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JOHANNESBURG: The third and last Twenty20 between South Africa and Pakistan was washed out on Saturday at the Wanderers.
Match officials waited two hours after the scheduled late-afternoon start before abandoning the game without a ball bowled due to rain and lightning.
South Africa won 2-0, its first bilateral series victory since August 2022.
The teams begin a three-match one-day international series on Tuesday in Paarl, followed by two tests.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Riyadh on Sunday to discuss bilateral ties and issues of mutual concern with Saudi Arabia, the interior ministry said as both countries continue efforts to forge closer economic and investment ties.
Pakistan has looked toward Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern states in recent months to attract foreign investment and ensure economic stability.
Islamabad and Riyadh signed several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in October worth $2.8 billion that Pakistan says will bring much-needed foreign investment into the cash-starved country.
Naqvi met Saudi Arabia’s Undersecretary of Interior Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Battal after his arrival in Riyadh, the interior ministry said.
“Matters of mutual interest and discussions on Pakistan-Saudi Arabia relations were held,” the interior ministry said.
Naqvi congratulated the Saudi leadership on successfully winning the bid for hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup, expressing his best wishes for the Kingdom.
“Saudi Arabia is our most trusted Islamic friends. Every Pakistani is proud of this friendship,” Naqvi added.
He praised Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 program, saying that it has created “historic progress and prosperity” in the Kingdom.
Al-Battal noted that the two countries enjoyed very close ties to each other, adding that he was looking forward to further progress in bilateral relations during Naqvi’s ongoing tour of Saudi Arabia.
ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Ataullah Tarar on Sunday thanked his Lebanese counterpart for safely evacuating hundreds of Pakistani nationals from Syria this week, reaffirming Islamabad’s resolve to further strengthen ties with Beirut.
More than 1,300 Pakistanis were stranded in Syria since last week when opposition forces seized the capital of Damascus unopposed following a lightning advance that sent Syria’s President Basha Assad fleeing to Russia last week.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke to his Lebanese counterpart to arrange for the safe evacuation of hundreds of Pakistani citizens from Syria. Over 300 Pakistanis stranded in Syria arrived in Islamabad from Beirut via a chartered flight on Friday.
“Federal Minister for Information thanked the Lebanese leadership for facilitating the immediate evacuation of Pakistani citizens stranded in Syria via Beirut,” Pakistan’s information ministry said in a press release.
Tarar arrived in Turkiye on Dec. 13 for a three-day visit to the country to take part in the Stratcom Summit 2024 in Istanbul. He met Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makary in Istanbul to discuss bilateral ties between the two countries.
Tarar noted that the Lebanese prime minister responded to the telephonic conversation between him and Sharif, and ensured assistance was provided to Pakistani evacuees.
“Pakistan and Lebanon have brotherly and warm relations,” he said.
Pakistan has consistently sent relief consignments to the people of Lebanon and Gaza who had suffered from Israel’s bombardment. Lebanon and Israel agreed to a ceasefire last month, ending Israeli bombardment.
“The entire Pakistani nation stands with the people of Lebanon in this difficult time,” Tarar said.
Makary, on the other hand, thanked Islamabad for sending relief supplies to Lebanon during Israel’s bombardment, the press release said.
“Lebanon’s information minister reaffirmed his resolve to further strengthen ties between the two countries,” it added.
Islamabad: One Pakistani was killed while 47 others were rescued after a migrant boat sank off Greece’s coast this week, the foreign office confirmed on Sunday, saying it was unable to confirm the total number of persons who had died or were missing following the incident.
The tragedy took place on Friday when a migrant boat sank off the Greek island of Gavdos, south of Crete, according to Greece’s coast guard.
Many Pakistanis undertake the dangerous and illegal voyage to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea in hopes of securing a brighter future for themselves and their families.
“According to initial reports, 47 Pakistanis are among those rescued following yesterday’s incidents of capsized boats in the south of Crete Island of Greece,” the foreign office said. “One Pakistani is confirmed to be among the dead.”
The foreign office said it is unable to confirm the number of deceased or missing Pakistani nationals.
“The Embassy of Pakistan in Athens is in contact with the Hellenic Coast Guard and with the Coast Guard of Chania, which are directly dealing with the search and rescue operation,” it said.
