ISLAMABAD: The fate of 15 bail petitions pending in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in different cases related to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) hang in the balance as the recent presidential ordinance amended the NAB law empowering trial courts to grant bail in such references. National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999 did not provide granting bail to the accused as …

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Executive Director of Unicef Omar Abdi has said his organisation sees the possibility of an end to polio in Pakistan as only one polio case has been reported in the country this year. Talking to Dawn at the end of his visit to Pakistan, Mr Abdi said: “We have been looking at the trend for the last 20 years and …

ISLAMABAD: Confusion prevailed among around 200,000 candidates who appeared in the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) after the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) announced on social media that the result cards that had been sent to them through e-mail should be ignored as they had a number of mistakes. Later, it was announced that around 125,000 candidates — 65 …

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) on Saturday approached the Supreme Court against the Islamabad High Court’s order that suspended allotments made in favour of judicial officers who are serving or had served in the high court and district courts. In an appeal before the SC through counsel Mohammad Akram Sheikh, the FGEHA pleaded to set aside the …

KARACHI: The stock market witnessed decreased investor activity in a directionless week as the benchmark index closed on Friday at 44,477 points, down 0.9 per cent or 395 points from a week ago. The reasons for the lacklustre interest from investors included the release of the Pandora Papers, alarming increase in the import bill, higher-than-expected inflation and rising global commodity …

Lebanon was plunged into a total blackout Saturday after two main power stations went offline because they ran out of fuel, the state electricity corporation, Electricite du Liban (EDL), said. The Mediterranean country is battling one of the planet’s worst economic crisis since the 1850s, and has, in recent months, struggled to import enough fuel oil for its power plants. State electricity …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Saturday concluded technical-level discussions on a ‘positive note’ and agreed to continue talks at a higher level in Washington from next week to put $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) back on track. The policy-level talks will kick off early next week in Washington by a delegation from Pakistan led by …

LA PALMA: Red-hot lava engulfed the land Jose Roberto Sanchez inherited from his parents on Saturday and lightning flashed around the rim of the volcano that has been erupting on the Spanish island of La Palma for almost three weeks. There were 37 seismic movements on Saturday, with the largest measuring 4.1, the Spanish National Geological Institute said, but La …

HOUSTON: Texans on Saturday once again found themselves living under a ban on most abortions following a ruling by a US federal appeals court which came just days after they were temporarily allowed. The Friday decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily set aside a Wednesday ruling, and effectively reinstated the ban on most abortions once a fetal …

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed on Saturday to achieve “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan, and did not directly mention the use of force after a week of tensions with the Chinese-claimed island that sparked international concern. Taiwan responded shortly after by calling on Beijing to abandon its “coercion”, reiterating that only Taiwan’s people could decide their future. Democratically ruled Taiwan …