DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Pervez Musharraf, Ex-Pakistani Leader and Key U.S. Ally, Dies at 79
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Saeed Shah | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Pervez Musharraf , the military ruler who emerged as a key U.S. ally in the wake of the September 11 attacks, has died at 79, according to Pakistan’s military. Mr. Musharraf, a retired general, had been battling a longtime illness in Dubai, where he lived in exile, according to his family.

☆ Pakistan's Musharraf, military ruler who allied with the U.S. and promoted moderate Islam
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/8] Pakistan's former President, Pervez Musharraf, addresses his supporters after his arrival from Dubai at Jinnah International airport in Karachi March 24, 2013. Musharraf, 79, died in hospital after a long illness after spending years in self-imposed exile, Pakistan media reported on Sunday. His father served in the foreign ministry, while his mother was a teacher and the family subscribed to a moderate, tolerant brand of Islam. Musharraf also successfully lobbied then-President George W. Bush to pour money into the Pakistani military. In 2006, Musharraf ordered military action that killed a tribal head from the province Balochistan, laying the foundations of an armed insurgency that rages to this day.

Faced with a shortage of US dollars, Pakistan only has enough foreign currency in its reserves to pay for three weeks of imports. Long lines are forming at gas stations as prices swing wildly in the country of 220 million. Pakistan’s currency, the rupee, recently dropped to new lows against the US dollar after authorities eased currency controls to meet one of the IMF’s lending conditions. The country has been spending more on trade than it has brought in, running down its stock of foreign currency and weighing on the rupee’s value. Pakistan's usually bustling ports, like this one in Karachi, have ground to a halt as the country grapples with a severe shortage of foreign currency.

☆ Pakistan says power restored after second major breakdown in months
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s energy minister on Tuesday blamed the worst power outage in months on a lack of investment in the network, saying the aid-dependent nation had “learned lessons” from the breakdown that left millions of people without electricity. Like much of the national infrastructure, the power network desperately needs an upgrade, but funding has been patchy as Pakistan lurched from one International Monetary Fund bailout to the next. The outage, which began on Monday morning, was the second major breakdown since October. Pakistan has enough installed power capacity to meet demand, but the sector is so heavily in debt that it cannot afford to invest in infrastructure and power lines. “The government plans to add more power distribution lines within the next 36 months,” he added.

☆ Tens of millions without power after Pakistan suffers major outage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Much of Pakistan was left without power for several hours on Monday morning as an energy-saving measure by the government backfired. The outage was reminiscent of a massive blackout in January 2021, attributed at the time to a technical fault in the country’s power generation and distribution system. According to the minister, during winter, electricity usage typically goes down overnight. A Metro station is closed after major power outage in Lahore, Pakistan on Monday. Pakistan is grappling with one of the country’s worst economic crisis in recent years amid dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —A nationwide power outage in Pakistan left nearly 220 million people without electricity on Monday, threatening to cause havoc in the South Asian nation already grappling with fuel shortages in the winter months. It is unclear how long the outage will last and efforts are underway to restore power to various parts of the country. The outage comes as the country’s fragile economy continues to struggle with multiple challenges, including a severe energy crisis. The decision to reduce energy usage came as Pakistan announced its foreign exchange reserves had dwindled to alarmingly low levels. Monday’s power outage is Pakistan’s most widespread power shutdown since 2021, when the nation plunged into darkness for hours after a “sudden plunge in the frequency in the power transmission system.”

☆ Mother, politician, trailblazer. How Jacinda Ardern became an icon for millions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Aina J. Khan | Aina Is A Freelance Reporter With Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

In the six years since then, she has become an icon of the left and a champion for women in public life, bringing a compassionate and authoritative energy to the hypermasculine realm of world politics. Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister, during a news conference in Sydney in June. Data released last year to New Zealand’s Newshub media outlet showed police recorded 18 threats to the prime minister in 2019, 32 in 2020 and 50 in 2021. If that person receives more than two-thirds of caucus support, Ardern said, she will resign soon after and the new leader will be sworn in as prime minister. Ardern said she plans to remain in Parliament until April, avoiding the need for a snap vote in her suburban Auckland electorate.

☆ Donors pledge more than $9 billion for Pakistan’s flood recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Officials from some 40 countries as well as private donors and international financial institutions gathered at a meeting in Geneva as Islamabad sought funds to cover around half of a recovery bill amounting to $16.3 billion. The meeting’s co-hosts, the United Nations and Pakistan’s government, said more than $9 billion had been pledged from bilateral and multilateral partners. Among the donors were the Islamic Development Bank ($4.2 billion), the World Bank ($2 billion), Saudi Arabia ($1 billion), as well as the European Union and China, Pakistan Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said. “Today has truly been a day which gives us great hope,” said Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan’s minister of state for foreign affairs. Millions of homes, tens of thousands of schools as well as thousands of kilometers of roads and railways still need to be rebuilt, the UN says.

