Bulldozers have knocked down a centuries-old mosque in India’s capital, a member of the mosque’s managing committee said on Thursday during a demolition drive to remove “illegal” structures from a forest reserve. The demolition comes at a sensitive time in India with nationalist activists emboldened in their long campaign for the replacement of several prominent mosques with Hindu temples. The …

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to enforce relevant law and rules to prevent and remove objectionable contents on social media platforms. A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi also put the PTA, Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) and other respondents as well as deputy attorney general on notice for Feb …

KARACHI: Despite facing ‘threats and resistance’ from the provincial administration and recent killings of its workers, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of boycotting the Feb 8 elections and warned that any attempt to ‘snatch’ the mandate of Karachi through ‘vandalism and power’ would attract a serious reaction. The top leadership of the party was …

KARACHI: A crackdown on leaders and activists of the Pakistan Tehree-i-Insaf (PTI) intensified on Wednesday as police picked up over three dozen more workers of the beleaguered party for their alleged involvement in violence during a rally at Teen Talwar over the weekend. “Thirty-nine more persons have been apprehended on charges of rioting, attacking policeman and ransacking official vehicles,” said …

RAWALPINDI: After the special court set up under the Official Secrets Act sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to 10 years imprisonment for the breach of state secrets, the status of the two political leaders has been changed from under-trial “accused” to prisoners. According to a senior official, the two PTI leaders will be treated as …

QUETTA: Security forces completed the clearance operation on Wednesday in Mach and other areas of Kachhi district, killing nearly a dozen terrorists and arresting their three accomplices who were injured during the gun battles. The Quetta-Sukkur national highway, which remained closed for three days, was reopened on Wednesday. Due to the highway closure, hundreds of trucks, passenger coaches and other vehicles remained …

A person was killed while five others, including a cop, sustained injuries in multiple attacks across Balochistan on Thursday, police said. The incidents came hours before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was scheduled to hold a high-level meeting to discuss the deteriorating law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balo­chistan in the lead-up to the Feb 8 elections. In Quetta, …

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear federal government’s intra-court appeal (ICA) challenging the court’s 2023 decision in the Afiya Shehrbano Zia case, which held that judges who retire or resign do not fall within the ambit of Article 209 of the Constitution that determines misconduct of superior court judges. However, the court attached a caveat to satisfy it on …

ISLAMABAD: The unprecedented surge in the number of voters has made Pakistan fifth largest democracy in the world trailing India, Indonesia, United States of America and Brazil. This is also the first time that Pakistan registered more women voters as compared to men in-between two elections. This was disclosed by a Fafen Report, titled “Electoral Rolls, General Election 2024” released …

LAHORE: PML-N President Sheh­baz Sharif has taken a U-turn on his earlier claim that he had been a “darling of the military establishment” for the last 30 years. “Had I been close to the establishment, I wouldn’t have gone to jail and been kept in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) dungeon [in the past],” Mr Shehbaz said in response to a question …