Pakistan

PML-N’s Saiful Malook Khokhar, who lost to PTI’s Sibtain Khan in the contest for the Punjab Assembly speaker last night, challenged his rival’s election in the Lahore High Court on Saturday, maintaining that it was held in an “illegal and unconstitutional manner”. In Friday’s election — which was held after former speaker Parvez Elahi was declared the Punjab chief minister in a …

ISLAMABAD: Vowing to stabilise crippling economy, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday the government would soon launch 6,000MW to 7,000MW solar energy projects to cut dependence on imported fuel. The prime minister also said that promotion of foreign investment was one of the top priorities of the government. “Short-term and long-term plans would be implemented to cut dependence on …

An Islamabad district and sessions court on Saturday confirmed the pre-arrest bails of PTI chairman Imran Khan in 10 cases pertaining to alleged violence and damage to public property during the party’s “Azadi March” on May 25. The ex-premier appeared in the court of Judge Kamran Basharat Mufti alongside his counsel Babar Awan and PTI leader Shahbaz Gill. Imran had applied for …

After British daily Financial Times (FT) published a report investigating how the PTI accrued funds through cricket matches organised under Wootton Cricket Ltd — a company owned by Abraaj Group founder Arif Naqvi — PML-N leader Mohammad Zubair said on Saturday that this was a moment for PTI chief Imran Khan to “come clean” by accounting for his party’s funds and challenging the FT …

Heavy rains and floods have unleashed devastation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, leaving 19 more dead and hundreds of others stranded in both provinces, disaster management authorities said. Relentless monsoon rains have pummeled the country and spelled disaster in towns, cities and villages alike. The Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps have been aiding the civil administration in rescue and relief operations in the …

A special court in Lahore on Saturday summoned Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz on September 7 for the framing of charges in a Rs16 billion money laundering case registered against them by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). They have already been granted pre-arrest bails in the case. During the hearing today, Shehbaz and Hamza’s lawyers submitted requests for a one-time …

GILGIT: Two Nepalese climbers on Thursday set a world record by scaling the world’s second highest peak K2 (8,611m) in less than 15 hours. Tsering Sherpa summited the peak in 12 hours 20 minutes from the base camp while Mingma David Sherpa did it in 14 hours and 22 minutes. Mr Tsering started at 4:30pm on Wednesday and reached the …

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad’s senior superintendent of police has dismissed from service six policemen for their negligence and cowardice in averting a hotel brawl in Nasim Nagar on July 12, which led to death of Bilal Kaka and sparked violent protests by nationalists. In separate orders of dismissal from service, the SSP Amjad Ahmed Sheikh said that the action had been taken after due …

KARACHI: Ignoring concerns and criticism over the controversial selection process, the chief minister on Thursday appointed Prof Khalid Mahmood Iraqi as the 22nd vice chancellor of Karachi University (KU) for a term of four years. The appointment for the much-coveted post was pending for weeks following candidates’ interviews, which were held last month. “In exercise of powers vested in him …

KARACHI: A group of environmentally-conscious young people, engineers and designers, representing Vlektra Electric Motorcycles, unveiled various models of their much-needed electric motorbikes during a programme organised by Darya Lab at the Institute of Business Administration’s (IBA) City Campus here on Thursday. Vlektra Electric Motorcycles are Pakistan’s first lithium-ion based electric motorcycles. Whereas buying a normal 125CC motorcycle will cost you …