ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has put an American diplomat Col Joseph Emanuel Hall, who recently killed a motorcyclist and his pillion passenger in a road accident, on a black list to prevent him from leaving the country, revealed Deputy Attorney General Raja Khalid on Tuesday as he appeared in Islamabad High Court, which is looking into the tragic incident.
Khalid told the court that placing the US diplomat’s name on the exit control list would entail a lengthy procedure, adding that it was not even possible to put him on trial in Pakistan since he enjoyed diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention.
Hall, who is stationed in Islamabad where he works with the US Embassy as defense attaché, killed a Pakistani national, Atiq Baig, and injured his cousin, Raheel Ahmed, when he jumped a red light in his SUV and crashed into the other vehicle.
The incident took place on April 7, creating a sense of resentment among Pakistanis who have also witnessed unsavory incidents involving American diplomats in the past.
While the police rushed to the accident site, they could not accomplish much since Hall refused to step out of his vehicle or take an alcohol test.
The court was particularly riled by the way the law enforcement agency handled the issue, expressing displeasure with its officials and even observing that they “trembled” to see a foreigner.
The road accident happened at a time when US-Pakistan relations had already touched a new low.
The two countries have been trying to resolve a host of security and diplomatic issues. Their relations remain frosty, though a senior State Department official, Alice Wells, was in the federal capital just days ago to continue official engagements between the two countries.
Pakistan puts US diplomat on black list for killing biker in road accident
Pakistan puts US diplomat on black list for killing biker in road accident
- Col Joseph Emanuel Hall, defense attaché at the US embassy in Islamabad, killed a Pakistani national, Atiq Baig, when he jumped a red light in his SUV and crashed into the motorbike.
- Placing the US diplomat’s name on exit control list will entail a lengthy procedure, Deputy Attorney General tells the court.
Pakistan’s DealCart raises $3 mln in funding round led by prominent Middle East investment fund
- DealCart aims to provide affordable daily essential products to underserved communities in Pakistan through a gamified and interactive platform
- The Pakistani startup helps unlock more value by sourcing products directly from manufacturers and collaborating with locally manufactured brands
ISLAMABAD: DealCart, a Pakistani e-commerce startup focused on transforming the way consumers access essential goods, has successfully raised $3 million in a funding round led by leading Middle East investment fund, Shorooq Partners, the startup said on Friday.
DealCart aims to provide affordable daily essential products to underserved communities in Pakistan through a gamified and interactive platform. The startup helps unlock more value by enabling users to “buy together and save together,” sourcing products directly from manufacturers and collaborating with locally manufactured brands.
Founded in 2017, Shorooq Partners is a leading alternative investment manager across the Middle East and North Africa region, with its venture capital and private credit funds investing in innovative technology companies. The firm has built deep sectoral expertise in fintech, platforms, software, gaming, and Web3.0, and has backed market-leading disruptors.
The funding round also saw participation from Sturgeon Capital, 500 Global, Evolution VC, Rayn Capital and Khyber Venture Partners, and the capital infusion will help DealCart expand its reach and provide affordable essential goods to low- and middle-income consumers across Pakistan, according to the e-commerce startup.
“This investment from Shorooq Partners is a testament to the potential of DealCart to revolutionize the way Pakistani consumers shop for essentials,” DealCart founders Haider Raza and Ammar Naveed said in a statement. “Our goal is to make everyday necessities more affordable and accessible, and this funding will help us get closer to that vision.”
Pakistan’s has for months been facing high inflation, which soared past 30 percent in 2023, putting significant financial strain on a majority of households.
DealCart aims to ease this financial burden by sourcing products directly from manufacturers and targets consumers who spend about 50 to 60 percent of their income on groceries and essentials, helping them save more and invest in a better future. The company also targets a digitally sophisticated younger population that prefers online retail spaces, according to the statement.
Despite rapid e-commerce growth in neighboring India, Pakistan’s e-commerce sector has lagged and to boost digital transactions and stimulate e-commerce, the State Bank of Pakistan introduced RAAST, an online instant payment platform, that has positioned DealCart to address market gaps.
