ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Friday said Pakistan will participate in the upcoming meeting of special envoys on Afghanistan. The meeting being held from Feb 18 to 19 in Qatar capital Doha has been convened by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for deliberating on the approaches to international engagement with Taliban administration. Pakistan’s Special Representative on Afghanistan Amb Asif Durrani will …

Hundreds of protesters, many of them Russian emigres, gathered in cities across Europe and beyond on Friday to express their outrage over the death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Often gathering outside Russian embassies, they chanted slogans critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom they blamed for the activist’s death, holding up signs calling him a “killer” and demanding accountability.   A …

PESHAWAR: Two militants, including a key commander, were killed and two others were arrested, while a police officer em­­b­raced martyrdom in a joint operation carried out by se­­curity forces and Co­­un­ter Terrorism Depart­m­ent (CTD) of the police in district Tank, the police said. According to an official statement issued by the CTD on Friday, the militants were involved in attacks …

TOBA TEK SINGH: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested on Friday two members of a fraudulent gang operating in Toba Tek Singh and Faisalabad. The suspects, identified as Imran Ali and Ghulam Murtaza, were involved in a scam amounting to millions of rupees, targeting people seeking vehicles on lease. The FIA spokesperson said the duo collected funds on behalf of …

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will take up next Monday a petition seeking a declaration that the general elections held on Feb 8 are null and void due to alleged flagrant violations of democratic norms and electoral integrity. Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, a three-judge bench, comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Mussarat Hilali, will …

ISLAMABAD: The investigation officers (IOs) and staff of police stations have been ordered to refrain from arresting any accused from the premises of courts as it deprives them of their basic right to get justice and also violates the sanctity of courts. Police officers told Dawn that the order had been issued keeping in view the verdicts of superior courts. According to …

RAWALPINDI: Even though the police used all tactics to ensure the implementation of the ban on kite flying and selling, the sky was almost filled with kites along with the sound of firing into the air as people celebrated Basant ignoring the ban on Friday. A woman was hit by a stray bullet when she was sitting on the rooftop …

ISLAMABAD: Terming the alliance between Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F (JUI-F) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) a “significant political change,” the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Friday said that JUI-F’s chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman was the main beneficiary of the “no-trust motion”, which led to the ouster of PTI’s founder Imran Khan from power in 2022. “If Maulana’s mandate has been stolen, it has been given to those …

LAHORE: The PML-N has intensified efforts to woo independent winning candidates in the province ahead of cobbling up a coalition government both in the Centre and Punjab. On Friday, MNA-elect Rasheed Akbar Nawani from NA-92, MPAs-elect Ahmad Nawaz Nawani PP-90 and Amir Inyat PP-92 (Bhakkar) and Rana Abdul Manan PP-272 (Muzaffarghar) called on the party leadership and announced their joining …

QUETTA: Despite passage of over a week, the workers and supporters of various political parties have refused to abandon their protest against alleg­­ed rigging in the elections, and called for a wheel jam strike across Balochistan on Sunday. The sit-ins being staged in Quetta, Dera Murad Ja­­mali and other towns ent­ered the 8th day on Friday. Hundreds of workers and …