GWADAR: The multi-million dollar Gwadar port is set to be at “full operation” by the end of the year, a Chinese official said Tuesday, part of Beijing’s ambitious economic plans in the region. Gwadar port will see roughly one million tonnes of cargo going through it by 2017, said Zhang Baozhong, chairman of the company in charge of development, the ...

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s top cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Sheikh has justified a ban on driving for females, saying women behind the wheels would be “exposed to evil”, reported The Independent. Although driving is not technically illegal for women in Saudi Arabia, it is the only country in the world that prohibits women from doing so by not issuing licenses. The cleric ...

Manhandling by Military personnel, journalists boycotted media coverage of Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) returning to South Waziristan Agency BANNU: Local Journalists boycotted media coverage of “The Repatriation of TDPs”, as a protest against their stoppage and manhandling by military personnel during coverage of the recent visit of Governor-Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to South Waziristan Agency. They told THE PASHTUN TIMES that military personnel of Pakistan Army constantly misbehaved ...

PESHAWAR: Pakistani security forces have evicted more than 300 Afghan families from their houses in Landikotal near the Torkham border, officials said on Tuesday. Dozens of houses were razed by paramilitary troops during a clean-up operation in the Bacha Maina area of the dusty border town — home to many Afghan families. The demolition-eviction campaign, involving heavy machinery, came after ...

WASHINGTON: In recognition of her efforts to improve the quality of life for women in Afghanistan, First Lady Rula Ghani has been selected for the prestigious Lotus Leadership Award of Asia Foundation. The first lady would be presented the award along with Carnegie Corporation at a glittering function in New York on May 11, a press release said on Tuesday. “Afghan ...

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) was rocked by another scandal on Monday, when it emerged that a 20-year-old paralysed woman – who was being treated at the hospital’s surgical intensive care unit – was allegedly raped by a staff member. But while a case has been registered, with the Prime Minister’s Inspection Team overseeing matters, police have ...

Kalash students attend a class at a school in the Brun village of Bumboret valley. ─ AFP   CHITRAL: Pakistan’s smallest religious minority, the Kalash speak their own language and celebrate their gods through music, dance ─ and alcohol, which they brew themselves in Chitral’s plunging verdant valleys. Here, the sexes mingle easily, marriage can be sealed with a dance, ...

The Taliban group in Afghanistan announced the launch of summer offensive in Afghanistan under the name of ‘Omari Operations’. A statement by the group said the operations are being launched as the group’s military offensive against the foreign forces enters into 15th year. The statement further added that the offensive is being launched with the approval of the leadership of ...

The acting provincial governor of northern Balkh province of Afghanistan Ata Mohammad Noor has warned that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group is rapidly expanding activities in Afghanistan. Noor was speaking during a ceremony for the inauguration of a high school in Mazar-e-Sharif city, the provincial capital of Balkh province. He said the terror group is ...

Around ten million US Dollars have been spent on the hotel accommodation and around 500 luxury cards have been rented for the tour of the Saudi King to Turkey, it has been reported. The 80-year-old king Salman received a lavish welcome as he arrived in Turkey on Monday to discuss bilateral ties expansions on a two-day tour of country. According ...