“DealCart has identified a market gap and is developing a distinctive approach to social commerce and providing affordable essentials to most consumers, an approach that aligns with our mission to support market-leading disruptors,” said Omer Zabit, principal at Shorooq Partners.
“We believe this investment will enable DealCart to scale rapidly and significantly impact the lives of millions in Pakistan.”
Pakistan congratulates Labour Party’s Keir Starmer on UK election win
- Jaded electorate handed Labour landslide victory, punishing Conservatives for 14 years of economic and political upheaval
- Conservatives set to have seats in House of Commons cut down to around 130, worst in party’s two-century history
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Pakistani Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday congratulated Labour Party leader Keir Starmer for his historic victory in British elections, emphasizing the “deep-rooted and broad-based” ties between the two nations.
Britain’s Labour Party swept to power after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory, punishing the governing Conservatives after 14 years of economic and political upheaval. With almost all the results in, Labour had won 410 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons and the Conservatives 118.
Starmer will officially become prime minister later in the day, leading his party back to government less than five years after it suffered its worst defeat in almost a century. But he won’t become prime minister until a carefully choreographed ceremony during which King Charles III will formally ask him to form a new government.
“I extend my heartfelt felicitations to Keir Starmer, Leader of The Labour Party on the historic victory in the parliamentary election in the United Kingdom,” the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) quoted Dar as saying in a post on X. “Pakistan and UK share deep-rooted and broad-based ties founded in shared history and people-to-people contacts.”
The deputy PM expressed confidence in enhancing and strengthening bilateral relations between both countries under Starmer’s leadership, adding that the two countries would work together for global peace, prosperity and development.
As votes came in, British PM Rishi Sunak left the prime minister’s residence and headed to Buckingham Palace to offer his resignation to King Charles III. He said earlier he took responsibility for his party’s loss and that he had called Starmer to congratulate him.
After more than a decade in power under five different prime ministers, Sunak ‘s Conservatives are set to have their seats in the 650-seat House of Commons cut down to around 130. That would be the Tories’ worst result in the party’s two-century history and one that would leave the party in disarray.
Britain has experienced a run of turbulent years — some of it of the Conservatives’ own making and some of it not — that has left many voters pessimistic about their country’s future. The UK’s exit from the European Union followed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine battered the economy, while lockdown-breaching parties held by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff caused widespread resentment and anger.
With inputs from AP
Three killed, five injured in roadside blast in northwest Pakistan
- The improvised explosive device targeted an auto-rickshaw in the Mardan district
- No group claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on Pakistani Taliban
PESHAWAR: Three people were killed and five others were injured in a remote-controlled roadside blast in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Friday, police said.
The improvised explosive device (IED) targeted an auto-rickshaw in KP’s Mardan district, according to police and rescue officials.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has claimed dozens of attacks in the region.
“The IED targeted a Tez Raftar rickshaw near Jalala Bridge in Takht Bhai tehsil of Mardan district,” District Police Officer Zahoor Afridi told Arab News. “Three persons died and five others were injured due to the blast.”
Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for the Rescue 1122 service, said the injured persons were rushed to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Takht Bhai and Mardan Medical Complex. “One person succumbed to injuries during treatment,” he added.
Pakistan has witnessed a renewed surge in militant violence in its two western provinces, KP and Balochistan, since the TTP called off its fragile truce with the government in November 2022.
Earlier this month, a policeman and a paramilitary soldier were killed after militants attacked a check-post in KP’s Khyber district. In June, seven Pakistani soldiers, including an army captain, were killed in a roadside blast in the Lakki Marwat district of the province.
Islamabad has blamed the surge in violence on militants operating out of neighboring Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegation and says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue of Islamabad.
Pakistan’s Punjab seeks social media ban over security concerns during Muharram processions
- The measure is aimed at protecting the Shi’ite minority from sectarian violence, the provincial government said
- Civil and rights groups have criticized the ban as an attack on freedom of speech and access to information
LAHORE: Pakistan’s largest province of Punjab is proposing a ban on all social media platforms for six days due to security concerns during thousands of religious processions which start next week, its information minister Uzma Bukhari said on Friday.
The proposal relates to Muharram’s Ashura processions, 10 days of mourning by minority Shiite Muslims. The event is the holiest in the Shiite calendar and commemorates the 7th century death of political and religious leader Hussain Ibn Ali.
