Pakistan

KARACHI: While sharing the details of investigations into the Karachi University suicide bombing with a visiting Chinese delegation, the Sindh police chief on Monday disclosed that an “important suspect” had been taken into custody. In April, a suicide bomber blew herself up outside KU’s Confucius Institute killing three Chinese teachers and their local driver. On Monday, a 13-member Chinese delegation, led by …

ISLAMABAD: As electioneering picks up steam ahead of by-polls in at least 20 constituencies of Punjab slated to be held on July 17, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has decided to go on a rally spree across the province wherein he would address dozens of public gatherings, including four in Lahore, from July 7-15. According to the schedule issued …

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) President Shuaib Shaheen on Monday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) challenging the recent amendments to the accountability law concerning the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The petition was opposed by the elected representatives of the IHCBA, including the vice president, secretary and finance secretary, who distanced themselves from the petition while calling …

ISLAMABAD: Keeping in view the prevailing situation in the country, the government has planned to expand the scope of the social safety net Benazir Income Support Prog­ram­me (BISP) and increase the number of beneficiaries to 10 million, said Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Welfare Shazia Marri. The minister said that at present, eight million people were enrolled as …

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday issued new guidelines for prayers and qurbani — with masking up and social distancing among the measures — on Eidul Azha to curb the resurgent Covid-19 in the country. Pakistan has seen a spike in coronavirus cases since June, primarily attributed to the new BA.5 sub-variant of Omicron. After months of near normalcy, the new …

Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial (CJP) on Tuesday observed that the loyalty of members was a basic right of political parties. “It is the fundamental right of political parties that its members remain loyal to it,” the CJP said while hearing petitions filed by dissident PTI members from the Punjab Assembly, who have challenged the Election Commission of …

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said on Tuesday that the April 26 Karachi University suicide bombing was a joint plan by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), in which a “neighbouring country” had played a role. In April, a female suicide bomber, Shari Baloch, detonated herself outside KU’s Confucius Institute killing three Chinese teachers and …

An accountability court in Lahore on Tuesday accepted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz’s applications for one-time exemption from hearings in separate references. The premier was to appear for the hearing of the Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme case, while the chief minister was to come to court for the hearing of the Ramzan Sugar Mills case. Shehbaz …

Three people were killed and several more were wounded in a shooting at a shopping centre in Copenhagen on Sunday, Danish police said, adding they had arrested a 22-year-old Danish man and charged him with manslaughter. The attack rocked Denmark at the end of an otherwise joyful week, just after it hosted the first three stages of the Tour de …

RAWALPINDI: The recent surge in petroleum prices has forced contractors of development projects to demand revision of rates, leading to suspension of work on several schemes in the district. As petroleum prices have been revised three times in the last one month, the prices of steel bars, cement and crush has increased. As a result, the contractors are demanding an …