Amid | Pakistan

Amid mounting criticism over the delay in the opposition leader’s appointment, the National Assembly (NA) Secretariat has sent a letter to PTI Chief Whip Malik Aamir Dogar, seeking details about the status of cases concerning PTI’s Omar Ayub. The letter says that the provision of the details in writing is necessary for the completion of the process for the appointment of an opposition leader in the lower house of Parliament. Ayub, who had been the opposition leader in the Senate until his disqualification in August by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in connection with his conviction in the May 9 cases, had challenged his de-seating by the electoral body in the Supreme Court. The PTI had nominated Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai for the role following Ayub’s disqualification, but his notification remains pending. And while NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has maintained regarding the delay in the appointment of a new opposition leader for the house that the matter is “sub judic...

Amid reports regarding the arbitrary offloading of passengers travelling abroad, an official from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday clarified that people were only being offloaded or denied boarding if they did not have valid documents or authorities suspected them of working with migrant smugglers. Over the past few months, numerous incidents have been reported of travellers being offloaded from flights at various airports, despite possessing valid travel documents. The actions came after a crack down on migrant smuggling after last year’s Greece boat tragedy that claimed several Pakistani lives. Earlier this month, FIA Director General Riffat Mukhtar acknowledged that incidents of people being offloaded had been reported at Lahore and Karachi airports, and that investigations were underway. In a video statement shared today, FIA Lahore Zone Director Captain (retired) Muhammad Ali Zia addressed the recent issue of “misleading AI-generated videos and false information circulating on social me...

ISLAMABAD: Amid strong opposition from Balochistan senators, the Senate Standing Com­mittee on Petroleum on Monday reluctantly cleared with narrow majority vote a government bill — The Petroleum (Amendment) Act, 2025 — already passed by the National Assembly last week to digitalise petroleum products at every stage. Senators Maulana Abdul Wa­­say of JUI-F and Manzoor Kakar of BAP from Balochistan alleged the bill would deprive citizens of a livelihood as authorities plan crackdown on small petroleum related businesses with closures and heavy fines, open floodgates of corruption, thus further alienating the people of Balochistan while large tankers would keep flowing smuggled products across mainland. PML-N Senator Sadia Abbasi also initially appeared unimpressed by the proposed bill and suggested a meeting with FBR and Customs authorities for the senators from Balochistan. She said there was no point in passing the bill while senators from Balochistan opposed it and recalled that a bill about federally admini...