New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was sworn in for a second term Friday, as final election results showed her landslide victory was even bigger than previously thought. The charismatic leader and her ministers made their oaths of office in English and Maori during a ceremony at Wellington’s Government House. “I would say simply that sitting at this table is …

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has planned to approach the Punjab government to seek payment for the decades-long supply of spring water from Galiyat region to Murree hill station, officials say. They that the tourism department had requested the chief minister’s office through a summary to take up the matter with the relevant Punjab authorities. An official of the Galiyat …

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Thursday informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that in addition to five Indian prisoners, two more prisoners who had completed their jail terms have been released. Additional Attorney General Tariq Mehmood Khokhar, however, said that another accused namely Mohammad Ismail alias Sama Ishmail Alimamd, son of Ali Mohammad Samma, who is presently confined at Malir …

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday stressed the need for expeditious progress on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. Talking to the newly-appointed Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong, Mr Qureshi hoped that he would use his experience in trade and infrastructure development to “fast-track CPEC projects and promote industrialisation in Pakistan”. Pakistan and China had launched the second phase of …

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications Syed Aminul Haq said on Thursday that he would never support closure of any social media platform, but no relaxation could be allowed on matters of national security. Presiding over a meeting of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Information Technology and Telecom, he said temporary suspension of TikTok application was not …

LAHORE: The coronavirus is spreading fast in Multan and Rawalpindi where the virus positivity rate has shot up to 7 and 6 percent, respectively, an alarming surge reported for the first time in the two cities, during the last three months or so.Similarly, the positivity rate increased to 3pc in Lahore, causing concern to the health authorities who had recently …

LAHORE: One of the protesting farmers injured in the tear gas shelling two days ago, breathed his last at a city hospital on Thursday. Malik Ashfaq Langrial was Vehari district finance secretary of the Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (Anwar group) and had fallen ill after the protesting farmers’ clash with police at Thokar Niaz Beg late on Tuesday night. The police had used …

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Thursday proposed a detailed local government law that ‘promised’ authority and power to grassroots level reflecting true essence of democracy and offered opportunity to elected representatives at lower level to take up ownership of development and revenue collection. The MQM leaders held a detailed meeting of their parliamentary party in the Sindh Assembly …

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Friday that he was “shocked” when he heard PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s speech during the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) first rally in Gujranwala last month in which Nawaz named the country’s top military leadership for orchestrating his ouster among other things. The PPP chairman made the revelation during an exclusive interview with BBC Urdu, in which he …

GILGIT / ISLAMABAD: Electioneering gained momentum in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) with the arrival of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz in the region on Thursday as Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called into question integrity and impartiality of the GB Election Commission ahead of Nov 15 polls. Addressing corner meetings at Pakwara in Astore and Jaglot in …