Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The controversy over roadblocks in the way of a Senate session took a new turn on Wednesday as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) raised legal questions about the alleged withdrawal of signatures by five members, who have not been officially named by the Senate Secretariat, which in turn maintains that the requisition has become infructuous. In a letter to Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, …

Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), along with Pakistan press clubs, other journalists’ bodies and the Freedom Network called upon Pakistani political parties to commit to defending freedom of expression and protection of journalists in their manifestos for the upcoming general elections. A statement issued by RSF on Thursday stated that since the situation of journalists in Pakistan had worsened in …

LAHORE: With the PML-N’s supreme leader Nawaz Sharif sche­duled to arrive in Pakistan in less than a month, the National Acco­u­ntability Bureau (NAB) is set to reopen three cases against him linked to alleged illegal plot allotments and land acquisitions in Lahore, as well as a questionable share transfer in Chaudhry Sugar Mills. This move by NAB is based on …

Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa on Thursday said that if the court’s verdict on the 2017 sit-in by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) at Islamabad’s Faizabad had been implemented, future “serious incidents” could have been averted. “If this verdict was implemented at that time, then serious incidents would not have taken place later,” the CJP observed while hearing a set of review petitions …

GWADAR: The Gwadar port will be operational soon and its commissioning will give a fillip to business and trade activities, Balochistan’s caretaker Chief Minister Mir Ali Mardan Domki said on Tuesday. Talking to journalists during his visit to Gwadar, he said the port was already being used for Afghan transit trade thanks to its strategic location. The chief minister said …

KARACHI: The metropolitan city of Karachi made a shocking distinction by becoming the most polluted city in the world for two successive days, Monday and Tuesday, in terms of air quality, followed by New Delhi, on the Air Quality Index (AQI), according to the Swiss company IQAir that monitors air quality. The concentration of PM2.5 (particulate matter) in Karachi exceeded …

RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court (LHC), Rawalpindi bench, on Tuesday disposed of the petition of PTI president Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, with the direction to the Punjab home secretary to redress the grievances of the former chief minister of Punjab. Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan was hearing the petition of Mr Elahi seeking better facilities for himself as per his entitlement. During …

LONDON / ISLAMABAD: There would not be any organisational or institutional involvement, either in favour of one political group or the other in the upcoming elections, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has said, as his remarks regarding the possibility of elections without PTI chief Imran Khan drew widespread criticism. On Tuesday, the prime minister was in the UK, where …

The Special Judge Central — FIA’s special court — in Islamabad issued perpetual arrest warrants on Wednesday for PTI leader Azam Khan Swati over his controversial posts on social media platform X (then known as Twitter) about senior military officers including the then-army chief in October last year. Swati was arrested twice last year — in October and in the following month — …

ISLAMABAD: The assets-beyond-means reference against former finance minister Ishaq Dar has been revived and an accountability court on Tuesday summoned him for October 10. Accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir will take up the case. The same court had on Nov 22 last year closed the proceedings on the reference and returned the case file to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The accountability …