Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: After about a gap of two months, the Islamabad High Court on Thursday issued a detailed judgement that explained reasons for pardoning PTI Chair­man Imran Khan in the contempt proceedings over his threatening speech against a woman judge. An IHC larger bench comprising former chief justice Athar Minallah, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and …

MANSEHRA/ABBOTTABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Thursday announced that he would dissolve the provincial assembly immediately after being asked by his party’s chief Imran Khan to do so. “I am a soldier of [PTI chairman] Imran Khan. This government manifests his trust in me, so if he directs me to dissolve the assembly, I’ll waste not a single …

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced on Friday that Saudi Arabia has extended its term for a $3 billion deposit in the central bank through the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) in support of the country’s economy. According to a press release, the decision was an implementation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s royal directives. In November last …

THATTA: About 600 acres of state land has been occupied by influential land-grabbers in Kohistan range near Jhimpir town and mukhtiarkar of Thatta has sought help from district administration for launching a large-scale anti-encroachment operation in the area to retrieve the land. The mukhtiarkar has written a letter to Thatta district commissioner requesting him to provide a strong contingent of …

The opposition’s no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan succeeded an hour past midnight on Sunday, with 174 members in the 342-strong house voting in favour of the resolution. PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq, who was chairing the session after Asad Qaiser resigned as speaker, announced the result, after which Imran Khan ceased to hold the office of prime minister, according to …

LAHORE/KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi on Thursday met to apparently review their options to dissolve the provincial assembly in Punjab, amid reports that a group of PTI lawmakers was asking the party chief to put the dissolution plans on hold. The meeting between the former prime minister and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) leader …

TAXILA: President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday said that the country’s immense growth potential in the defence sector can be fully realised by improving the capacity of human resources and adopting emerging and critical technologies powered by artificial intelligence, virtual reality and robotics. He expressed these views during his visit to Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF), Wah. He stressed the need …

The government appointed on Friday seasoned diplomat Asad Majeed Khan — who was at the centre of the cipher controversy that PTI chief Imran Khan has for long presented as evidence of ‘a foreign conspiracy’ to oust him — as new foreign secretary. “Dr Asad Majeed Khan, a BS-22 officer of Foreign Service of Pakistan, presently posted as Ambassador in …

PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi has claimed that former army chief retired Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had advised his party to support the PTI in a weeks-long tussle that ended with the ouster of Imran Khan as the prime minister through a no-confidence vote in April. Moonis — who was a federal minister during the PTI’s tenure and whose party has remained Imran’s …

PTI chairman Imran Khan claimed on Friday that incarcerated party Senator Azam Swati — who was arrested earlier this week in a case pertaining to controversial tweets against the military — has been “taken away by the Quetta police” from Islamabad. “Swati was moved to Pims (Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences) early morning [today] after suffering severe chest pains and …