ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Co­­u­rt on Thursday overturned its Nov 8, 2018 determination of holding illegal the appointment of playwright and columnist Ataul Haq Qasmi as director/chairman of state-run Pak­istan Television (PTV). Mr Qasmi was appointed director/chairman of PTV on Dec 23, 2015, and served in the position until Dec 18, 2017, on a salary package of Rs1.5 million. A three-judge Supreme Court …

MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly speaker and senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Chaudhry Latif Akbar has proposed that his party’s chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari should be appointed as chief of the parliamentary Kashmir committee. He put forward this suggestion at a press conference along with two cabinet members — Sardar Javaid Ayub and Syed Bazil Ali Naqvi …

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thurs­day reiterated Pakistan’s desire to address the issue of terrorism with Afghan­istan through dialogue and cooperation. Meanwhile, in an interview published on Thursday, Defence Minis­ter Khawaja Asif told the Voice of America that Islamabad does not want an armed conflict with its neighbouring country. Speaking at the weekly FO briefing, Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said: “Pakistan has repeatedly said …

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday called for “aggressive financing” of nuclear energy projects, citing climate vulnerability of developing countries to be the major reason of the initiative. He made the remarks in a video message issued on the sidelines of the first Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels. He hailed the summit as a positive development for discussing alternative energy …

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday directed the federal government and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to respond to a petition against restrictions on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) in the country. A bench consisting of Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Wiqar Ahmad issued the order after holding a preliminary hearing into the petition of lawyer Nouman Muhib Kakakhel, who …

ISLAMABAD: The PTI has clai­m­­ed that US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu has admitted the cipher’s existence, and his testimony has vindicated the stance of Imran Khan. In a press conference on Thurs­day, PTI leaders said the testimony before the US Congress’ Foreign Affairs Committee established the “veracity and reality” of the diplomatic cable. PTI Central Informa­tion Secretary Raoof …

BRUSSELS: Highlighting the importance of nuclear energy in combating climate change, Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Thursday called for the international financial institutions and banks to support nuclear energy projects in developing countries to enable them to meet their energy needs and achieve zero emissions goals. Mr Dar stated this during his meeting with Intern­ational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) …

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday expressed his unwavering commitment to wiping out terrorism after two soldiers were martyred in a suicide attack in Dera Ismail Khan. Two soldiers were martyred after a suicide bomber struck a military convoy on Tank Road, in the jurisdiction of the Hathala police station, Dera Ismail Khan, on Thursday. Police said the attack also injured at …

The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday set aside the dismissal of former Islamabad High Court (IHC) senior puisne judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui. In January, a five-member bench — led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and including Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Irfan Saadat — had reserved its verdict on Siddiqui’s …