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Posts published in “Day: November 22, 2014

Markhor hunting permits auctioned off for over $61,500 each

  By Shabbir Mir in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2014. GILGIT: Big game hunters bid over $61,500 for each of four permits giving them a chance to hunt the endangered markhor in SKB-Sassi Harmosh area in Gilgit. Markhor is Pakistan’s national animal.   Muhammad Ali Shah, a hunting outfitter representing Zoon Safari, an Islamabad-based firm, was the highest bidder with $62,000.   The auction which took place on Thursday was supervised by Wildlife and…

Chinese courts crack down on journalist Gao Yu and Muslim Prof Ilham Tohti

By William Wan  in  The Washington Post, Nov 22, 2014 BEIJING — In a double-barreled attack on freedom of expression, Chinese authorities put a prominent journalist on trial Friday and denied the appeal of Uighur professor Ilham Tohti, a leading moderate Muslim voice. Behind closed doors in Beijing, longtime journalist Gao Yu, 70, was tried on charges of leaking state secrets. Meanwhile, across the country in the restive region of Xinjiang, a hearing for Tohti…

PML-N leaders in G-B irked by federal minister’s visit: By Shabbir Mir in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2014.

  GILGIT:  Regional leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have criticised Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastagir for visiting Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) on the invitation of members of the G-B Chamber of Commerce & Industry (G-BCCI).   “By accepting the invitation from an organisation that is blacklisted, the minister has given protection to those who have defaulted on billions of rupees in loans from the National Bank [of Pakistan],” stated a press release issued by…