Free Republic

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott signing an executive order today shutting down bars in Texas and limiting restaurant capacity...... A federal judge ruling to block restrictions on religious gatherings in New York...... The White House coronavirus task force held it first briefing in weeks today..... Facebook moving to label "potentially harmful posts" following a massive boycott campaign by big business giants..... A gunfight in Mexico City this morning during an assassination attempt on the city's security chief..... "I will never forget how we Pakistanis were embarrassed when the Americans came into Abbottabad and killed Osama Bin Laden, martyred him" Those...

Pakistan’s prime minister said on Thursday that the United States “martyred” the al-Qaida leader and mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden, a term that reflected a subtle stab at Washington as it’s mainly used for honorable figures slain in battle. Imran Khan delivered the stab in a rambling budget speech in parliament, attacking his predecessors’ foreign policies and saying that Pakistan’s partnership with the United States in the war on terror was a mistake. Khan also said Washington used abusive language against Pakistan, blaming Islamabad for its failures in neighboring Afghanistan and most of all — refused...

A third of all pilots in Pakistan are flying with fake licences after paying people to sit their exam for them, it has been revealed. Out of 860 pilots currently licenced in Pakistan, investigators identified 262 who 'did not take the exam themselves' and 'don't have flying experience', he said.

Almost 900 Afghan security personnel and 150 civilians were killed or wounded in a wave of Taliban attacks across Afghanistan last week. The insurgents' onslaught made for the deadliest week in the history of the 19-year conflict, but it hasn't stopped the government, the insurgents, or the U.S. from pushing publicly for a peace deal. The Afghan government accused the Taliban of carrying out 422 attacks over just seven days, leaving 291 Afghan National Defense and Security forces dead and 550 more wounded. In the same period, the insurgents are accused of killing 42 civilians, including women and children, and...

A huge marble cross discovered high in the mountains of Baltistan is thought to be up to 1,200 years old A Christian cross believed to be up to 1,200 years old and weighing more than three tons has been discovered in Skardu in northern Pakistan. A three-member expedition team from the University of Baltistan, Skardu, discovered the huge marble cross high in the mountain range of Kavardo in Baltistan. The team — led by vice-chancellor Muhammad Naeem Khan together with director of academics Zakir Hussain Zakir and director of external links Ishtiaq Hussain Maqpoon — visited the site to study...

New Delhi: The People’s Republic of China has, since 1949, had three transformational leaders: Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and now Xi Jinping. All three threw into the waste basket the agreements and protocols agreed upon till then and negotiated their own versions for adoption, whenever they regarded doing so as advantageous to China. Mao charted an entirely new course in domestic and foreign policy, as did Deng. The latter had the advantage of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership rungs all but destroyed by the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. He was, therefore, enabled to slice through the...

A Pakistani drone, loaded with a sophisticated rifle and some grenades, was shot down by the Border Security Force along the International Border in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, officials said.This is the first such incident in Jammu region when a drone carrying arms and explosives was shot down by the BSF, frustrating Pakistan's attempt to smuggle the weapons into the Union Territory using the flying machine. The 8x8 drone (from blade to blade) was spotted hovering in the skies by a BSF party on patrol duty at Rathua village in the vicinity of Border Out Post...

On Sunday, June 21, the annular solar eclipse will be visible in parts of Africa, Pakistan, India, and China, according to timeandate.com. Skywatchers in this area will be able to see the ring of fire. In south and east Europe and north Australia, a partial eclipse will be visible. Keep in mind that the sun can burn your retinas, so if you watch the solar eclipse in person, make sure to wear proper eye protection. Want to watch the ring of fire solar eclipse from home? Tune in to this live stream this weekend. You won't want to miss it...

The unrest in the US over George Floyd’s death in custody has been seized by China and renewed discourse on “the end of the American era”. But Hong Kong’s defiant demonstration this week suggests Washington’s fall may not be Beijing’s gain. The scenes unfolding on US streets this week, with federal and local law enforcement officers viciously cracking down on anti-racism protesters, have been particularly distressing for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists. The nightly unrest on the streets of several US cities, fueled by heavy-handed security responses, has drawn condemnations from across the world, including the European Union and the UN’s...

Egypt has announced an anti-Turkey alliance that includes Greece, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and France to confront Turkish moves in Libya and the Mediterranean. The announcement was made during a virtual meeting with the foreign ministers of these countries on May 11. In a joint statement issued shortly after the meeting, the five-party alliance said it will focus on confronting the Turkish moves in the territorial waters in Cyprus, where Turkey has been carrying out “illegal” excavations in the Mediterranean under Cyprus sovereignty. The alliance also condemned Turkey’s escalated violations of Greek airspace.  The European Union condemned May 16...

