Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan has dismissed the United States’ suggestion to probe electoral discrepancies, emphasising that it will not succumb to external dictates. In her weekly press bri­efing on Friday, Foreign Office spokes­person Mum­taz Zahra Baloch categorically stated that no country can give directions to Pakistan, which is an independent and sovereign country. “We believe in our own sovereign right to make …

QUETTA/GWADAR: Heavy rains, which have been continuing for the last one week across Balochistan, continued to pound miseries on the people on Friday, paralysing life in 22 out of 35 districts of the province. The situation in Gwadar and Kech districts of Makran is the worst as hundreds of houses have collapsed, rendering a large number of families homeless. Makran …

ISLAMABAD: PML-N sup­reme leader Nawaz Sharif visited the residence of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman here on Friday, possibly to seek the latter’s support in the formation of the upcoming coalition government at the Centre, as the JUI-F had abs­tained during the voting for speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly. Nawaz Sharif was accompanied by PML-N stalwarts Ishaq …

ISLAMABAD: Sena­tors from two sides of the aisle on Friday sparred over PTI founding chairman Imran Khan’s letter to the IMF linking rele­a­se of next tranche of bailout package for Pak­i­stan with audit of rece­ntly held general elections. Senator Saadia Abbasi of the PML-N while raising the issue in the house regretted the invitation to the global len­der to intervene in internal …

A construction worker lost his life in a trench collapse on Friday afternoon, with firefighter rescue teams recovering his body from the site. According to Lewisville officials, the incident occurred in the Indian Oaks subdivision during work on a city project. The trench collapse happened near Wanderlust and Buffalo Bend drives, trapping the worker just before 2 p.m. James Kunke, …

KARACHI: Defence Housing Authority resident community groups were abuzz with rain alert news since early on Thursday. Many residents were saying that their circumstances, due to dug up roads here and there, were such that they were afraid of normal rains and here the forecast was for heavy rain with thunder, which was extremely worrisome for them. The president of …

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers are urging President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to refrain from recognising a new government in Pakistan until allegations of election rigging are thoroughly investigated. The lawmakers, all Democrats like President Biden, in their joint letter, expressed concerns about pre- and post-poll rigging in Pakistan’s recent parliamentary elections. They have called for a transparent …

A day after more than 300 members took oath as lawmakers in the National Assembly, MNAs on Friday elected PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq as the speaker of the lower house of the Parliament and PPP’s Ghulam Mustafa Shah as his deputy. Sadiq, the Sharifs’ loyalist, and Mustafa defeated PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council nominees Amir Dogar and Junaid Akbar for the coveted …

ISLAMABAD: The data compiled by Sahil shows that 11 children were abused every day in 2023, with mostly acquaintances and relatives involved in the heinous act. The statistics were reported in ‘Cruel Numbers 2023,’ a signature publication of Sahil, an NGO working for the welfare of children, launched on Thursday with the support of the National Commission for Human Rights …

ISLAMABAD: Perturbed by the prosecution agencies’ response to ex-prime minister Imran Khan’s appeals against his conviction in cipher and Toshakhana cases, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday directed the federal government to appoint prosecutors before the next date of hearing. The IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb resumed hearing on the appeals against the conviction of Mr Khan …