ISLAMABAD: Terming the agreement between the government and the proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) a “surrender by the state”, the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Monday asked the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to make the deal public and present it before parliament. The demand for making the government-TLP deal public came from three different PPP senators through their separate statements a day …

ISLAMABAD: A large numbers of students who have passed their intermediate examinations have been deprived of their right to higher education with the changed admission criteria adopted by higher education institutions in recent years that limits eligibility to a minimum of 45 per cent marks. This suggests that the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE), and colleges and …

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commis­sion of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday rejected a Punjab government’s plea for postponement of NA-133 (Lahore) by-election scheduled to be held on Dec 5. Informed sources said the ECP took the decision at a meeting held to consider a request by the Punjab government for putting off the by-election till normalisation of the law and order situation …

LAHORE: As the federal government’s steering committee held its second consecutive meeting here on Monday evening, it is learnt the government is considering releasing Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Saad Rizvi. “The government is seriously considering to cool down the situation in a manner that its efforts do not go waste and a long-term solution is reached in wake of government-TLP …

ISLAMABAD: Amending the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) for a third time in less than a month, the federal government has stripped the Sup­reme Judicial Council (SJC) of the powers to remove the National Accountability Bur­eau (NAB) chairman and authorised the president to do so. The National Accounta­bility (Third Amendment) Ordinance 2021 promulga­t­ed on October 31 has come into force at …

ISLAMABAD: A Sup­reme Court judge on Mon­day withdrew himself from the bench that has taken up for hearing a set of petitions moved by the Federal Gov­ernment Employees Hou­sing Authority (FGEHA) as well as its director general against the Aug 20 restraining order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against allotment of prized plots in the federal capital. Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, …

The Punjab government has released more than 800 workers of the banned Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), days after reaching a deal with the group to end nearly two weeks of protests and clashes, Punjab Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Raja Basharat said on Tuesday. Talking to Dawn.com, he said the people who were released were those arrested during crackdowns on the protests — …

World leaders must act to “save humanity”, UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Monday as they met for the historic UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) climate summit with code-red warnings from scientists ringing in their ears. More than 120 heads of state and government are gathering in Glasgow for a two-day summit at the start of the UN’s COP26 conference, …

SOFIA: Bulgaria on Monday deployed 350 soldiers to the border with Turkey to help police cope with the growing influx of migrants, the defence minister announced. “Soldiers arrived at the Bulgarian-Turkish border since today to back up the border police,” Georgi Panayotov told the private bTV channel. The 350 troops deployed with 40 units of equipment, he added. This year has already …

TERMEZ (Uzbekistan): As lorries arrive in bursts of dust at a logistics hub in Uzbekistan’s southern city of Termez, squatting drivers share complaints about how trade has suffered since the Taliban seized power next-door. “Before, our journey there and back took three days, now we are there for a week,” said Rafik Khujakov, an Uzbek who makes regular deliveries of …