Two officials of the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi were caught on Sunday for carrying out espionage in the country, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "The government has declared both these officials persona non grata for indulging in activities incompatible with their status as members of a diplomatic mission and asked them to leave the country within twenty four hours," the Foreign Ministry said. "Pakistan's Charge de Affaires was issued a demarche in which a strong protest was lodged with regard to the activities of these officials of the High Commission of Pakistan against India's national security," the...

The armies of the world's two most populous nations are locked in a tense face-off high in the Himalayas, which has the potential to escalate as they seek to further their strategic goals. Officials quoted by the Indian media say thousands of Chinese troops have forced their way into Galwan valley in Ladakh, in the disputed Kashmir region. Indian leaders and military strategists have clearly been left stunned. The reports say that in early May, Chinese forces put up tents, dug trenches, and moved heavy equipment several kilometers inside what had been regarded by India as its territory. The move...

Europe’s extensive social welfare net was showing signs of fraying under economic strain from the coronavirus, as protests erupted Friday for a second day in Spain against layoffs by French carmaker Renault, while Italy’s chief central banker warned that “uncertainty is rife.” Elsewhere, New Zealand has all but eradicated the coronavirus with just one person in the nation of 5 million known to be infected. But developments were grim in other nations, with India reporting a record increase in cases, and Pakistan and Russia a record number of deaths. As cases steadily rose across Africa, officials who are losing the...

At no point did the pilots say they had a problem with their landing gear or any other type of emergency, according to the radio calls. A deadly plane crash in Pakistan is prompting questions about how the crew could touch down without landing gear when their sophisticated jetliner was bristling with equipment to prevent pilots from doing just that "It is unbelievable to me that an airline crew on a jet like an Airbus, with all the warning systems, would attempt to land the plane without the gear extended," said John Cox, an aviation safety consultant who formerly flew...

A top model, presumed dead in a plane crash in Pakistan last week, has been attacked by online trolls, accusing her of having led an immoral life. Zara Abid's social media accounts were deactivated after comments poured in criticising her clothes and lifestyle. The 28-year-old was on board a PIA flight when it crashed in a residential part of Karachi on Friday, according to the manifest and her friends. Victims have not been named but authorities said only two men survived. Initial reports she had survived led her brother to issue a plea to people to stop spreading fake news,...

The Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, New Jersey open for business today..... Car-rental company Hertz filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in Delaware today.... Economic advisers to the President see better economic news later this year...... For the first time since a major economic downturn in 2002, Argentina is in default on a loan tonight..... Iran's top military commander says his country has intelligence on US military movements in the Persian Gulf region and far beyond....... A successful test of a laser weapon by the United States........ The US is considering a nuclear weapons test for the first time since 1992.........

A passenger plane belonging to state-run airline Pakistani International Airlines has crashed near the southern port city of Karachi, according to Abdul Sattar Kokhar, spokesman for the country's civil aviation authority.

A Pakistani doctor and former Mayo Clinic researcher has been indicted on one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization after authorities say he told paid FBI informants that he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and wanted to carry out lone wolf attacks in the U.S. The indictment against Muhammad Masood, 28, was announced Friday by U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald.. . . Roughly three dozen Minnesotans — mostly men from the state’s large Somali community — have left since 2007 to join al-Shabab in Somalia or militant groups in Syria, including the Islamic...

At the end of April 2020, a 14 year old Christian girl, Myra Shehbaz, was reportedly abducted and forced to marry in Faisalabad, Punjab. According to International Christian Concern, “Myra Shehbaz was abducted by a group of Muslim men led by Muhammad Naqash. Eye witnesses claim that Myra was attacked while she was traveling to her workplace as a domestic worker on Sunday afternoon. Pervez Masih, Younas Masih, and Naeem Masih, the eye witnesses, claimed that Myra’s abductors forced her into a car and that Myra tried to resist. These eye witnesses were unable to help Myra because abductors were...

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Slain U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl’s parents have petitioned to the Pakistani Supreme Court seeking to overturn a ruling that freed four men who had been convicted in 2002 of involvement in his killing, their lawyer said on Saturday... “A bare perusal of the entire record would reveal that there was a plethora of incriminating evidence, both forensic as well as oral, which proved that murder was committed and that all the accused persons aided and abetted the murder,” the appeal petition said. Islamist militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a Briton of Pakistani origin who was sentenced to...