Pakistan

Nepali Sherpa guide Kami Rita scaled Mount Everest for the 31st time on Tuesday, breaking the record he set last year. The 55-year-old reached the 8,849-metre (29,032 foot) peak — the highest in the world — by the traditional southeast ridge route while guiding a 22-member Indian army team, officials said, adding that 27 other Sherpas also accompanied the group. “He is a very passionate climber,” said Pasang Phurba, director of the Seven Summit Treks company for which Kami Rita works, adding that Kami Rita was currently descending to lower camps. Kami Rita, who uses only his first name, first climbed Everest in 1994 and has done so every year except for three years when authorities closed the mountain to climbers for various reasons. More than 8,000 people have climbed Mount Everest since it was first scaled by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953. After Kami Rita, another Sherpa, Pasang Dawa, has ascended Everest the most with 29 climbs. Among non-Sherpa climbers, the record is ...

Pakistan has strongly denounced recent statements made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing them as “hate-filled and violent,” and a serious breach of diplomatic conduct.

A health worker administers polio drops to a child on the first day of a poliovirus eradication campaign in Karachi.—AFP DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Two polio workers were abducted by armed assailants in Tank district here on Monday as a five-day polio campaign kicked off across the country. The workers were performing their duties in the Dolat Koruna area of Tank as part of the ongoing vaccination drive. The abducted workers identified as a Union Council official, Sifat Khan, and his colleague Hizbullah. According to police sources, both health workers were on duty when unidentified armed men abducted them and took them to an undisclosed location. Minister calls upon nation to stand united against polio as it did against India Soon after the incident, police launched a search operation in the surrounding areas to trace the abductors and recover the kidnapped workers. According to the KP he­­­­a­lth department spo­k­e­sperson, during this five-day campaign, nearly 7.3 million children under the age of five will be admi...

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Aurangzeb on Monday vowed to support the Armed Forces of Pakistan in the upcoming budget, as the national defence is a collective need.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court has observed that the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) is not entitled to reserved seats, questioning how independents can join a political party that is not part of Parliament.

LAHORE - An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday granted police another opportunity to conduct photogrammetric and polygraphic tests of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder in connection with 12 cases related to the May 9 riots.

Says incident it reminds us of painful APS Peshawar tragedy.

LAHORE - President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan is a strong state whose defence is in strong hands.

ISLAMABAD - First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, a prominent public health advocate and polio eradication ambassador, yesterday called on citizens from all walks of life to join the national effort to ensure no child is left behind.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has launched a pioneering initiative, the “CM Insulin for Diabetes” program, aimed at supporting children diagnosed with Type-I congenital diabetes.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court on Monday granted post-arrest bail to Raza Ali, an accused in the Jinnah House attack case, against surety bonds worth Rs 200,000.

ISLAMABAD - An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Monday postponed hearing against PTI workers in a case registered by Ramna Police Station with regard to May 9 riots.

ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast windstorm and rain-thunderstorm activity in upper and central parts of the country from May 27 (night) to May 31, with occasional gaps.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Health, Syed Mustafa Kamal on Monday officially launched the third National Polio Campaign of 2025 at the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC).

ISLAMABAD - The National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior on Monday rejected a government bill proposing to empower police to take action against electricity theft.

ISLAMABAD - The Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan has argued before the Supreme Court that judges can be transferred from one High Court to another, both temporarily and permanently, with the consent of the concerned judges, Chief Justice of the two High Courts and the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD - Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi Monday highlighted that the integration of technology into the justice system is not simply a matter of modernization but also essential to making courts more accessible, transparent, and efficient for the people they serve.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Secretary for Housing & Works, Hamid Yaqoob Sheikh, yesterday paid a visit to the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA).

ISLAMABAD: Senior Counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan on Monday informed the Constitutional Bench (CB) of the Supreme Court that Article 187 of the Con­stitution — the basis for the July 12, 2024 majority judgement which granted relief to the PTI in the res­e­rved seats case — does not em­p­ower the apex co­urt to grant relief to a party that was not before it. “Article 187 is a provision which allows the Sup­r­eme Court to decide a mat­ter in a complete sense, but not to settle a dispute or grant relief to a party which is not before the court,” argued the counsel representing the candidates who were denied res­erved seats after the Ele­ction Commission of Pak­is­tan (ECP) quashed a not­ification that had allocated special seats for women to them. “At times, in a dispute, the court can mould relief for one of the contesting parties, since there can be a situation where a party is entitled to more relief,” the counsel added. Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, a member of the 11-judge CB hearing a set of review petitions ag...

ISLAMABAD: Justice Shakeel Ahmed, a member of the five-judge Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court hearing the seniority dispute among judges, on Monday questioned whether the law secretary was competent to clarify in the final summary on transfer that judges would not be required to take a fresh oath upon their posting to the Islamabad High Court. “Were the real facts regarding seniority kept hidden from the chief justices during the process of consultation?” Justice Ahmed asked, expressing concern that such anomalies had led to doubts and raised questions about mala fide intent. The five-judge CB, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, had taken up a joint petition filed by five IHC judges — Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Saman Rafat Imtiaz. The petition argues that three transferred judges should not be treated as IHC judges until they take a fresh oath under Article 194, read in conjunction with Schedule III of the Constitution. Senior ...