Hussain was grandson of the Muslims’ last Prophet Muhammad.
“It is a recommendation, and no decision has so far been taken,” Bukhari told Reuters, adding that the government had received reports of some sectarian issues on social media which he said could “put the country on fire.”
The measure is aimed at protecting the minority from sectarian violence, the provincial government wrote in a letter to Pakistan’s interior ministry on Thursday.
The letter, which was seen by Reuters, said social media platforms such as “Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Tiktok be suspended across the province of Punjab ... in order to control hate material/misinformation.”
The interior ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Pakistan has blocked access to X since its February election, which the interior ministry said in a court submission in April was due to national security concerns.
Civil and rights groups have criticized the ban as an attack on freedom of speech and access to information in a highly polarized country amid allegations of election fraud.
Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party has said that the suspension of cell phone service on the election day followed by the X ban was an attempt to hurt his supporters, who rely heavily on social media.
A court is due to rule on the last of Khan’s many convictions on July 12, the first day of the latest proposed ban. It was not clear whether the proposal is related to any likely threat of protests by his supporters.
Top cricket teams scheduled to tour Pakistan as PCB announces 2024-25 home season
- From August 2024 to March 2025, the Pakistan men’s cricket team will play nine Tests, nine T20Is and at least 14 ODIs
- Tests against Bangladesh, England, South Africa and West Indies will be part of ICC World Test Championship 2023-25
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday announced details of men’s 2024-25 home international cricket season, with the national side set to compete in three Test series and participate in the first ODI tri-series in 21 years in the lead up to the eight-team ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on home turf.
In the curtain-raiser series of the 2024-25 home international season, Bangladesh will play two Tests in Rawalpindi (August 21-25) and Karachi (August 30-September 3), while Pakistan will host England for three Tests in Multan (October 7-11), Karachi (October 15-19) and Rawalpindi (October 24-28).
The West Indies will visit for two Tests in Karachi (16-20 January) and Multan (24-28 January). Additionally, New Zealand and South Africa will participate in an ODI tri-series in Multan on February 8-14. The international season will culminate with the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final, proposed for March 9.
Bangladesh last played a Test in Pakistan in February 2020, while England swept the three-Test series in December 2022. The 2025 series will also mark the West Indies’ first Test tour to Pakistan since November 2006 when Brian Lara captained the side against Inzamam-ul-Haq’s men. Pakistan last hosted the West Indies for a Test series in October 2016 in the United Arab Emirates.
“It was critically important for us to finalize, lock and announce our 2024-25 home international cricket season now. This ensures that both the men’s cricket team managements and the PCB event staff have sufficient time to prepare, plan and deliver these series to our very high expectations and standards, showcasing Pakistan as an outstanding cricket nation and the PCB as a thoroughly professional organization,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement.
“These series are a vital part of our strategy to strengthen Pakistan’s position in international cricket and ensure long-term sustainability for the sport in our country. The visits by five top cricket playing nations in the lead-up to the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, followed by seven countries participating in the event proper over the next eight months, also highlight Pakistan’s standing and stature in international cricket. We deeply value the participation of these teams and players, who will bring immense talent and competitive spirit to our fields.”
Apart from the home international fixtures, the men’s team will tour Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa from November 4 to January 7, playing two Tests, nine ODIs and nine T20Is.
From August 2024 to March 2025, the Pakistan men’s cricket team will play nine Tests, nine T20Is and at least 14 ODIs. The number of ODIs may increase based on their performance in the ODI tri-series and the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, according to the PCB.
The Tests against Bangladesh, England, South Africa and the West Indies will be part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25. Pakistan has so far played five Tests in two series against Sri Lanka and Australia, winning two and losing three. This has placed them in fifth position on the points table with 22 points. India leads the table with 74 points after three series, followed by Australia (90 points from four series), New Zealand (36 points from three series), and Sri Lanka (24 points from two series).
With each of the top nine Test-playing nations scheduled to play six series (three home and three away) in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle, strong performances in the upcoming four series could put Pakistan in contention for a place in the final, scheduled for Lord’s in June 2025.