☆ U.N. gathering seeks billions in aid for Pakistan after devastating floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“We need to be honest about the brutal injustice of loss and damage suffered by developing countries because of climate change,” Guterres told the gathering. “If there is any doubt about loss and damage — go to Pakistan. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, left, speaks with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a conference in Geneva on Monday. Many countries already doled out cash, supplies and other support for Pakistan in the immediate follow-up to the flooding. Climate scientists found that the floods in Pakistan were worsened by global heating although economic, societal and construction-oriented factors also played a role.

☆ Suicide bombing in Pakistan's capital kills 2 suspects and a policeman
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

At least three police officers and seven passersby were wounded in the bombing in Islamabad. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the explosion. Friday’s bombing happened about 9 miles from the garrison city of Rawalpindi, home of the military and government spy agencies. Pakistani Taliban have stepped up attacks on security forces since November, when they unilaterally ended a monthslong cease-fire with the country’s government. The Pakistani Taliban are separate but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan last year as U.S. and NATO troops withdrew after 20 years of war.

One month since Arshad Sharif was killed, Kenyan and Pakistani authorities have not concluded their reports nor have there been any arrests in the case. “I have no faith in the Pakistani government,” his mother, Riffat Ara Alvi told CNN in a video interview. But I request all the international journalistic organizations and United Nations to investigate this killing,” his widow, Javeria Siddique told CNN. Arshad Sharif Sharif was a critic of the Pakistani military and an ally of former prime minister Imran Khan. Sharif and Khurram Ahmed left Ammodump around 8:30 p.m. local time, a detective involved in the case told CNN.

☆ Pakistan Chooses New Army Chief Amid Confrontation With Imran Khan
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Saeed Shah | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Lt. Gen. Asim Munir will be Pakistan’s next chief of army staff, a position widely considered to be the country’s most powerful office. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—A general who was removed from leadership of Pakistan’s spy agency by former Prime Minister Imran Khan will take over as the country’s next army chief. Lt. Gen. Asim Munir will succeed Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa , who will retire next week, the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced Thursday. The chief of army staff position is widely thought to be the most powerful office in a country that has seen multiple coups, and where the military exerts massive influence over the government and policy even when not formally in power.

Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt CNN —Delegates from nearly 200 counties at the COP27 climate summit have agreed to set up a “loss and damage” fund meant to help vulnerable countries cope with climate disasters, in a landmark deal early Sunday morning in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. And in previous public remarks, US Climate Envoy John Kerry had said loss and damage was not the same thing as climate reparations. “This loss and damage fund will be a lifeline for poor families whose houses are destroyed, farmers whose fields are ruined, and islanders forced from their ancestral homes,” World Resources Institute CEO Ani Dasgupta said. Beyond 1.5 degrees, the risk of extreme drought, wildfires, floods and food shortages will increase dramatically, scientists said in the latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. On Saturday, EU officials threatened to walk out of the meeting if the final agreement failed to endorse the goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

☆ Should rich countries pay climate 'reparations'? What the COP27 debate means
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Leila Sackur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

More than 1,700 people, including more than 500 children, were killed in the extreme flooding and 33 million more displaced. Pakistan’s environmental footprint — how much carbon it has put into the atmosphere in recent decades — is significantly less than other countries. And at an individual level, the environmental footprint of most Pakistanis is much smaller than people in countries like the United States. Wealthy nations increasingly are being called upon to pay up, with $75.8 million being pledged in “loss and damage” payments at COP27 so far. At the previous climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, wealthy nations rejected proposals for a specific loss and damage fund, although countries agreed to start a “dialogue” on the issue.

☆ T20 World Cup: England secure a dramatic victory in the final against Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —England won the T20 World Cup Final in sensational style, defeating Pakistan by five wickets in front of more than 80,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. As he did three years ago when England won the one-day World Cup, Stokes hit the winning runs and, with those runs, England became the first ever men’s side to hold the one day and T20 World Cup at the same time. I think the way we bowled, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran, that’s what won us the game,” Stokes said afterwards, according to the BBC. William West/AFP/Getty ImagesPakistan batted first, after England won the toss and elected to bowl, but struggled to set a high total under a barrage of precise bowling. But England attacked off the final four overs and wrapped up the victory with six balls to spare.

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —A Pakistani journalist shot dead by police in Kenya last month was the victim of a “targeted killing,” a senior member of Pakistan’s government said on Tuesday, without offering any evidence to support his claim. Television journalist Arshad Sharif – a vocal critic of the Pakistani military – died in a police shooting near Kenya’s capital Nairobi on October 23. Kenyan police told CNN they were unaware Pakistani officials had made any allegations about non-cooperation. Sharif fled Pakistan in August after sedition charges were leveled against him for allegedly criticizing state institutions and “abetting mutiny” within the military. The associate said Sharif then went to Kenya and had only been in the East African country for a few weeks before his death.

