were not given polio vaccine. Remarkably, Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where the polio virus is still endemic.

A report by American thinktank, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, says the terror group Indian Mujahideen is more lethal and resilient because of the support it receives from Pakistan. It argues that IM, the primary indigenous jihadist threat, is part of a larger universe of Islamist militant entities operating in India, and receives support from Pakistani militant group LeT.