KARACHI: An antiterrorism court (ATC) dismissed on Thursday a bail application moved by an alleged member of a banned outfit in a case pertaining to alleged collection of funds for financing terrorism. Said to be associated with the banned outfit Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), Shafique aka Abu Umar has been charged with collecting funds meant to be allegedly used for terror …

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday took notice of the death of a common leopard in the Peshawar Zoo and directed the provincial advocate general to produce a detailed report about the cause of death and facilities provided to animals in the zoo. A bench consisting of Justice Qaiser Rasheed and Justice Abdul Shakoor expressed annoyance at the death …

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad Commissioner Mohammad Abbas Baloch directed officials concerned to take action against the flour mills and atta chakkis, which had been shut on the pretext of shortage of wheat, and hold audit of the wheat stocks being supplied to them by the food department on a daily basis. He issued the directive at a meeting with owners of flour …

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal for the absorption of over 23,000 personnel of the Levies and Khasadar forces operating in merged districts into the regular police force. Spokesman for the government Ajmal Wazir told a presser that the cabinet approved the absorption of both forces, which were responsible for maintaining law and order in the …

ISLAMABAD: Major opposition parties on Thursday termed the Transparency International (TI) report on corruption and state of democracy in Pakistan a “charge-sheet” against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government, saying the report had “badly exposed” the tall claims of Prime Minister Imran Khan about his government’s actions against corruption. Quoting TI’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) which ranked Pakistan at 120 out of total …

ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday sought an explanation from the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) — the military’s engineering organisation — and summoned its director general on its next meeting after he failed to share the Kartarpur corridor’s record with the auditor general of Pakistan (AGP). PAC chairman Rana Tanveer Hussain directed, “since the FWO refused to provide …

BAHAWALPUR/DERA GHAZI KHAN: Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has claimed that there is neither any pressure group nor forward bloc in the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf ranks. Talking to the media here during his visit on Thursday, the chief minister said all the PTI lawmakers in Punjab were united under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan and as such he or …

ISLAMABAD: Effective action on complaints and timelines for new initiatives were needed to ensure transparency in the country, President Dr Arif Alvi said on Thursday. “Transparency and account­ability are among the top priorities of the government to ensure good governance,” Dr Alvi observed during a ceremony at the Presi­dency for a presentation on the Auditor General’s report. The ceremony coincided …

WASHINGTON — Hours after an influential conservative group backed Fort Worth U.S. Rep. Kay Granger’s GOP primary challenger, the longtime incumbent on Thursday rolled out a high-profile endorsement of her own. The dueling announcements from the Club for Growth — which is supporting Chris Putnam, Granger’s opponent — and National Right to Life, which is backing Granger, reflect a growing …

A motorcyclist was killed after colliding with an SUV in Arlington Thursday evening, police say. The incident took place at 6:02 p.m. in the 1200 block of South Bowen, where police believe the motorcycle had just passed Park Row Drive headed northbound when it struck the SUV, which had just exited a private business in the area. The motorcyclist was …