☆ Steffan Nero: The record-breaking Australian blind cricketer who has found a 'family' in the sport
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

There’s goalball, there’s tennis, there’s soccer, there’s cricket, AFL, golf. Nero remembers being introduced to sport when he played cricket with his dad at the park. Cricket Australia‘Flourishing’Playing cricket was purely about enjoyment at the beginning for Nero, though adjusting to a completely new sport is tough. Nero remembers one training session where one of the more established players, Lindsay Heaven, took him under his wing. Having reached 309 not out – surpassing the previous Australian record of 222 held by Eugene Negruk – Nero remembers the fatigue he felt afterwards.

☆ Imran Khan Shooting Heightens Political Tensions in Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Saeed Shah | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Pakistan’s government said that a lone religious extremist shot former Prime Minister Imran Khan, rebutting the claim he made from his hospital bed that the administration and the military were behind the attack on Thursday. Clashes broke out Friday between Mr. Khan’s supporters and police and paramilitary forces in several towns, with tear gas fired and baton charges. Protesters set tires on fire.

☆ Ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan stable after shooting; party to hold protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan is in a stable condition after being shot and wounded during a protest march, a senior leader from his party said Friday. One of Khan’s supporters was killed and 13 others, including two lawmakers, were wounded in the attack. He provided no further details, but Khan’s party in a brief statement urged supporters to hold nationwide rallies to condemn the shooting. Asad Umar, a senior figure from Khan’s party, blamed the shooting on Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the country’s interior minister, and an army general without offering any evidence. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said some political elements from Khan’s party were trying to create chaos in the country following the attack.

☆ Imran Khan Accuses Pakistan Leaders Over Shooting as Political Tensions Rise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Saeed Shah | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—A day after being shot, former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan alleged the country’s leader and a senior military official were behind the attack on him, without offering any evidence for the claim, which the government and the army have denied. Mr. Khan was shot in the leg on Thursday as he stood atop a makeshift stage mounted on a truck, leading a protest convoy to Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. The government has said a lone religious fanatic, who was caught at the scene, has confessed to being Mr. Khan’s assailant.

☆ Fact Check-Imran Khan photo from 2014 falsely used in reports about 2022 shooting
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A photo posted on the official Twitter account of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2014 is being falsely used in reports about a Nov. 3 shooting attack in which he was wounded in the shin. Several in his convoy were wounded in the attack in Wazirabad, nearly 200 km (120 miles) from the capital. However, the picture being shared on social media dates was posted in 2014 and is not from the 2022 shooting. It was posted on the former prime minister’s verified Twitter account in 2014 (here) and captioned: “Night at the dharna.”VERDICTMiscaptioned. The image being shared was posted in 2014 and does not show the aftermath of the shooting of Imran Khan in November 2022.

☆ Pakistan’s ex-leader Imran Khan wounded in gun attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Party official Asad Umar says Khan was wounded in the foot and was not seriously hurt. Khan with later seen with a bandage on his right leg, just above the foot, according to reports and a blurry image. An unspecified number of supporters from his Tehreek-e-Insaf party who were part of the march were also wounded, according to the announcement from the party. The attack happened less than a week after Khan began his march from Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, along with thousands of supporters. Earlier, Fawad Chaudhry, a senior leader in Khan’s party, had said they plan to enter Islamabad on Friday.

☆ India inch closer to semis after nervy win vs. Bangladesh
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

India moved to top of Group 2 with six points, one ahead of South Africa who have played one game fewer. Litton gave Bangladesh a rollicking start scoring 56 of his team’s 60 runs in the first six powerplay overs. He raced to a 21-ball fifty before rain halted play with Bangladesh on 66 for no loss after seven overs. “It’s been the story when we play India. “It was a great game, the crowd enjoyed and both teams enjoyed.

☆ Beyond Catastrophe: A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | Photographs Devin Oktar Yalkin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +53 min

Beyond Catastrophe A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View By David Wallace-WellsYou can never really see the future, only imagine it, then try to make sense of the new world when it arrives. (A United Nations report released this week ahead of the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, confirmed that range.) A little lower is possible, with much more concerted action; a little higher, too, with slower action and bad climate luck. There were climate-change skeptics in some very conspicuous positions of global power. New emissions peaks are expected both this year and next, which means that more damage is being done to the future climate of the planet right now than at any previous point in history.

Nairobi CNN Business —Arshad Sharif, a prominent Pakistani journalist who fled the country after he was charged with sedition, has died in Kenya after he was shot by police responding to reports of a stolen vehicle, authorities said. Sharif was “fatally wounded by a police officer,” he said, adding that the incident was being investigated. “I lost friend, husband and my favourite journalist @arsched today, as per police he was shot in Kenya,” Sharif’s wife, Javeria Siddique, tweeted Monday. Sharif had “only been in Kenya for a few weeks since that is one of the few places Pakistani passport holders don’t need a visa for entry,” the associate said. “Sharif’s death has robbed the media fraternity globally of a dedicated and forthright journalist,” FPA Africa said in a statement.

Search resuls for: "Pakistan’s"

25 mentions found