Pakistan

The government has announced a three-day public holiday for the occasion of Eidul Azha, which will be celebrated on 29 June. As per a press release issued by the Cabinet Division, the holidays have been announced from June 29 to July 1 (Thursday to Saturday), providing a long weekend to the public to celebrate the holy festival. The notification stated …

An Islamabad district and sessions court dismissed the bail petitions of PTI leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and Asad Qaiser on Tuesday in two separate cases related to May 9 vandalism. Television footage showed Qureshi and Umar hurriedly walking towards a vehicle and leaving the court after the judgement was announced. None of the three leaders has been arrested …

Pakistan and China on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a new unit of the 1,200 MW Chashma-5 (C-5) nuclear power project. Wang Yongge, president of the China National Nuclear Corporation Overseas Ltd (CNOS) and Muhammad Saeedur Rehman from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) signed the agreement for unit 5 of the power plant. Prime Minister …

LAHORE: After meeting his cousin and PTI president Chaudhry Parvez Elahi in jail on Monday, PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said the former was not well and that his feet were swollen. Mr Hussain, who visited the district jail along with his son Salik Husain, quoted Mr Elahi as saying, “Our family has seen massive difficulties in the past, too.” …

Former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Jawwad S Khawaja on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court (SC) against the trial of civilians in military courts and demanded that it should be declared “unconstitutional”. The petition, filed through Advocate Khwaja Ahmad Hosain, sought to declare that “sections 2(1)(d)(i) and (ii) of the Pakistan Army Act 1952 are inconsistent with the fundamental rights …

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah promised on Tuesday that the investigation into the Greece boat tragedy would be completed within a week as authorities arrested two more traffickers allegedly involved in human smuggling. Last week, an Italy-bound fishing trawler reportedly carrying at least 800 people — including hundreds of Pakistanis — capsized off Greece. Only 104 people are known to have …

ISLAMABAD: As the term of the national as well as Sindh and Balochistan assemblies set to expire in less than two months, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has switched to election mode to make arrangements for the mega electoral exercise. A meeting of the ECP held under the chairmanship of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja was briefed by …

ISLAMABAD / NORTH WAZIRISTAN: The arrest of South Waziristan MNA Ali Wazir echoed during budget discussion in the National Assembly on Monday, but while fellow lawmakers protested the arrest and demanded his immediate release, the speaker and other ministers seemed unmoved by the incident. According to officials, security forces took Mr Wazir into custody from the Tamtail checkpost in South …

The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday reserved its verdict on a set of pleas challenging the recently-enacted Supreme Court (Review of Judgments and Orders) Act 2023, which expands the scope of a review petition. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard a set of appeals challenging …

ISLAMABAD: Provincial polio programmes have finalised the arrangements to hold vaccination campaigns in selected districts of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from today (Monday). Around four million children, up to five years of age, will be vaccinated during the campaign, Ministry of National Health Serv­ices (NHS) spokesperson Sajid Shah said while talking to Dawn. He added that all arrangements for the campaigns …