Pakistan

President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday approved the reconstitution of the Council of Common Interests (CCI), which will be headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. A statement issued by the President House today stated that Dr Alvi had reconstituted the council on the advice of the premier under Article 153 of the Constitution. The law states that four chief ministers …

PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday claimed that he and former finance minister Shaukat Tarin had warned the “neutrals” that the “fragile economic recovery would go into a tailspin” if the conspiracy against the PTI government succeeded. Taking to Twitter, Imran said: “Rupee at all time low Rs193/$ (from Rs178 on March 8); interest rates at …

BAHAWALPUR: An Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) in its verdict in the Rahim Yar Khan (Bhong) temple attack case handed down five-year jail term with fine to each of the total 22 accused persons on Wednesday. ATC judge Nasir Hussain, however, acquitted as many as 62 other accused persons of the charges giving them benefit of doubt. According to prosecution, the accused …

KARACHI: The meteorological department released an alert on Wednesday according to which the prevailing severe heatwave over central and upper Sindh areas will grip the whole province on Thursday (today) and would last till May 16-17. The daytime maximum temperature in Karachi is expected to rise to 38-40°C on May 13 and 14. “Daytime maximum temperature would rise to 46-48°C …

LONDON: The top leaders of PML-N, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, met on Wednesday with the party’s supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, who was briefed on the “serious economic, constitutional and administrative crises inherited by the present government”. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said the meeting reviewed in detail the steps taken by the government …

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday granted bail to the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader MNA Ali Wazir in a hate speech case. A two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro allowed the post-arrest bail to the detained lawmaker against a solvent surety of Rs500,000. In November, the Supreme Court had granted bail to the MNA in an …

ISLAMABAD: Former Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema threatened the government on Wednesday that a 2007-like “save judiciary movement” could be launched against his “illegal removal” from office earlier this week. Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Mr Cheema described the present rulers as a “Sicilian Mafia” and said they should not be allowed to appoint the next army chief. “In …

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday claimed that a night before the National Assembly (NA) passed the no-confidence motion against former prime minister Imran Khan, one of his ministers had threatened him to either accept early elections or face martial law. “I would like to share with this house that the night before the no-confidence motion [was passed], I was …

Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Thursday stopped the police from registering more cases against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leadership under the country’s blasphemy laws over the Masjid-i-Nabwi incident, stressing that “religion should not be dragged into politics”. He made the remarks as the court resumed hearing the petition filed by PTI leader and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry …

Four people have died due to a cholera outbreak in Dera Bugti district’s Pirkoh tehsil because of the unavailability of clean drinking water, according to a health official. Dera Bugti District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Azam Bugti told that four people, including a two-year-old and a woman, had died after drinking contaminated water from a puddle. He said the first …