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Complicated relationship kept Obama from travelling to Pakistan: White House Outgoing American president Barak Obama once 'expressed the desire' to visit Pakistan, but could not act upon the wish "for a variety of reasons, some of them relating to the complicated relationship between our two countries at certain times over the last eight years," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said at a news briefing . The subject sprang up at the news briefing in light of President-elect Donald Trump's telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, during which he said he would like to visit Pakistan. Earnest added that "ultimately, when President Trump begins planning his overseas travel, he'll have a range of places to consider, and Pakistan would certainly be one of them". He further said that a visit from the American president sends a powerful message to the people of a country, "whether it's some of our closest allies, o...

US reshaping budget to account for Russian military threat Russia's increasing military activities around the world have unsettled top US military officials, who say they are reshaping their budget plans to better address what they now consider to be the most pressing threat to US security. "Russia is the No 1 threat to the United States. We have a number of threats that we're dealing with, but Russia could be, because of the nuclear aspect, an existential threat to the United States," Air Force Secretary Deborah James told Reuters in an interview at the annual Reagan National Defence Forum. James, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson and Pentagon chief arms buyer Frank Kendall, all voiced growing concern about Russia's increasingly aggressive behaviour in interviews late on Saturday. Their comments come as the Pentagon finalises a classified security assessment for President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to both pump up US defence sp...

Why Urwa Hocane's new video is good for Pakistan's music scene During the past few days, two new music videos appeared that seemed to provide an example of each extreme answer to the perennial question — how far does one have to go to connect with fans and to make an impact? The first video was for a song by Urwa Hocane, the actress and one-half of the current ‘it’ couple in Pakistani entertainment along with her fiancé, Farhan Saeed. Both Farhan and Urwa — Furwa if you must — have been extremely visible over the past year. They’ve appeared in videos where they’re asked to answer questions about each other, pictures of their Eiffel Tower proposal was on every blog and magazine, and they performed an elaborate dance medley at the LSAs. Seen cynically, the entire relationship can feel like an elaborate PR campaign, with both performers playing out the expected roles of celebrity power couples in the modern age. During the past few days, two new music videos appeare...

PM Nawaz signs off on Diamer-Bhasha dam financing plan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday approved, in principle, the financing plan for the Diamer-Bhasha dam and ordered the secretary of water and power to start physical work on the dam before the end of 2017. Secretary Ministry of Water and Power Mohammad Younus Dagha presented the dam's financial proposal to the prime minister today,  Radio-Pakistan reported. The prime minister instructed Younus Dagha and the secretary of planning and finance to expedite the completion of the financial process and begin the physical process before the end of next year. This financial plan, made on a self-reliance basis, proposes that construction of the dam will receive a portion of the required funding from allocations made by the Public Sector Development Programme and from resources generated by Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda). The rest of the financing for the dam will be arranged on a commercial basis by the Min...

Jayalalithaa Jayaram suffers cardiac arrest, Tamil Nadu police put on high alert Authorities in southern India put police on high alert Monday, fearing an outbreak of civil unrest after one of the country's most popular leaders Jayalalithaa Jayaram suffered a cardiac arrest. Doctors treating the 68-year-old former film star, who enjoys an almost god-like status in the southern state of Tamil Nadu which she rules as chief minister, said she was in critical condition and had been admitted to intensive care. Hundreds of supporters have kept a round-the-clock vigil outside the private Apollo hospital in the state capital Chennai since she was first admitted in September suffering from a fever. On Monday television footage showed crowds praying for the chief minister, who is known simply as 'Amma', many of them in tears. "Amma should survive. I won't mind if my life is taken away, but Amma should live," one supporter cried. Jayalalithaa has not been s...

PM, COAS discuss national security Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain at the PM House and the Presidency respectively. Issues pertaining to national security were discussed in Gen Bajwa's separate meetings with the premier and the president. The president asked the COAS to continue the military Operation Zarb-i-Azb until its objectives were achieved. He further advised Gen Bajwa to continue working with the National Action Plan. Expressing his confidence in the leadership of General Bajwa, the president said the COAS will meet the nation's expectations for the country's defence. Bajwa's ascension Bajwa recently took over as the country's new army chief, with Prime Minister Nawaz appointing the COAS in the hope of  stabilising the fragile civil-military balance . The appointment was set in motion by the impending retirement of incumbent army chief Gen Raheel Shari...

Mira Sethi will make her writing debut with a short story collection due out in 2018   We've seen Mira Sethi flourish as an actor this year, and as 2016 comes to an end, we hear that she's also taking great strides as a writer too! Her debut collection of short stories has been picked up by publishing giants Knopf and Bloomsbury and is expected to release in the US, UK and India in 2018. Mira, who's previously worked as a book editor at Wall Street Journal and has been published in  The New York Times  and  The Caravan , is overjoyed by this new milestone in her career. "When my agent sent out my manuscript, I was praying the editors at Knopf would glance at it," said Mira. "To think that Knopf — whose writers I have read and obsessed about since I was a teenager — is now my publisher is a dizzying dream-come-true. Ditto with Bloomsbury, who publish some of the best women's writing in the world. I am just so thrilled." Mira's editors...

Security forces kill five 'militants' in Balochistan's Pishin Five suspected militants were killed during an exchange of fire with security forces in Balochistan's Pishin district on Monday morning. Deputy Commissioner Pishin Tariqur Rehman said security forces conducted a targeted operation in the district's Killi Huramzai area against the alleged militants who were affiliated with an outlawed group. Two security personnel were injured as militants opened fire on them, the deputy commissioner said. The injured personnel were rushed to the nearby Pishin hospital for medical treatment. Panic prevailed in the area after heavy exchange of fire between security forces and militants. People were confined to their homes and no one was allowed to proceed towards the spot of the action. More personnel were called in to maintain peace after the militants were killed and security forces cordoned off the area as an investigation went underway. "We have clear...

