Pakistani-American man handed death sentence for beheading ex-diplomat’s daughter

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Pakistani-American Zahir Jaffer, convicted to murder his girlfriend, Noor Mukadam, arrives in a court before the case verdict in Islamabad on Thursday. (AFP)
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Updated 24 February 2022
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Pakistani-American man handed death sentence for beheading ex-diplomat’s daughter

  • Zahir Jaffer, 30, murdered Noor Mukadam in July last year
  • The murder sparked public outrage, grabbed media attention across Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan court sentenced to death the scion of one of the country’s wealthiest families on Thursday for raping and beheading a 27-year-old woman, bringing to a close a saga that has gripped the South Asian nation. 

Pakistani-American Zahir Jaffer, 30, attacked Noor Mukadam at his Islamabad home in July last year. The murder sparked public outrage and grabbed media attention unlike any other recent crime against women in Pakistan.

In a courtroom packed with journalists, lawyers and private citizens, and guarded by dozens of policemen, Jaffer, a childhood friend of the victim, was also sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for rape, 10 years in jail for abduction, and given a one-year jail term for keeping Mukadam in illegal confinement. 

Jaffer had raped Mudakam, the daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat, and tortured her with a knuckle duster before beheading her. 

He was arrested at his home on the day of the murder and indicted last October. 

Others charged in the case included Jaffer’s parents, Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee, three members of their household staff, named as Iftikhar, Jan Muhammad and Jameel, and six employees of Therapy Works, a counseling center from where Jaffer had received certification as a therapist, and where he had been receiving treatment in the weeks leading up to the murder.

On Thursday, the judge handed down the death sentence for Jaffer and 10 years in jail for both Iftikhar and Jan Mohammad. All others were acquitted.

“He (Zahir Jaffer) will be hanged by his neck till he is dead,” the judge wrote in a short order. 

Mukadam’s father, Shaukat Mukadam, hailed the court’s verdict and thanked the media for keeping the case alive.

“He (Jaffer) is given the death sentence and we are satisfied with that,” Shaukat told Arab News shortly after the verdict was announced. “It was a very hard and painful, long and painful process.”

He added that he would consult his lawyers on how to legally pursue Jaffer’s parents and others acquitted of charges.

The trial was one of the most closely-watched in recent Pakistani history. 

Hundreds of women are killed in Pakistan every year, with thousands more suffering brutal violence across the country. But few cases receive sustained media attention, and only a small fraction of perpetrators are ever punished. 

The shocking murder, involving members of the privileged elite of Pakistani society, triggered an explosive reaction from women’s rights activists reckoning with pervasive violence. It also increased pressure for a swift conclusion of the trial, in a country known to have a sluggish justice system, where cases typically drag on for years.

Advocate Shah Khawar, who pleaded Mukadam’s case in court, said “maximum punishment” had been awarded to the key suspect, adding: “We are very much satisfied with this decision.

“What we believe is that today justice (has been awarded) to the soul of Noor Mukadam. Her parents and relatives and every member of the society who was following this case, they are satisfied that justice has been done.”


Air India plane with 242 on board crashes at India’s Ahmedabad airport

Updated 4 sec ago
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Air India plane with 242 on board crashes at India’s Ahmedabad airport

  • The plane was reportedly a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft
  • It was headed to Gatwick airport in the United Kingdom when it crashed in a civilian area near the airport

NEW DELHI: An Air India plane headed to London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India’s western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, the airline and police said, without specifying whether there were any fatalities.

The plane was headed to Gatwick airport in the UK, Air India said, while police officers said it crashed in a civilian area near the airport.

Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service.

“At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates,” Air India said on X.

The crash occurred when the aircraft was taking off, television channels reported. One channel showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then disappearing from the screen before a huge cloud of fire rising into the sky from beyond the houses.

Visuals also showed debris on fire, with thick black smoke rising up into the sky near the airport.

They also showed visuals of people being moved in stretchers and being taken away in ambulances.

According to air traffic control at Ahmedabad airport, the aircraft departed at 1.39 p.m. (0809 GMT) from runway 23. It gave a “Mayday” call, signalling an emergency, but thereafter there was no response from the aircraft.

Flightradar24 also said that it received the last signal from the aircraft seconds after it took off.

“The aircraft involved is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with registration VT-ANB,” it said.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The last fatal plane crash in India involved Air India Express, the airline’s low-cost arm.

The airline’s Boeing-737 overshot a “table-top” runway at Kozhikode International Airport in southern India in 2020. The plane skidded off the runway, plunging into a valley and crashing nose-first into the ground.
Twenty-one people were killed in that crash.


Air India passenger plane with 244 aboard crashes in India’s northwestern Ahmedabad city

Updated 3 min 17 sec ago
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Air India passenger plane with 244 aboard crashes in India’s northwestern Ahmedabad city

NEW DELHI: An Air India passenger plane with 244 people onboard crashed Thursday in India’s northwestern city of Ahmedabad, the airline and local media reported.