“The Embassy officials have reached the Crete to meet with the rescued Pakistanis and provide them with any assistance required.”
The foreign ministry said it has activated its Crisis Management Unit to facilitate Pakistanis in Greece, encouraging them to contact the CMU for further details.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief at the incident, vowing stern punishment for culprits involved in trafficking humans.
“Such persons [human traffickers] should be identified and they should be handed strict punishments so that they do not repeat such heinous crimes again,” Sharif said in a statement shared by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
“Concrete steps should be taken to prevent such incidents from happening in future,” he added.
Sharif instructed Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to submit an inquiry report on the matter, describing human traffickers as a “cruel mafia” who extort money from the poor by selling them lofty dreams.
“Human trafficking is a heinous crime due to which many lives are lost and many houses are destroyed every year,” he said.
In June 2023, an estimated 350 Pakistanis were on board an overcrowded fishing boat carrying 700 migrants that sank off the coast of Greece.
Only 104 people, including 12 Pakistanis, were rescued and 82 bodies were recovered after the incident.
The episode prompted Pakistani authorities to launch a nationwide crackdown against human smugglers.
ISLAMABAD: The provincial government in Pakistan’s Punjab province has installed a Smog Clean Tower in the eastern city of Lahore to reduce air pollution, state-run media reported this week.
Smog had choked Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province for weeks last month, sickening nearly two million people and shrouding vast swathes of the province in a toxic haze.
Last month, the province closed down schools and offices, banned outdoor activities and shortened timings for restaurants, shops and markets in a bid to control smog as Lahore consistently ranked among the world’s most polluted cities in the world.
“Punjab Government has installed Smog Clean Tower in Lahore in collaboration with National University of Science and Technology,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Saturday.
“It has the capability of cleansing poisonous particles present in the air and will play an important role to reduce the pollution level in the city.”
Senior Punjab Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb described the initiative as a “revolutionary step,“saying that the use of modern technology is the need of the hour to control smog.
“She said that this tower will prove a model for Lahore and Pakistan,” Radio Pakistan said.
The dangerous smog is a byproduct of large numbers of vehicles, construction and industrial work as well as burning crops at the start of the winter wheat-planting season, experts say.
ISLAMABAD: Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party will hold a public gathering in Peshawar today, Sunday, to honor those who allegedly died during last month’s protest in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, party leaders said.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Nov. 24 led thousands of supporters to Islamabad, seeking to pressure the government to release the ex-premier from jail and order an audit of Feb. 8 national election results. The protests resulted in clashes that Pakistan’s government says killed four law enforcers and injured hundreds of others.
The PTI says at least 12 of its supporters were killed and another 37 sustained gunshot injuries due to firing by law enforcers near Islamabad’s Jinnah Avenue on Nov. 26, while 139 of its supporters were still “missing.” Pakistani authorities have denied the deaths, saying security personnel had not been carrying live ammunition during the protest.
In a video message on Saturday, Qasim Suri, former deputy speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly from the PTI, said Khan had instructed Pakistanis to observe Sunday as the “martyrs’ day” to honor the ones who died during the Islamabad protest, urging Pakistanis in the country and abroad to observe the day in their respective areas.
“The blood of those martyrs will never go in vain,” Suri said. “Hundreds of our supporters are still missing. Our mothers, sisters, our families are worried [about them].”
The development comes two days after the PTI filed a petition in an Islamabad court against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and other officials over “firing” on its supporters during last month’s protest.
The government has accused the PTI of waging a “propaganda” regarding the Islamabad protest, following statements by several PTI members that gave varied accounts of casualties.
It formed two task forces in the aftermath of the Islamabad protest: one to identify and take legal action against rioters and another to track and bring to justice suspects behind what the government described as a “malicious campaign” to spread “concocted, baseless and inciting” online news, images and video content against the state and security forces.
The PTI has staged several protests this year to demand the release of Khan and to challenge results of the Feb. 8 national election, which it says were manipulated to favor its opponents. The Pakistani government and election authorities deny this.
Last month’s protests were by far the largest to grip the capital since the poll, while Khan, who remains a popular figure in Pakistan despite being in prison and facing several court cases, has also threatened to launch a civil disobedience movement.
