Pakistan

RAWALPINDI / LAHORE: The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority employees staged a protest by putting on black armbands at several airports on Wednesday against the government’s decision to outsource the operations and land assets of three significant airports. However, the protesters didn’t disrupt their work during the protest. “We will carry out a procession on Thursday against the government’s decision to …

ISLAMABAD: Eleven workers were crushed to death early on Wednesday when a portion of the outer wall of a sprawling military compound collapsed after being weakened by rains on the outskirts of Islamabad, police and rescue officials said. In Lahore, five people, including two children, were electrocuted in different areas amid rains. The 11-foot-high wall fell while the labourers, working to build …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed authorities concerned to introduce reforms to the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) on a priority basis and vowed to ensure that the caretaker government would “continue with our policies” to achieve “consistent progress”. The prime minister made these comments during a meeting to review the reforms in the loss-making SOEs. The prime minister directed …

ISLAMABAD: A woman and a girl were allegedly raped in separate incidents in the capital, police said on Tuesday. In the first incident, an eight-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in Hamdani Town following which a case was registered with Shahzad Town police. According to the FIR, the girl and her 10-year-old brother had gone out to play with other children. …

The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday directed Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan to seek directives from the government regarding the right of appeal in military courts. The directive came as a six-member Supreme Court (SC) bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and consisting Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, …

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Tuesday was informed that the provincial government would rehabilitate and reconstruct the 150-year-old Marie Mata Temple in Soldier Bazaar. Around eight years ago, in order to renovate the temple deities were moved to a nearby room on a storm water drain. However, last week the structure on the temple’s plot was demolished allegedly by a …

ISLAMABAD: At the fag end of its term, the government has decided to amend a national policy to counter violent extremism. In a meeting to review the National Counter Violent Extremism Policy, 2022, the government decided to involve all stakeholders in the consultative process, introduce some amendments to the policy and forward it to the federal cabinet for approval. The …

LAHORE / ISLAMABAD: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday withdrew a stay order against the call-up notice to former prime minister Imran Khan by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in an inquiry into an audio leak relating to the cipher controversy. Justice Ali Baqar Najafi recalled the stay, allowing an appeal of the federal government challenging the stay secured …

ISLAMABAD: A number of key cabinet ministers on Tuesday expressed the con­fidence that the upcoming general ele­ctions would be held on time, and that there was no disagreement between the go­­vernment and the military on this issue. Speaking at a dinner he hosted for the diplomatic corps in Islam­abad, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday hoped that timely general elections …

Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) president Abdul Aleem Khan has claimed that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified to pave the way for PTI Chairman Imran Khan. He made the remarks on show ‘Live with Adil Shahzeb’ on Tuesday night. When asked by the host whether Nawaz was disqualified to bring Imran, Aleem said: “Yes, absolutely.” When pressed whether the “then-establishment” had brought …