Visuals on local television channels showed smoke billowing from the crash site near the airport in Ahmedabad.

Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the director general of the directorate of civil aviation, told The Associated Press that Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787, crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. local time.

The flight was bound for London’s Gatwick Airport.

There were 232 passengers and 12 crew members onboard and emergency teams have been activated at the airport, Kidwai said.

The 787 Dreamliner is a widebody, twin-engined plane. This is the first crash ever of a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.


Beijing hails improving Vatican ties after Pope Leo names first Chinese bishop

Updated 12 June 2025
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Beijing hails improving Vatican ties after Pope Leo names first Chinese bishop

  • China recognizes appointment of Joseph Lin Yuntuan as auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou, capital of eastern Fujian province
  • The Vatican and China do not have formal diplomatic relations because the Holy See recognizes Taiwan

BEIJING: Beijing hailed on Thursday improving ties with the Vatican after the first appointment of a Chinese bishop under Pope Leo XIV, signaling the new pontiff’s support for a controversial accord on nominations struck by his predecessor.

The Holy See expressed “satisfaction” on Wednesday at the recognition by China of the appointment of Joseph Lin Yuntuan as auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou, capital of eastern Fujian province. The pope made the nomination on June 5.

Beijing’s foreign ministry said the naming of the first Chinese bishop under the new pope had “enhanced understanding and mutual trust through constructive dialogue” with the Vatican.

“China is willing to work together with the Vatican to promote the continuous improvement of China-Vatican relations,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular news briefing.

The Vatican and China do not have formal diplomatic relations because the Holy See recognizes Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own territory.

However, they agreed in a historic deal in 2018 to let both sides have a say in the naming of bishops in China, home to about 12 million Catholics.

The deal – the text of which has never been made public – has drawn criticism within the Church, with some seeing it as allowing the Communist Party government a stranglehold over China’s Catholics.

The deal was renewed several times as Pope Francis sought to make inroads for the Church in China, most recently in October 2024 for four years.

“With the joint efforts of both sides, the provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops has been smoothly implemented,” Lin Jian said.


Rescuers in South Africa search for the missing after floods leave at least 49 dead

Updated 12 June 2025
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Rescuers in South Africa search for the missing after floods leave at least 49 dead

  • The missing included four high school students who were swept away when their bus was caught up in the floods near a river on Tuesday
  • The floods hit early Tuesday after an extreme cold front brought heavy rain, strong winds and snow to parts of eastern and southern South Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa: Rescue teams began a third day searching for missing people Thursday after floods devastated parts of South Africa’s rural Eastern Cape province and left at least 49 dead.

Authorities said they expected the death toll to rise.

The missing included four high school students who were swept away when their bus was caught up in the floods near a river on Tuesday. Six students on the bus were confirmed dead, while three were rescued after clinging onto trees and calling out for help, according to the provincial government.

The floods hit the province early Tuesday after an extreme cold front brought heavy rain, strong winds and snow to parts of eastern and southern South Africa. Forecasters had warned about the damaging weather last week.

Eastern Cape provincial government officials said they believed people were still missing but did not give an exact number. They were working with families to find out who was still unaccounted for, they said.

On Wednesday, rescue teams brought bodies out of the water in blue body bags, while witnesses said many people had taken refuge on the top of buildings or in trees.

The floods centered on the town of Mthatha and its surrounding district, which is around 430 kilometers (267 miles) south of the east coast city of Durban.

Officials said at least 58 schools and 20 hospitals were damaged, while hundreds of families were left homeless after their houses were submerged under water or washed away by the floods. Critical infrastructure including roads and bridges has been badly damaged, Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said.

He said it was one of the worst weather-related disasters his province had experienced.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced he had activated the National Disaster Management Center to help local authorities in the Eastern Cape, while national officials were expected to visit the province on Thursday.


Ukrainian pea prices may rise amid expected exports to China, producers say

Updated 12 June 2025
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Ukrainian pea prices may rise amid expected exports to China, producers say

  • UAC said an increase in demand could push pea prices up to as much as 16,000 hryvnias ($385.33) per metric ton

KYIV: Prices for Ukrainian peas may rise significantly by mid-summer on the back of expected significant supplies to China, which opened its market to Ukrainian peas this spring, Ukrainian producers union UAC said on Thursday.

Farmers sowed 250,000 hectares of peas in 2025 compared with 212,000 hectares in 2024, farm ministry data shows.

“China has opened its market, and a significant part of the peas will probably go there,” UAC said in a statement.

UAC said an increase in demand could push pea prices up to as much as 16,000 hryvnias ($385.33) per metric ton ex works (EXW) in late summer against the current 14,000 hryvnias.

The farm ministry has said pea production in Ukraine could increase to 476,000 metric tons in the 2025/26 July-June season from 409,000 tons in 2024/25.

Ukraine exports its peas mostly to Turkiye, India, Italy, Malaysia, the ministry said.