Pakistan

GUJRAT: After PML-N launched its election campaign from Okara earlier this week, party supreme leader Nawaz Sharif made his first appearance on the campaign trail on Thursday, vowing to make Pakistan “stand on its feet again”. Addressing a public gathering in Hafizabad — where he arrived in a helicopter from Lahore — organised at the sports stadium, the former prime minister said …

A polio programme official and a policeman were injured on Friday after unidentified assailants opened fire on a vehicle in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district. Station House Officer (SHO) of Mamond Police Station Dilawar Khan told Dawn.com that unknown persons opened fire on Dr Abdul Rehman’s vehicle when he was coming back from the District Headquarters Hospital Khar in the Tarkhoo area of …

MUZAFFARABAD: A member of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) cabinet, Taqdees Gillani, said on Thursday she would table a bill in the legislative assembly to curb early-age forced marriages as part of efforts to ensure the rights of children and women in the state. Taqdees Gillani, minister without portfolio, made this announcement at a seminar on early-age forced marriages …

GILGIT: Demonstrations continued in various areas of Gilgit-Baltistan for the 22nd day on Wednesday, with protesters urging the restoration of a wheat subsidy in the region. Gilgit-Baltistan Council members have declared their support for the ongoing protests and have decided to submit a summary to the caretaker prime minister, recommending an increase in the supply of subsidised wheat and the …

LAHORE: Petitions have been filed in the Lahore High Court against the acceptance of nomination papers of PML-N supermo Nawaz Sharif, his brother former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. All the petitions have been filed by Shahid Orakzai. In petition against Mr Sharif, the petitioner pleads that the respondent was a convicted man …

ISLAMABAD: Irked by the unregulated availability of Kalashnikovs, commonly known as AK-47, in the country, the Supreme Court on Wednesday sought complete details of licences and permits issued for the weapons of prohibited bore. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, who headed a three-judge bench hearing a bail petition in a dacoity case, also hinted at passing orders …

Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday said that all political parties except the PPP were involved in the “politics of hatred and division”. Bilawal passed these remarks during two PPP rallies as electioneering picks up momentum ahead of the February 8 general elections. The PPP chairman has been campaigning across the country all month. Addressing party workers and supporters …

LAHORE: The term “Ladla” (blue-eyed) seems to haunt the PML-N as party president Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday took potshots at those who are calling his elder brother ‘favourite’ of the powers that be. “Whatever happened in the past (tenures of PML-N) shows that Nawaz Sharif is not a ladla … someone else is. The plane hijacking case (in 1999) and …

LAHORE: After a full bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) dismissed an appeal filed by former prime minister Imran Khan against the rejection of his nomination papers from NA-89 (Mianwali) and NA-122 (Lahore), the PTI founder may approach the Supreme Court to contest Feb 8 elections. “A forum [Supreme Court] for the appeal is available, but we will make …

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Wednesday said that the media in Pakistan was “freer” than in the West, saying that latter was under “stricter regulations”. The premier made the remarks in an interview with CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. During the interview, Kakar talked about the economic outlook for the country, the upcoming election and charges against ex-premier …