Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday acknowledged the influx of Afghan nationals in Islamabad and said there was a need to pay attention to the matter. Replying to a question asked by PTI dissident MNA Wajhia Qamar, State Minister for Law Shahadat Awan admitted that there was an influx of Afghans in the capital. Earlier, in a written reply to a …

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday welcomed his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad. Abdollahian arrived in Islamabad yesterday for a two-day visit at FM Bilawal’s invitation. According to the Foreign Office (FO), it is the Iranian foreign minister’s first bilateral visit to Pakistan. Earlier today, the two leaders held a “tête-à-tête” at the …

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday said the armed forces would not be allowed to take “unconstitutional steps” as a six-judge bench indefinitely adjourned the hearing on a set of petitions challenging the trials of civilians in military courts. The bench, headed by the top judge, comprised Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, …

KARACHI: The US dollar appreciated on the interbank market but went the other way around on the open market on Tuesday, reflecting the strategy to bring the open market dollar price closer to the interbank rate. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday reported the closing price of the dollar at Rs287.54 in the interbank market compared to Rs286.64 …

Riot police were patrolling urban neighbourhoods near India’s capital on Wednesday following a second night of sectarian riots that have killed six people so far. The unrest began on Monday when mobs hurled stones at a Hindu religious procession and set cars alight in the predominantly Muslim district of Nuh, around 75 kilometres south of New Delhi. Arson and vandalism attacks broke …

Efforts to hold Donald Trump criminally responsible for attempting to overturn the 2020 election were gaining steam, as the former US president prepared to face federal charges in a Washington courtroom on Thursday while Georgia state prosecutors looked poised to issue their own charges in the coming weeks. Trump — the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — was …

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Tuesday approved a bill for the establishment of the ‘Promotion and Protection of Gandhara Culture Authority Act 2023” to preserve and promote Buddhist sites and tourism. The proposed authority is the continuation of the ‘International Gandhara Symposium’ recently organised by the government participated by key Buddhist religious figures from many countries. The bill presented by …

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday sought a reply from the caretaker government of Punjab about the proposed exhibition of a huge national flag at the Liberty Chowk with a cost of Rs40m on the Independence Day. Justice Raheel Kamran Sheikh heard a petition filed by a citizen, Amir Sikandar. A counsel for the petitioner argued that the …

GUJRAT: Gujrat police have registered a case against the Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf (PTI) leader and former federal minister Chaudhry Moonis Elahi and eight others on the charges of ordering firing and attempt on life of a local political figure, Afgan Farooq of Kula Chor. As per police sources, the case had been lodged at Jalalpur Jattan Saddar police station on …

ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan grapples with an increase in militant attacks seemingly emanating from across the border, a top White House National Security official has called the threat “more ideologically diverse and geographically diffuse”, underscoring the need for keeping pace with the threat level. “More broadly, today’s terrorist threat is more ideologically diverse and geographically diffuse than that of two decades …