Pakistan

The US State Department has pledged to find creative ways to get Dr Shakil Afridi out of prison in Pakistan, after a US lawmaker suggested trading him for Dr Aafia Siddiqui. Afridi was accused of helping the US track down Osama bin Laden in 2011 and jailed for 33 years the following year. Siddiqui, meanwhile, is serving out her sentence after a Manhattan court …

China has rolled over a $600 million loan to Pakistan, helping shore up the country’s foreign exchange reserves on the back of an IMF deal, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday. This was in addition to over $5 billion in loans that longtime ally China has rolled over for Pakistan in the last three months, the prime minister said last week, helping …

PTI Chairman Imran Khan will appear before a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the vandalism of Jinnah House — the Lahore corps commander’s residence — on May 9 on Friday, his lawyer confirmed. The former prime minister has been summoned to appear before the JIT at 4pm at Lahore’s Qilla Gujjar police headquarters. His questioning is linked to a case …

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday directed the ministry of foreign affairs to complete the process of sharing documents with Dr Afia’s lawyer. IHC Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan resumed hearing in the petition seeking release of Dr Afia from the US jail. Acting secretary ministry of foreign affairs, director US and additional secretary law and justice appeared …

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday sought permission of the trial court to allow five more witnesses to testify against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case. On the other hand, an Anti-Terro­rism Court (ATC) issued bailable arrest warrants for Mr Khan over his absence in the cases related to violence and damaging public …

ISLAMABAD: While Pakistan has been considering leasing out 4.4m acres of land for corporate farming, experts warned Pakistan would not be able to overcome food security or boost the agri economy without taking measures to control its burgeoning population. Former senator Javed Jabbar said there was an “urgent need” to expand access to family planning clinics, make contraceptives widely available …

LAHORE: A ‘confidential’ report of the home department has expressed serious concerns over the increase in child abuse crime rate in Punjab, unveiling that the number of boys facing the terrifying ordeal is more than the girls. It made some disturbing revelations that out of the total perpetrators facing trial in courts, 55 per cent were the neighbours of the …

As water levels at Punjab’s River Sutlej began receding on Friday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) predicted more rains across the country in the coming week. A day ago, a rescue operation was conducted in the Kasur district as water from the Sutlej river flooded 15 villages, deprived four others of electricity and washed away standing crops. The northern states …

As Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended a groundbreaking ceremony of the 1200-megawatt Chashma-5 nuclear power plant in Mianwali on Friday, he contended that the “risk of potential default has been completely averted”. Addressing a ceremony comprising Chinese officials and ministers, Shehbaz said, “Our detractors have been running rumours, fabricating rumours all around the places that God forbid, Pakistan is going …