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Posts published in “Day: August 12, 2016

US concerned over spike in blasphemy cases By Gibran Ashraf in The Express Tribune, August 12th, 2016

KARACHI: The United States has expressed concern at the increase in the number of blasphemy cases and the use of such charges as “justification for mob justice” in Pakistan even as it noted increased government action to curb sectarian hate speech. It pointed out that armed sectarian groups connected to banned terror organisations continued to stage attacks on Christians and Shias, including the predominantly Shia Hazara community. Incidents of forced conversions have also continued. This…

Blacklisted US man may get clean chit: by Imran Mukhtar in The Nation, Aug 12, 2016.

ISLAMABAD – Blacklisted US national Matthew Craig Barrett will likely to get a clean chit against the charges of his illegal entry into Pakistan as investigations of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and police have found no malafide intention of his action. On the other hand, then visa officer of Pakistani Consulate in Houston; Sajida Altaf Qazi, will appear before the FIA team next week to justify her act as to why she issued visa…

Barrett got visa because US mission ‘failed to update blacklist’: Dawn, Aug 12th, 2016

By ANWAR IQBAL | IFTIKHAR A. KHAN | MUNAWER AZEEM WASHINGTON / ISLAMABAD: Even as an initial inquiry into the issuing of a visa to Matthew Craig Barrett — a US citizen on a no-entry list — has determined that the failure to update the list caused the mistake, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided to summon and question a diplomat then posted in the US for issuing the visa to him, according to…

Power plant explosion leaves 21 dead, five injured: Xinhua report in Global Times, Aug 12, 2016

Twenty-one people died and at least five others were injured, most of whom critically, after a broken steam pipe caused a huge explosion at a power plant on Thursday in central China’s Hubei Province. The blast occurred at Madian Gangue Power Generation Co. Ltd. in Dangyang City around 3:20 p.m. on Thursday, when workers were testing thermo-power facilities. The high-pressure steam pipe burst and caused the blast, a preliminary investigation showed. Du Qiuxin, a villager…

Party warns of attempts to foment revolution after rights lawyer trial By Fan Lingzhi and Cao Siqi in Global Times, Aug 11, 2016

A video warning people to watch out for “color revolutions” went viral online on August 1, China’s Army Day. The video, which was posted by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) on its official Sina Weibo account, says the country is facing a threat from a US-led color revolution. Color revolutions are characterized by their use of civil resistance to protest regimes seen as corrupt or authoritarian, usually with the…

‘Iran & Pakistan can reshape region’says Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister By SAHER BALOCH | QASIM A. MOINI in Dawn, August 12th, 2016

KARACHI: Iran and Pakistan have no option but to work together despite the obstacles created by “third parties”, and this cooperation can help stabilise the region, said Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Dr Seyed Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpour here on Thursday. The senior official, who has held several posts within the Iranian diplomatic machinery and heads the Centre for International Research and Education, was delivering a lecture on ‘Pakistan’s Place in Iran’s Strategic Thinking’ at the Pakistan…