Politics

The under-construction Green Line bus project has once again become a bone of contention between the Sindh and federal governments. The project has suffered numerous delays due to the failure to finalise the design for Phase II, extending from Taj Medical Complex to Jamia Cloth Market. Development work on this phase has still not started.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia on Wednesday to lodge a strong protest over unprovoked ceasefire violations by Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC). An innocent civilian was martyred while nine other civilians, including women and children, sustained serious injuries in Danna, Dhddnial, Jura, Lipa, Shardda and Shahkot sectors along LoC on Tuesday.

India has successfully landed a rover on the moon as part of their latest lunar mission Chandrayaan-2, which means "moon vehicle" in Sanskrit. India has now become the fourth country to make a soft landing on the moon's surface. The rover will spend fourteen days collecting mineral and chemical samples from the moon's south pole.

People are striking and demonstrating across seven districts in Hong Kong in what may be the most ambitious demonstration this summer. With strikers from all the major sectors of the city, it is likely that Hong Kong will screech to a halt today. This is Hong Kongs ninth consecutive week of protests.

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan was one of the people who were stranded in the Golen Gol area of Chitral due to flooding. She and most of the tourists were rescued by the Pakistan army although some people are still waiting for rescue. There was no loss of life in the flooding.

The United States has expressed concern regarding conflict breaking out in the Gulf due to a miscalculation by Iran, so it is preparing to launch new surveillance and intelligence initiative to ensure a safe passage for ships in the region. Other NATO countries are also involved in this initiative and it will be ready within the next few weeks.

Punjab CM Usman Buzdar on Tuesday presided over a meeting, in which performance of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and progress made on different ongoing schemes was reviewed. The meeting decided to construct a flyover to solve the traffic-jam problem at Shahkam Chowk besides early start of road extension project from Defence Road to Labour Colony Shahkam Chowk.

Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan has claimed that the purported video of accountability judge Arshad Malik brought forward by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was made in a media house. She further said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government would spare no effort to “expose those who prepared the audio and video”.

The Supreme Judicial Council has charged Justice Qazi Faez Isa over “insinuations against state institutions”. The federal government filed a rejoinder through the Attorney General for Pakistan that alleges that Justice Isa had insinuated against state institutions. The Supreme Court did say that disclosure of this to the media is a clear breach of constitutional provisions.

America’s top diplomat Mike Pompeo on Friday implored Southeast Asian nations to trust in US values, delivering a withering takedown of China’s leadership of a region it considers its backyard. The US Secretary of State said decades of US alliances and investment had helped Asia walk from poverty to prosperity, as he aired the Drumpf administration’s “Indo-Pacific” strategy in Bangkok.