News Desk Pakistan’s first-ever ice hockey match was played in Naltar valley in Gilgit-Baltistan on December 29. The match was won by Pakistan Air Force, defeating GB Scouts. Players from both the sides showed some extraordinary skills but no team could score a goal within the stipulated time. Therefore, the match was decided on the penalty shootout, where Shahsyar, from …

Pervez Hoodbhoy PAKISTAN’S powerful political class has used all possible means, extreme violence included, to enhance its personal wealth and interests. Theft of public lands must therefore count among relatively minor sins. Case in point: the brazen takeover of Quaid-i-Azam University’s land by a powerful politician. In another country, this would have led to an uproar — but here, apart …

PESHAWAR: The Pruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on Friday dissolved Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission after the provincial assembly repealed the Ehtesab Commission Act, 2014. All inquiries, investigations and references initiated by the defunct commission shall be transferred to Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE). Regular employees of the body and Ehtesab courts shall be given an option to continue their services as surplus employees or accept …

HAH Report The winter resort of Naltar in Gilgit-Baltistan and the enchanting ski slopes of Malam Jabba in Swat have braced for some exhilarating winter sports in the coming days, reported Radio Pakistan. The Winter Sports Federation of Pakistan (WSFP) has chalked out an elaborated calendar of events for the season. The winter sports season has already commenced at Naltar …

Mubarak Zeb Khan ISLAMABAD Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the country may be facing challenges, but there is no crisis in the country. “All things are manageable. There is a lot of potential for improvement in this country. We inherited an economy with the highest-ever $19 billion current account deficit,” Mr Khan said in a brief interaction with journalists …

AFP LONDON: Campaigners have voiced concern after former UN human rights chief Mary Robinson said a princess who tried to flee the United Arab Emirates was “clearly troubled”. Robinson met with Sheikha Latifa, the daughter of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, for lunch in the UAE earlier this month and the authorities there released pictures of the meeting …

  AFP Pakistan put their miserable hammering by arch-rivals India behind them with a shock 19-run win over South Africa at Edgbaston on Wednesday that kept their Champions Trophy semi-final hopes alive. Just three days after suffering a humiliating 124-run defeat by title-holders India at Edgbaston in their opening group match, with former skipper Shahid Afridi among those slamming a …

By Andrew MacLeod Recent infrastructure investments in Silk Road countries are putting the historic pathway back on the map. As Andrew MacLeod writes, a trip down the ancient route is not only a glimpse into history – it is a preview of the future   Along the Great Silk Road the shadows of predator and prey chase each other across the wide grassland still …

Syrian troops deployed in support of Kurdish forces around a strategic northern city on Friday, in a shift of alliances hastened by last week’s announcement of a US military withdrawal. Nearly eight years into Syria’s deadly conflict, the move marked another key step in President Bashar al-Assad’s Russian-backed drive to reassert control over the country. Buoyed by its military victories, …

  HAH Report   A 12-year-old boy has been found alive after being buried under an avalanche in the French Alps for 40 minutes, with rescue workers calling it "miraculous". Associated PressDecember 28, 20184:20am A 12-year-old boy has been found alive and uninjured after being buried under an avalanche for 40 minutes in the French Alps, an event his rescuers …

By Laila Raza   KARACHI:  The provincial Ombudsman has ruled in favour of Shifa Imtiaz on December 20 in the case of sexual harassment and intimidation against Hassan Abbas Zaidi, a lecturer at Karachi University’s (KU) Petroleum and Technology Department. “Accused Hassan Abbas Zaidi is penalised under section 4(4) (c) of the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace …

  By Zameer Abbas I shared the first part of this piece on an elitist WhatsApp group of government officials, assuming that the members would read and comment on it. But, barring two out of 49 participants, the piece was met with a bureaucratic indifference. Perhaps the group members, well-educated by all standards, found the piece uninteresting even though most …