Latest News
Ariana News Airs Five Programs From BBC Persian
The BBC’s Persian Television Service and Ariana News, Afghanistan’s leading TV channels, have launched a content partnership.
Ariana News, a division of the Ariana Radio & Television Network (ATN), will now broadcast Shast Daqiqa (60 Minutes), the BBC Persian’s flagship news and analysis program Saturday to Wednesday. In addition, ATN will air additional BBC programmes, including current affairs program Safheh Do (Page Two Weekend), interview programme Ba-ebarat-e-Digar (HARDtalk), current affairs programme Pargar (Compass), and Click, the guide to digital technology.
BBC Persian has a global weekly audience of 21m on TV, radio, website and social media. It currently reaches around 8.5m people in Afghanistan every week.
BBC Persian reaches 12.1 m people in Afghanistan every week, 59% of the adult population, with content from BBC News Afghanistan in Dari and Pashto, BBC News Persian, BBC News Uzbek and the BBC English-language news content on TV, radio and digital.
Simon Kendall, the BBC World Service Director of Business Development, said: “We are delighted that through this new partnership with Ariana News a suite of BBC News Persian programs will be available to audiences in Afghanistan. We are excited to be increasing BBC presence on TV in the region and we hope that audiences will enjoy our programs alongside our digital and audio offer. We look forward to working with Ariana as we establish this important new agreement.”
Ali Kasemi, ATN Group’s Managing Director, stated that the collaboration between the two TV channels is an opportunity for Ariana News “to bring the world to Afghan viewers.”
“ATN was founded in 2005 with a mission to provide our viewers with a ‘Window to the World’ so that all Afghans could watch, share, and enjoy the best global news, entertainment, sports and information from around the world,” Kasemi said. “We are very proud to be adding BBC News Persian’s award-winning programming to our content package, and we see this partnership as an exciting continuation of our commitment to bring the world to Afghan viewers and families around the nation.”
Shast Daqiqa will air at 23.00 Kabul Time Saturday to Wednesday; Pargar – 12.00 on Sundays; Ba-ebarat-e-Digar – 20.30 on Tuesdays; Safheh Do – 23.00 on Thursdays; Click – 21.30 on Fridays.
BBC Persian TV is broadcast via satellite (Hotbird, YahSat and Telstar 12), and is streamed live online via BBC Persian’s official website and YouTube channel.
BBC Persian also reaches its audience via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Telegram. BBC Persian radio broadcasts are visualized, enabling audiences to also watch radio programs on TV and digital platforms.
Pakistan’s government on Friday extended the stay of Afghan refugees in the country till June 30, amid repatriation of illegal foreign nationals.
There are around 1.3 million registered Afghans living in Pakistan, according to a spokesman for UN refugee agency UNHCR in Islamabad, Dawn newspaper reported.
“On the recommendation of the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions, the federal cabinet approved the extension of the validity of PoR cards of Afghan refugees from April 1, 2024, to June 30, 2024,” said an official statement, issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.
The PoR cardholders will be repatriated in the third phase of the plan that will begin after the repatriation of “illegal foreign nationals” residing in Pakistan is completed, the statement added.
The PoR card holders avail schools, bank accounts and other facilities in Pakistan.
Repatriation of undocumented refugees began on November 1 and continues. More than 500,000 Afghans have been expelled so far.
John Bass, US acting under secretary of state for political affairs, will travel to Qatar and Pakistan April 26-30, US State Department announced on Friday.
In Doha, Qatar, he will meet with senior Qatari government officials and other diplomatic missions to discuss support for Afghanistan and shared security interests in the region, US State Department said in a statement.
In Islamabad, Pakistan, Under Secretary Bass will meet with senior Pakistani government officials to discuss a range of regional and bilateral issues as part of the U.S.-Pakistani partnership, the statement added.
John Bass served as US ambassador to Afghanistan under Donald Trump administration between December 2017 and January 2020.
A tripartite meeting between the delegations of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan was held in Kabul with the aim of connecting North Asia to South Asia and reducing transit and transportation costs among these three countries, the Ministry of Trade and Commerce said in a statement.
In this meeting, an agreement was reached on the creation of a joint technical committee to continue the talks.
This tripartite meeting was held under the leadership of Nooruddin Azizi, the Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Vice President of Turkmenistan and Srik Zhumangarin, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan.
Earlier, a bilateral meeting was held between the delegation of the Islamic Emirate and Turkmenistan. The ministry of commerce said the participants of the meeting discussed the construction of a large joint logistics center in Torghondi, the trilateral transit agreement between the IEA, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, the expansion of Afghanistan’s railway, solving issues related to Afghan transit and export goods, and a number of other commercial issues.
Pakistan extends registered Afghan refugees’ stay till June 30
China to host Hamas, Fatah for Palestinian unity talks
US diplomat Bass travels to Qatar and Pakistan to discuss Afghanistan, regional issues
Attack Energy and Abu Muslim secure wins in respective ACL matches
Saar: 46th anniversary of 7th Saur coup in Afghanistan discussed
Dead body of Quran-burner found in Norway
ATN secures rights to produce, broadcast second season of KPL
Yadav hits 156.7 km/h as Lucknow trump Bengaluru in IPL match
Afghanistan’s national futsal team ‘ready for’ group stage of Asian Cup
Afghanistan, Pakistan agree to abandon barter trade, establish banking relationships
Saar: 46th anniversary of 7th Saur coup in Afghanistan discussed
Tahawol: Pakistan’s security concerns from Afghan soil discussed
Saar: Visits by foreign diplomats to Kabul discussed
Tahawol: Calls for handing over Afghanistan’s seat to IEA discussed
Malaysian delegation trip to Kabul discussed
-
Latest News4 days agoRashid Khan named AWCC’s brand ambassador
-
Regional5 days agoIranian president lands in Pakistan for three-day visit to mend ties
-
Sport5 days agoKolkata beat Bengaluru by one run in IPL as Kohli fumes at dismissal
-
World4 days agoMalaysian navy helicopters collide in mid-air, 10 killed
-
Sport4 days agoJaiswal ton powers Rajasthan to big IPL win
-
World3 days agoNorth Korea officials visit Iran in a rare public trip
-
Sport4 days agoMawj Sahil player scores stunning halfway line goal in 1-0 win over Jawanan Wahedi
-
Latest News4 days agoAt least 1,500 families affected by recent floods: IRW