Saudi Arabia’s attorney general sought the death penalty for five of 11 defendants charged with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as their high-profile trial opened in Riyadh on Thursday. All 11 accused were present with their lawyers at the opening hearing in the capital, according to a statement by the attorney general carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. The …

Clashes erupted between Hindu hardliners and police in the southern state of Kerala for a second day Thursday, after two women defied traditionalists to enter one of India’s holiest temples. Violence across Kerala on Wednesday left one person dead and 15 injured after news spread that the two women, escorted by police and dressed in black, had sneaked into the Sabarimala temple …

KARACHI: Over 300 shops constructed illegally on Karachi Development Authority (KDA) land and drains in Korangi were demolished as the grand anti-encroachment operation to retrieve illegally occupied city land was under way in the neighbourhood. The KDA anti-encroachment staff began its operation in the morning on 1600 Road, a street in the Korangi No5½, and demolished the illegal structures constructed …

LAHORE: People in most urban and rural areas of Punjab faced the menace of loadshedding for most part of Wednesday when various power plants, transmission lines and grid stations started tripping owing to what officials said dense fog. The situation forced the distribution companies (Discos) to observe forced loadshedding and load management on an hourly basis in most parts of …

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday directed the defence secretary to file comments by January 22 on a petition filed by the mother of chief of outlawed Peoples Amn Committee Uzair Jan Baloch seeking his production before trial courts. A two-judge SHC bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro expressed displeasure over a federal law officer for not filing …

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) is installing thermal scanners at airports and other points of entry to prevent cross-border disease transmission. While visiting Islamabad International Airport (IIA) on Wednesday, NHS Minister Aamer Mehmood Kiani said the PTI government is emphasising the strengthening of health departments and the Directorate of Central Health Establishment (CHE) at all points of …

The Federal Investi­gation Agency (FIA) has confiscated properties worth Rs3.5 billion owned by the Khid­mat-i-Khalq Foundation (KKF) of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, sources in the agency said on Thursday. MQM’s London-based founder Altaf Hussain along with other party leaders, including former federal minister Babar Ghauri, former senator Ahmed Ali, Karachi Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra, Khawaja Sohail Mansoor and Khawaja Rehan …

LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party leader Qamar Zaman Kaira says the party has the capability to topple the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government but won’t do so and let it complete the term so that its ineptness stands exposed before the masses. “We have the ability and required number to oust the PTI government but are observing restraint only to fully expose its …

KARACHI: Facebook and WhatsApp have the worst track record when it comes to cases of online harassment and misuse of data in Pakistan, according to a report released by the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) on Wednesday. The report highlights data collected by the DRF cyber harassment helpline during the last two years and contains recommendations for public bodies to improve their institutional …

LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party leader Qamar Zaman Kaira says the party has the capability to topple the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government but won’t do so and let it complete the term so that its ineptness stands exposed before the masses. “We have the ability and required number to oust the PTI government but are observing restraint only to fully expose its …