Blaze News - Pakistan

The phrase has entered into normal conversation so strongly that every time someone utters the word conspiracy, it has to be followed by the additional word; theory. As I had always understood, conspiracy theories were easy, wild and ludicrous explanations of an otherwise obvious and clear fact. I always believed and to some extent still do that conspiracy theories were lazy explanations to all things we did not understand and refused to do some mental work to make sense of. But a friend of mine who teaches at a Las Vegas university recently joked about something that was quite shocking to me actually. We were talking about Epstein conspiracy theories as to how he might have been murdered instead of him committing suicide and how he might be still alive as some social media noise seems to suggest. His joke was that pretty much all the conspiracy theories he had heard since his school days turned out to be realities with the passage of time. When 9/11 happened, there were many conspirac...

The analysis scene in Pakistan over situation in Balochistan, especially the former Kalat State, is in overdrive. Most analysts lament the policy adopted by Pakistan over decades in dealing with Baloch 'grievances' and 'sense of deprivation', blaming this or that civil or military government. Some are crying hoarse that the issue has 'political solution' only, with kinetic response in the past and now being a blunder. When grilled, this segment does not have cogent solutions and suggests empowering the same tried and tested political faces-cum-militant sponsors-cum-Sardars, who are part of the problem, have remained so for years, and are squarely responsible for it. Sardar Akhtar Mengal and his father Sardar Attaullah Mengal are cases in point. So, let us restate the problem candidly, without hiding in the sands of time, geography and ethnicity. One, the obtaining situation is an 'insurgency' limited mainly to the erstwhile Kalat State of Balochistan, wi...

France's foreign minister has requested a probe after the name of a French diplomat on leave appeared in numerous emails to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. "I was appalled," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday. In an X post late on Tuesday, he said he was referring allegations against Fabrice Aidan to the public prosecutor, and launching an internal inquiry. The ministry described Aidan as a "principal foreign affairs secretary on leave for personal reasons and holding positions in the private sector". A mere mention in released files from the investigation into the disgraced New York financier, who killed himself in prison 2019 while charged with sex trafficking underage girls, does not imply wrongdoing. But French media, after unearthing his name in the files, reported he had shared email correspondence with Epstein from 2010 to 2017. Investigative website Mediapart late Tuesday reported that the FBI had flagged Aidan as having consulte...

Power Minister Awais Leghari on Tuesday defended the power regulator’s changes on rooftop solar and net metering during a furious Senate session that criticised the decision, saying the new regulations were aimed at protecting poorer consumers. The government is currently facing political backlash as the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) abolished exchange of electricity units in solar net metering. At present, the buyback rate for solar net generation is Rs25.9 per unit which may be reduced to Rs11 per unit. The contract period has been reduced from seven to five years. The burden of  capacity payments is being shifted to solar consumers now. Under the new rules, utilities will be required to purchase excess electricity from prosumers, households, businesses and industries generating up to one megawatt at the national average energy purchase price, while selling electricity back to them at the applicable consumer tariff, effectively ending on...

Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell refused on Monday to answer questions from a US congressional committee, invoking her legal right against self-incrimination, lawmakers said. Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, was subpoenaed to testify before the House Oversight Committee to discuss her relations with the disgraced financier. Republican committee chairman James Comer said Maxwell had invoked her right to not incriminate herself, guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution. "As expected, Ghislaine Maxwell took the Fifth and refused to answer any questions," Comer told reporters. "This is obviously very disappointing." "We had many questions to ask about the crimes she and Epstein committed as well as questions about potential co-conspirators," he said. Maxwell's lawyers told the House panel that the former British socialite was prepared to testify only if she was first granted clemency b...

A key development emerged on Monday in the Gul Plaza deadly inferno case as four eyewitnesses recorded their statements before the Judicial Magistrate (South), Asim Aslam, describing the cause that led to the fire which claimed 80 lives on January 17. During the hearing, three salesmen and a 13-year-old student testified before the magistrate. The eyewitnesses were identified as Aryan, Talha, Waheed and Hamza. In his statement, 13-year-old Aryan told the court that he had gone to meet his friend Huzayfa at his father’s shop on the evening of the incident. He said Huzayfa was alone at the shop and was playing with matchsticks, adding that he had two matchboxes with him. Aryan stated that he remained at the shop until around 8:30pm before leaving to play at his father’s shop, where his friend Samad also died in the fire. He further testified that when he returned around 10pm to say goodbye, Huzayfa was still playing with matchsticks, which ignited the fire. He said neighbouring ...