Pakistan News update
World News
World-News
Dr Imran Farooq killed in London (MQM leader)
Oct 30th
MQM leader Imran Farooq killed in London: reports,
Sky quoted police as saying that officers found the 50-year-old with multiple stab wounds. He was confirmed dead at the scene.
LONDON: British media reports say a Pakistani politician has been killed outside his home in London.
BBC and Sky News quote a police spokesman as saying that Imran Farooq, a member of Pakistan’s MQM party, was stabbed to death Thursday.
Sky quoted police as saying that officers found the 50-year-old with multiple stab wounds. He was confirmed dead at the scene.
Metropolitan Police could not be immediately reached to comment on the reports. – AP
(dawn)
MQM More >
On leaked documents and Pakistan’s denial
Oct 24th
In what is being widely described as the largest ever leak of intelligence documents, the New York Times, the Guardian and Der Spiegel have gone public today with over 90,000 documents that were obtained by Wikileaks. The documents – which log the war in Afghanistan between 2004 and 2009 – have created ripples worldwide.
While the data is still being analysed by journalists across the globe, the Guardian, NYT and Der Spiegel have summarised the key events on their websites and have provided interactive maps to understand the scope of the reports.
Hamid Gul in focus
One of the key elements, and one More >
Hillary arrives for strategic talks
Oct 22nd
Clinton also expected to directly engage with Pakistani citizens.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Pakistan Sunday for strategic talks aimed at bolstering bilateral ties and securing firmer support for the war in Afghanistan.
Clinton arrived by plane in Islamabad before noon, according to an AFP reporter travelling with her, ahead of expected talks with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari in the evening.
On Monday the Secretary of State is due to hold a day of meetings with high-level political, military and business figures to further a “strategic dialogue” aimed at chipping away at anti-American sentiment More >
Pakistan denies India land transit route to Afghanistan
Oct 22nd
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has denied India land transit route to Afghanistan while Trade Minister Amin Fahim has said that Afghanistan has been allowed to use land route to India for trade.
At the 7th round of talks for Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA), the head of Pakistan delegation Himayatullah said the agreement has been reached.
He said under the agreement India cannot be allowed to use land route to Afghanistan and that India could only use air and see routes.
Spider-Man hit by royalties claim
Jun 11th
10 June 2011 Last updated at 09:26 GMT Taymor stepped down as director of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark in March The original director of Broadway’s Spider-Man musical has not been paid royalties for working on the project, her union has said.
In an arbitration claim filed this week, the union representing directors said Julie Taymor had “given nine years of her life to this project”.
The show’s producers have yet to comment on the claim.
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which has been beset by technical problems, is opening officially next week.
Some cast members suffered injuries during the previews, which began More >
Territory tourist numbers down
Jun 11th
By Phoebe Stewart
Posted June 10, 2011 13:26:00 Tourist numbers have plummeted in the Northern Territory this year.Tourism Research Australia’s quarterly results for March show the territory had 301,000 visitors, about 32,000 less than for the same period last year.
The territory recorded the third-lowest number of visitors in the country, only in front of the ACT and Tasmania.
Just 106,000 backpackers came to the Top End, 20,000 fewer than for the same time last year.
Figures show backpacker numbers have fallen dramatically since the 2007 March quarter, when 127,000 came to the territory.
That represented about 23 per cent of the Australian backpacker market More >
Payroll tax relief planned to kick-start NSW jobs
Jun 11th
Posted June 10, 2011 10:11:00
The New South Wales Government has revealed plans to kick-start the jobs market by offering nearly half a billion dollars of tax relief for employers.Treasurer Mike Baird says legislation will be introduced to Parliament next week offering employers payroll tax rebates worth up to $400 million.
The plan comes after there were mixed messages in last month’s unemployment figures for the state.
The unemployment rate fell but at the same time more than 11,000 jobs were lost in trend terms.
Analysis of the figures suggests NSW has been losing more than 100 jobs a day since January.
Mr Baird More >
Puerto Rico
Jun 11th
Hispanic, Afro-Caribbean and North American influences meld in Puerto Rico, a self-governing commonwealth that belongs to the United States.
The subtropical Caribbean territory is urbanised, industrialised and relatively prosperous.
The US invaded and occupied Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War of 1898, ending centuries of rule from Spain. The US saw the island as a strategic asset and ran it as a colonial protectorate.
Spanish-built defences survey the ocean at Old San JuanUnder American administration Puerto Rico saw growth and development. But nationalist sentiment sometimes spilled over into violence, notably in the 1930s and 1940s. Nationalists staged an armed More >
Treasury releases draft mining tax bill
Jun 11th
By online business reporter Michael Janda
Updated June 10, 2011 16:40:00 The Federal Government has released its draft legislation for the Minerals Resource Rent Tax.On initial inspection, the bill seems to match the compromise reached between the Government and the major miners that ended the resource sector’s ad campaign against the original Resource Super Profits Tax proposed under Kevin Rudd’s leadership.
The explanatory material, which is more than 170 pages long, explains how the tax will be levied, giving several hypothetical examples for existing projects, new projects, joint ventures and companies with several projects mining the same resource.
The effective tax rate remains More >
