Prince Harry and Meghan team up with Malala on girls’ rights

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are joining activist Malala Yousafzai in a video chat about the challenges girls face in accessing education amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The couple’s conversation with the 23-year-old education campaigner will be released on the Malala Fund YouTube channel and website on Sunday, to mark the International Day of the Girl.

The video chat covers how the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on young women’s access to education. Research by the Malala Fund has suggested that 20 million secondary-school aged girls may never return to the classroom after the health crisis is over.

Yousafzai, who survived a shot in the head after being targeted for campaigning for girls’ education in Pakistan, later becoame the youngest-ever Nobel Prize winner in 2014.

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PIA's Roosevelt Hotel to shut doors from Oct 31

The Pakistan International Airline's (PIA) Roosevelt Hotel will close its doors to customers permanently from October 31 due to financial constraints.

"Due to the current economic impacts, after almost 100 years of welcoming guests to 'The Grand Dame of New York' The Roosevelt Hotel is regretfully closing its doors permanently as of October 31, 2020.

"We have been honored to serve alongside our wonderful staff and to be a part of our many guests’ and clients’ lives and celebrations, who have graced us over these past nine decades," it said.

The hotel said that it was working on alternatives for the guests with a future reservation. "We have enjoyed being as much a part of our guests’ stories as we have been an integral part of the history of Midtown Manhattan since 1924."

The development comes after the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on September 2 approved funds worth $142 million to address the financial challenges faced by the PIA-owned Roosevelt Hotel in New York, US.

The decision to grant the PIA the funds was made in a meeting chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

Earlier, the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation had said that it would not be selling the Roosevelt Hotel York but would run it under a joint venture with a third party.

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U.S. imposes new Iran sanctions that may spook European banks

The United States on Thursday slapped fresh sanctions on Iran’s financial sector, targeting 18 banks in an effort to further choke off Iranian revenues as Washington ramps up pressure on Tehran weeks ahead of the U.S. election.

The move freezes any U.S. assets of those blacklisted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them, while extending secondary sanctions to those who do business with them. This means foreign banks risk losing access to the U.S. market and financial system.

The Treasury Department said in a statement the prohibitions did not apply to transactions to sell agricultural commodities, food, medicine or medical devices to Iran, saying it understood the need for humanitarian goods.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the United States of targeting Iran’s ability to pay for basic necessities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“U.S. regime wants to blow up our remaining channels to pay for food & medicine,” Zarif said on Twitter. “Conspiring to starve a population is a crime against humanity.”

Iranian Central Bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati dismissed the sanctions as political propaganda and played down their practical impact.

“Rather than having any economic effect, the American move is for U.S. domestic propaganda and political purposes, and shows the falsity of the human rights and humanitarian claims of U.S. leaders,” Hemmati said in a statement.

Analysts said the secondary sanctions may further deter European and other foreign banks from working with Iran, even for permitted humanitarian transactions.

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U.S. imposes new Iran sanctions that may spook European banks

The United States on Thursday slapped fresh sanctions on Iran’s financial sector, targeting 18 banks in an effort to further choke off Iranian revenues as Washington ramps up pressure on Tehran weeks ahead of the U.S. election.

The move freezes any U.S. assets of those blacklisted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them, while extending secondary sanctions to those who do business with them. This means foreign banks risk losing access to the U.S. market and financial system.

The Treasury Department said in a statement the prohibitions did not apply to transactions to sell agricultural commodities, food, medicine or medical devices to Iran, saying it understood the need for humanitarian goods.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the United States of targeting Iran’s ability to pay for basic necessities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“U.S. regime wants to blow up our remaining channels to pay for food & medicine,” Zarif said on Twitter. “Conspiring to starve a population is a crime against humanity.”

Iranian Central Bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati dismissed the sanctions as political propaganda and played down their practical impact.

“Rather than having any economic effect, the American move is for U.S. domestic propaganda and political purposes, and shows the falsity of the human rights and humanitarian claims of U.S. leaders,” Hemmati said in a statement.

Analysts said the secondary sanctions may further deter European and other foreign banks from working with Iran, even for permitted humanitarian transactions.

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FM Qureshi holds telephonic call with his UAE counterpart

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi held a telephonic conversation with his United Arab Emirates (UAE) counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Thursday.

The issues of mutual interest, including bilateral relations and the overall situation in the region, came under discussion. They agreed to promote bilateral cooperation in the economic and trade sectors.

FM Qureshi said Pakistan and the UAE enjoy deep, historic and fraternal ties. He said millions of Pakistanis living in the UAE have been contributing to the development of the UAE for the last many decades.

He said the two brotherly countries stood by each other in difficult hour times, including during the pandemic.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Qureshi had held a telephonic conversation with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and exchanged views on bilateral relations, regional situation, and issues of common interest.

Qureshi underlined that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have historic and deep-rooted fraternal ties which have stood the test of time. He appreciated consistent support of the Kingdom to Pakistan, especially in the hour of need, and steadfast solidarity on the Kashmir cause.

 

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PPP to stage a “massive power show” in karachi on Oct 18th

The Pakistan Peoples Party on Wednesday announced that it would stage a “massive power show” in the metropolis on Oct 18 from the platform of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) saying the event would be the “beginning of the end” for the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government.

The announcement came after the meeting of the PPP’s executive committee chaired by president of the party’s Sindh chapter Nisar Khuhro here at the Chief Minister House.

Briefing the media after the meeting, he said that Karachi would host the second public meeting of the PDM on Oct 18.

The party will host PDM leaders on the 13th death anniversary of victims of Karsaz blasts

The day, he said, would mark the death anniversary of more than 200 victims of the twin Karsaz blasts at the homecoming procession of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.

Rally to be held at sprawling Bagh-i-Jinnah

“The October 18 rally would be held at Bagh-i-Jinnah adjacent to Quaid’s mausoleum,” he said. “The federal government has already started panicking and the October 18 rally will lead to its fall.”

Mr Khuhro said that people from all over Sindh would attend the rally, which would be addressed by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and other opposition leaders.

He expressed the hope that the people of Karachi and the rest of Sindh would prove their loyalty to reject the “selected government”.

The PPP leader said the Wednesday meeting also demanded that the federal government withdraw the presidential ordinance aimed at annexing a part of Sindh by taking control of the twin islands off Karachi’s coast.

He said the government was behaving like a dictator and it was high time to send it packing.

 

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NAB summoned Khawaja Asif in Iqama Case

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Khawaja Asif is likely to appear before the investigation of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Iqama case today.

The NAB investigators summoned Khawaja Asif on 11:00 am today at Lahore in Iqama case. Moreover, Ilyas Salman was also summoned by the joint investigation team along with managing director (MD) of the company.

The NAB call-up notice stated that Asif was asked to submit its income records including salary besides the submission of job application and Iqama agreement. He will also be questioned for the expiry period of his Iqama.

It is noteworthy that Khawaja Asif is already facing a NAB probe for allegedly illegally building a private housing scheme, Kent View Housing Society, in Sialkot. He has been asked to provide the money trail of the funds invested in the scheme.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on September 2 also launched another inquiry against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif and others over alleged suspicious transactions.

Sources said the corruption watchdog launched the probe on the basis of a complaint regarding suspicious transactions under the garb of export of rice against a firm, Tariq Mir & Co, reportedly owned by the former federal minister.

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