How Sarfraz Nawaz changed the face of Pakistan cricket It’s the winter of 1978 and Pakistan and India head for an ODI decider in Sahiwal. Pakistan posts 205 runs in 40 overs. In response , India cruises to 183/2. They require 23 runs in the last three overs, as Sarfraz Nawaz runs to bowl to a six-feet-tall Anshuman Gaekwad, who is batting on 78 runs. The ball is short and goes high over Gaekwad’s head, and straight into Wasim Bari’s gloves. All eyes are on Pakistani umpires Javed Akhtar and Khizer Hayat, but they remain unmoved. Sarfraz repeats the act on the following three deliveries. Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi is furious, and he waves to his batsmen to return to the pavilion. This became the first ever ODI to be conceded. The next one took another 22 years, when England’s Alec Stewart cited pitch invasion and walked off Headingly, Leeds. Pakistan needed 4 runs off 61 balls to win that match. Pakistan won the 1978 series against India 2-1 and Sahiwal never hosted ...

The sacred cows TO learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticise, said Voltaire. But it was Gen de Gaulle who aptly said that “nothing strengthens authority so much as silence”. Based on my four decades of public service, I decided after my retirement to break the silence about the misuse of authority and corrupt practices of sacred cows like the politicians, military rulers, judiciary and the police. I started my public service in the early 1970s when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the prime minister. While I met him personally during the Islamic Summit at Lahore in 1974, I was too junior to know about his governance mindset. Although I heard from my seniors that he was not financially corrupt, he could be a tyrant to his political opponents as I found out with the parting of ways between him and his once-favourite governor Punjab. The latter had defied him by contesting elections against his wishes in Lahore where I was posted as extra assistant commis...

Trump and Modi will be 'best friends', says adviser to US president-elect The US president- elect  will be "best friends" with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said adviser to Donald Trump and President of the Republican Hindu Coalition, Shalabh Kumar on Thursday. While answering a question regarding Trump's expected policy towards Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kumar said, "They will be best friends ─ not only the two nations will be best friends, but these two gentlemen will be best friends. Donald Trump knows about Modi through me. He is very keen to learn about Modi." "He [Trump] calls out the camel in the room when nobody else does. He already talks about cross-border terrorism ─ he is the first president to do so, essentially acknowledging that Pakistan is a perpetrator of terrorism," said Kumar while commenting on Trump's policy on South Asian security in the context of India's rivalry with Pakistan. "Wha...

India looks forward to Trump addressing Pakistan's 'outstanding issues': Swarup The Indian government on Friday referring to a telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and US President-elect Donald Trump said it looked forward to Trump helping Pakistan "address the most outstanding of its outstanding issues",  Times of India  reported. Indian Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the Indian government was aware of reports of the phone call and said, "We look forward to the President-elect helping Pakistan address the most outstanding of its outstanding issues ─ terrorism." During a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Nawaz on Wednesday Trump said he is willing to play any role that Pakistan wants to find solutions to outstanding problems. The  text of the conversation  released by government's Press Information Department (PID) shows that during the conversation Trump also praised Nawaz and e...

Syria army retakes over half of militant-held east Aleppo Syria's army advanced overnight deeper into east Aleppo where it now controls more than half of the former militant stronghold after a fierce assault that has sparked an international outcry. Thousands of civilians have fled eastern neighbourhoods of the battered city since President Bashar al-Assad's government began its latest offensive in mid-November. Overnight, government troops and allied forces seized the district of Tariq al-Bab where heavy fighting had raged a day earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday. The government has now recaptured around 60 per cent of eastern parts of the city that the militants overran in mid-2012, according to the Britain-based monitor. The advance opens the road leading from the government-controlled west of the city to the international airport just outside Aleppo to the east, which is also held by the government forces. A general view taken from...

No solution for Aleppo without negotiations, say EU, UN ROME: Top EU and UN diplomats warned on Saturday that there could be no victory in the battle for the Syrian city of Aleppo without negotiations aimed at ensuring a viable future for the war-torn country. “You can win a war but you can lose the peace,” said Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief, at a conference on the Mediterranean region in Rome. “Who is interested in winning a war in Syria and getting at a price a country that is divided, armed, full of terrorists... isolated in the international community?” Mogherini asked, adding that she did not consider President Bashar al-Assad’s regime as having already won the Aleppo battle. As of Saturday the Syrian army controlled more than half the rebel part of Aleppo after seizing overnight another sector in an offensive that has claimed more than 300 civilian lives and forced tens of thousands to flee the fighting. UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mi...

Triumphant Donald Trump elected US President, Clinton concedes Donald Trump has stunned America and the world, riding a wave of populist resentment to defeat Hillary Clinton in the race to become the 45th president of the United States. The Republican mogul defeated his Democratic rival,  plunging global markets into turmoil  and casting the long-standing global political order, which hinges on Washington's leadership, into doubt. Trump secured at least 290 electoral votes, securing more than the 270 he needed to succeed Barack Obama. His Democratic rival Hillary Clinton had 218 electoral votes, a crushing defeat for the former secretary of state. Read:  How America voted: anger, desire for change behind shocking Trump upset "Hillary Clinton fought very hard... We owe her a major debt of gratitude to our country," Trump told a crowd of jubilant supporters in the early hours of Wednesday in New York. The businessman turned TV star turned-politico ─ who has ...