Rain up north, Shehbaz meets Zardari, targeted operations in Sindh

Here are some of the stories we will be following today, Tuesday, February 22.

PML-N's Shehbaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari will meet for the second time today to discuss the no-confidence movement against the PTI government. They will have dinner together at the Bilawal House.

On Monday, Zardari met JUI-F's Maulana Fazlur Rehman as well. The no trust motion, under works by the opposition, aims to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan and dissolve his government.

The federal cabinet meeting held every Tuesday has been called off amid the premier's upcoming visit to Russia. He will leave for the two-day trip on February 23.

The highlight of the trip is the Bilateral Summit where the PM and his Russian counterpart will review the entire array of bilateral relations including energy cooperation, according to the Foreign Office.

The Sindh government has decided to launch a targeted operation to curb street crimes in Karachi. Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, at the provincial cabinet meeting Monday, said SHOs who fail to control robberies and other crimes will be sacked.

He added that the government has begun recruitment for 15,000 police officers. The decision the was taken after SAMAA TV journalist Athar Mateen was shot dead while thwarting a robbery near the Five Star Chowrangi.

Pakistan’s General Akhtar Abdur Rahman, General Zia-ul-Haq’s close aide,  has been named in Suisse Secrets leak -- a probe into one of the world’s wealthiest and most important banks Credit Suisse.

Prepared under the banner of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, the document includes analysis of bank account information leaked from Switzerland’s second-largest lender.

The investigators say General Akhtar, along with Egypt’s Omar Suleiman, Yemen’s Ghaleb Al-Qamish and Jordanian spymaster Sa’ad Khair, “ran state intelligence agencies where they controlled large black budgets that were above parliamentary and executive scrutiny. All of these figures or their family members also held personal accounts at Credit Suisse worth large sums of money, without obvious sources of personal income that could explain the wealth”.

The Met Office has issued a weather alert for South Punjab and northern areas of Pakistan. Heavy rains will thunderstorms have been forecast. The department has also suggested closing connecting roads and bridges in Murree, Galiyat and Nathia Gali during this time. Authorities, too, have been alerted to take all precautionary measures.