Pak CJ Nisar, known for judicial activism, retires

Islamabad: Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, who tried to cultivate the image of being the “people’s judge” and known for his judicial activism, retired on Thursday. The outgoing chief justice passed several landmark judgements during his tenure as top judge, including one which disqualified ex-PM Nawaz Sharif in 2017 in a corruption case and the verdict in the blasphemy case against Christian woman Asia Bibi. Justice Nisar was sworn in as the top judge on December 31, 2016. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa will take over the reins of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday. Justice Nisar has been a judge of the apex court since February 18, 2010. PTI

Model claiming Trump secrets deported from Thailand

Bangkok: A Belarusian model who claimed she had evidence of Russian efforts to help Donald Trump win office was deported from Thailand on Thursday after being convicted of participating in a “sex training course”. Anastasia Vashukevich was held with several others in a police raid last February in the sleazy seaside resort of Pattaya. In a case that veered between salacious and bizarre, Vashukevich said she had travelled to Thailand after becoming embroiled in a political scandal with Russian aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska. Vashukevich was put on an Aeroflot flight for Moscow, bringing to an end the Thai side of a baffling case. AFP

‘Ambidextrous’ robots may speed up e-commerce    

Los Angeles: Scientists have developed a novel “ambidextrous” approach that allows robots to grasp a diverse range of objects without training and could dramatically help speed up processing in e-commerce. To rapidly fulfil the enormous volume and variety of orders, e-commerce companies such as Amazon, Walmart, and Alibaba are investing heavily in new warehouses.  To address the shortage of workers, many companies are considering robots. However, reliably grasping a diverse range of products remains a challenge for robotics. An “ambidextrous” robot can learn which type of arm gripper to use when picking up objects. PTI

Greek PM wins confidence vote after Macedonia row

Athens: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday survived a confidence vote after a row over a landmark name deal with Macedonia sunk his four-year coalition. A total of 151 lawmakers supported Tsipras’ government out of 299 present, including several independent MPs, the official count showed. “Parliament today gave a vote of confidence to stability (and) the effort to regain the country’s international credibility,” Tsipras told reporters after the vote. Despite the victory, the subsequent fate of Tsipras’ government-and whether he will complete his four-year term which ends in September-is far from certain. AFP