UNITED NATIONS: Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have deeply disappointed Muslims across the globe by imposing restrictions on women’s right to education and work, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Wednesday. Addressing the first-ever UN-bac­k­ed conference on ‘women in Islam,’ the foreign minister said that extremists had distorted the image of a religion that encouraged women to actively participate in all walks …

The Taliban governor of Afghanistan’s Balkh province was killed in a blast at his office on Thursday, police said. “Two people, including Mohammad Dawood Muzammil, the governor of Balkh, have been killed in an explosion this morning,” local police spokesman Asif Waziri told AFP, adding that the blast happened on the second floor of his office, in the provincial capital Mazar-i-Sharif. …

The United States on Wednesday announced the release from the Guantanamo military prison of a Saudi engineer seized over two decades ago as a suspect in the September 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda attacks but never charged. Ghassan Al Sharbi, 48, was detained in Faisalabad, Pakistan with an Al-Qaeda associate in March 2002. He was targeted because he had studied at an aeronautical university in Arizona …

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday disposed of a suo motu hearing it initiated to consider vires of Section 25(a) of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), which empowers National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman to approve voluntary return, with the observation that the lacuna in the law had been removed through last year amendments in the accountability law. Headed by Chief …

LAHORE: Over 3,000 used high-pressure gas meters (both industrial and commercial) and other precious material have either been ‘stolen, embezzled or misplaced’ allegedly by various officials in connivance with their seniors as well as the private people. Since the official sources term embezzlement of a large number of meters (total 3,100) worth millions a first-ever major scam in the history …

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Former spy chief retired Lt-Gen Faiz Hamid is being investigated for alleged corruption, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah revealed, while his party leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif called for the retired general’s court martial over his alleged role in bringing down her father’s government and implicating both her and Nawaz Sharif in NAB cases. Meanwhile, Gen Hamid also seemed to break …

ISLAMABAD: The Special Joint Investigation Team (SJIT), constituted to probe the tragic death of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya, furnished a progress report before the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Though the contents of the report, which was kept in a sealed envelope, are confidential, it is believed that the SJIT is in the process of recording the statements of “a number of …

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan seeks virtual trial in all cases pending in capital’s judiciary. In a petition filed with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday, Mr Khan mainly cited security concerns for conducting his trial through video link facility. The IHC registrar office raised objection on his petition that Mr Khan was …

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday suspended the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority’s (Pemra) orders to ban the live telecast of PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan’s speeches and press talks. Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza announced the judgement. He also sent the matter to the full bench for hearing and adjourned the proceedings till March 13. On …

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir said on Thursday that a “handful of misguided elements” cannot shake the resolve of the people of Balochistan and the armed forces were committed to ensuring peace and prosperity in the province. According to a press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army chief made the remarks during a …