Pakistan

QUETTA: Teachers and other employees of the Balochistan Univer­sity took out a protest procession against the university administration on Monday over non-payment of salaries for three mon­ths. All faculty members, academic staff and other employees gathered at the university’s main campus on the call of the university’s joint action committee and took out the protest rally. The participants of the …

PESHAWAR: Eight militants, including the perpetrator of the March 16 attack on an army camp, were killed by security forces in North Waziristan on Monday, the military’s media wing said. A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Rela­t­ions (ISPR) said security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation (IBO) following the reported presence of militants in the area. After an intense exchange of fire …

An Islamabad accountability court on Tuesday acquitted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s sons — Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz — in three corruption references related to the Panama Papers. In 2018, Nawaz’s sons were declared proclaimed offenders after they failed to join the investigation in Avenfield Apartment, Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment references filed by the National Account­ability Bureau (NAB). Earlier this month, Hussain and Hassan, through …

LAHORE: After mostly staying away from public view since the Feb 8 general elections, PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif made a conspicuous appearance on Monday by chairing three administrative meetings of the Punjab government. The move has raised many eyebrows since Mr Sharif holds no official position in either the provincial or federal government and is officially only a National …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has fully endorsed Amnesty International’s demand for the immediate restoration of social media platform X, stating that Pakistan has become a laughing stock in the international community due to the unjustified blockage of social media and the chain of oppression against its own citizens. A party spokesperson said that the government’s unjustified closure of the internet, …

Pakistan remained one of the world’s three smoggiest countries in 2023, as Bangladesh and India replaced Chad and Iran, with particulate matter about 15 times the level recommended by the World Health Organisation, data published on Tuesday showed. Average concentrations of PM2.5 — small airborne particles that damage the lungs — reached 79.9 micrograms per cubic metre in Bangladesh in 2023, and …

Pakistan on Tuesday denounced Indian authorities’ decision to declare several political parties of India-occupied Kashmir as “unlawful associations”. In a statement, the Foreign Office said: “Pakistan denounces the Indian authorities’ decision to declare the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Freedom League (JKPFL) and four factions of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League (JKPL) as ‘unlawful associations’.” It also denounced the decision to “extend the ban …

WASHINGTON: The US State Department called on Kabul’s Taliban rulers on Monday to prevent terrorist activities originating from Afghan soil, while also urging both Afghanistan and Pakistan to prioritise the protection of civilian lives during security operations. “We have seen reports that Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan in response to the attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on Saturday at a military …

Jelly Roll lent his vocals for Joyner Lucas’ new song Best For Me. The rapper-turned-country star collaborated with Lucas on his new rap released Monday, as well as the accompanying music video. Born Jason Bradley DeFord, Jelly Roll sang the chorus of the song, which is a single from Lucas’ upcoming album, Not Now, I’m Busy. “How can you love someone and …

RAWALPINDI: The Punjab Home Department has directed the city police officer and the deputy commissioner to send notices to the managements of Chinese installations (non-CPEC) to disengage self-recruited security guards forthwith or get them trained by government-approved institutions. The project managements of non-CPEC installations were to be issued a deadline of one week to get their security guards trained from …