ISLAMABAD: Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Nadeem Raza on Thursday underscored the role of the Joint Staff Headquarters (JSHQ) in the country’s defence and safeguarding national security and expressed satisfaction over the ‘jointness’ among the three armed services. Gen Raza, while chairing a meeting of the three services chiefs — Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Bajwa, …

ISLAMABAD: Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court has regretted that a simple walk to the court has now become an ordeal in Islamabad. In a letter made public on Thursday about an incident involving him and a ruling party lawmaker, Mohammad Akram Cheema, Justice Isa regretted that hundreds of police officers were on duty on Wednesday but not …

The proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) resumed its march from Gujranwala on Friday, with thousands of activists travelling in cars, buses and on foot continuing their journey towards Islamabad. Participants of the protest march spent the night near the General Bus Stand on the Grand Trunk Road and resumed their rally in the morning, despite Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed’s Thursday …

Former provincial assembly speaker Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo was elected unopposed as the new Balochistan chief minister on Friday, days after Jam Kamal Khan Alyani resigned from the position. Of the 64 members who were eligible to vote in the election, 39 voted for Bizenjo — six more than the minimum needed — while members of three political parties, as well as …

ISLAMABAD: The Fede­ral Shariat Court (FSC) held on Thursday that setting the minimum age limit at 16 years for a girl’s marriage under the Child Marriage Restraint Act (CMRA) 1929 would help girls get at least a basic education. The observation came while the FSC dismissed a petition and categorically declared that setting any minimum age limit for girls’ marriage …

WASHINGTON — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is demanding answers from Attorney General Merrick Garland about a Department of Justice memo directing the FBI and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to address threats against school administrators, calling it “an abusive memo targeting parents.” Cruz and some other Republicans said they believe the DOJ memo targets people with opposing political views. “There is a …

A full moon shines above Randy Motes’ ranch home in DeSoto. Well, sort of. The moon — occulted by the shadow of a witch flying by on her broom — is just one of the Halloween decorations that light up Motes’ home on a quiet, residential block. There are pumpkins. Thirty-two of them, to be precise. There are 12 skeletons, …

A 29-year-old man is in custody after his sister and her boyfriend were found fatally shot inside a Plano home Wednesday evening while Richardson police were looking into a report of a homicide in their city. Blake Ryan Richards of Plano was arrested in connection with the deaths of 28-year-old Brittany Richards and 26-year-old Ross Escalante, Plano police said. Blake …

A Wind Advisory is in effect until 7 p.m. with sustained winds of 25 to 30 mph expected and gusts to 50 mph. Be sure to secure any loose objects. The winds will decrease a bit Friday, but it’ll still be breezy. The winds have knocked limbs into power lines, leading to power outages across the Metroplex while also delaying roughly 160 arrivals …

Two men are behind bars after Dallas police say they lured a 14-year-old girl into a van last week and sexually assaulted her multiple times. Lukemond Olatunji, 43, and Vincent Thompson, 40, each face one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child. Thompson’s court-appointed attorney, Carl Hays, declined to comment on the case Thursday. Olatunji’s attorney could not immediately …