Pakistan

LAHORE - An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday adjourned until May 14 the hearing of a police application seeking permission to conduct polygraphic and photogrammetric tests on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder in connection with 12 cases linked to the May 9 violence.

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON - The US has assessed that Pakistani forces shot down an Indian jet during India’s air strikes on Pakistani territory, according to a senior US official with access to the latest assessments.

ISLAMABAD - The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is scheduled to meet today to consider ‘Pakistan - first review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, request for modification of performance criteria and request for an arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility’.

ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday removed the objections of registrar office on petitions for suspension of sentences of PTI founder and Bushra Bibi in 190 million pounds reference, and ordered to issue diary number.

Gujar khan - Former federal information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Thursday criticized India’s political trajectory, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of leveraging anti-Pakistan sentiment to advance his domestic agenda and appease Hindu nationalist supporters.

ISLAMABAD - The counsel of Islamabad High Court (IHC) five judges Thursday submitted that challenge regarding judges transfer is not only confined to Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar.

WASHINGTON: The US has called upon both Pakistan and India to hold “direct talks” to bring down tensions and said it will support any effort, including a neutral probe, to ensure the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack are brought to justice. In a press briefing on Thursday, Tammy Bruce, the State Department spokesperson, said the US was aware of Pakistan’s offer for a neutral investigation into the attack. “Pakistan wants an independent investigation … and [the US] want the perpetrators to be held accountable, and we are supportive of any efforts to that end,” she added. When asked if the two neighbours have offered any commitments, Ms Bruce said Secretary Rubio had been clear on two things: “that this should not escalate” and “communication was fundamentally key”. When the spokesperson was asked if the US shared India’s view that Pakistan was supporting terrorist groups, she refrained from affirming the accusation. She said the Pahalgam attack was “awful”, but the “back and forth and continuation” of attack...

ISLAMABAD: The proper mechanism for determining the seniority of judges remained under discussion before the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday, as it heard an inter-se seniority dispute between judges of the Islamabad High Court. Heading the five-judge CB, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar questioned whether the authority to determine the seniority of superior court judges should lie with the President or the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP). He also recalled how, under civil service procedures, when officers were transferred from the surplus pool to a different department, their seniority started from the bottom in the new department. He wondered whether there was any rule or convention for finalising the seniority of judges or whether it should be compared with civil service rules. The bench was hearing 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 — pleading that three transferred ...

AMERICAN officials have said that Pakistan shot down an Indian jet using fighter aircraft it acquired from China, CNN and Reuters reported on Thursday. CNN cited a senior US official saying as per their assessment, Pakistani forces shot down the jet during India’s air strikes inside Pakistan on Wednesday. On Wednesday, Pakistan said it had shot down five Indian Air Force jets, including three Rafales. Indian officials have yet to confirm the claim. When asked about the downed planes, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri didn’t answer the question directly, or issue a denial. He merely said that official information on this topic will be shared at the right time, BBC News reported. BBC terms video showing wreckage of French-made jet in Bathinda ‘authentic’ Earlier, on Wednesday, a high-ranking French intelligence official had told CNN that one Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force was downed by Pakistan. Meanwhile, Reuters cited two US officials as saying that Pakistan had used the Chinese-made ...

RAWALPINDI/KARACHI: It took an hours-long meeting, consultations with all the stakeholders, before the Pakistan Cricket Board eventually decided that in the view of the escalating tensions with India, it was unsafe to hold the Pakistan Super League in the country. The show, however, will go on with the closing stages of this season’s PSL to be held in the United Arab Emirates. “The PCB confirms that the remaining fixtures of the HBL PSL X have been shifted to the UAE,” the PCB said in a statement in the early hours of Friday morning. “The exact sche­dule of matches, outlining the dates and venues, will be shared in due course.” Four matches of the league stage of the country’s glitzy T20 extravaganza are still to be held, which will decide which four teams advance to the playoffs. That, after Thursday’s match between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings, which was to be held at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, was called off hours before the scheduled start time. Pakistan’s military on Thursday said it took down nearly...

• One casualty each reported from Attock, Rawalpindi, Ghotki districts; four troops wounded in Lahore • Military spokesperson says Israeli-made Harop drones used; calls intrusion ‘a serious, serious provocation’ • India acknowledges carrying out strikes; ISPR chief says New Delhi should ‘transition from cinema into real world’ ISLAMABAD: At least three people lost their lives and seven, including four soldiers, sustained injuries as Pakistan intercepted and destroyed as many as 25 Indian drones that had intruded into its airspace across the country, possibly to target military installations. According to the military, the locations where these drones were neutralised included Lahore, Attock, Gujranwala, Chakwal, Rawalpindi, and Bahawalpur in Punjab, as well as Sukkur, Umerkot and Karachi in Sindh. Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the military’s chief spokesperson, confirmed that one civilian lost their life while another sustained injuries in Miano. Moreover, as per police, one person each was slain in Attock an...

RAWALPINDI / LAHORE: Flight disruptions left hundreds of passengers stranded at the country’s major airports, with many failing to reach their destinations due to last-minute cancellations. Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi and Sialkot airports were the most affected, as air traffic was halted for several hours amid rising tensions between Pakistan and India. How­ever, flight operations at the four airports later resumed on Thursday after temporary suspensions. The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) initially said that flight operations at Karachi’s Jinnah Inter­nat­ional Airport would remain suspen­ded until midnight, but they resu­med earlier than scheduled. Flight operations at Islamabad, Lah­ore and Sialkot airports resumed by evening. Earlier in the day, the PAA had temporarily suspended operations at Karachi, Lahore and Sialkot airports until Thursday noon, citing operational reasons. Islamabad International Airport also briefly suspended flights during the day. Later, the PAA extended the closure at Lahore, Is...

KARACHI: India deliberately fired “projectiles” in its Punjab province and blamed Islamabad to prepare grounds for retaliatory attacks, Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Thursday. In a press conference, Ishaq Dar said India “deliberately fired” projectiles, three of which were dropped in Amritsar, the capital of Indian Punjab, located around 54km from Lahore. He added that a fourth projectile entered Pakistani airspace, which was shot down by the air defense system in Dinga, Gujrat, around 87km from the nearest point on the India-Pakistan border. Mr Dar’s remarks were in response to claims by New Delhi that it neutralised attempts by Pakistan to hit multiple “military targets” using “drones and missiles” on the night of Wednesday and Thursday. Mr Dar added that India’s “deliberate” attack was a “malicious strategy” to “falsely implicate Pakistan” for targeting civilians and incite Indian Sikhs. Sitting beside Mr Dar, the armed forces spokesperson also accused India of launching a false flag operation. ISPR ...

• NEC to meet on May 26 or 27 to approve development programme • 200 ongoing uplift projects likely to be closed • Ahsan says proper allocations cannot be made for key schemes ISLAMABAD: The federal government will present the next fiscal year’s budget on June 2, with a 16 per cent lower development allocation of Rs921 billion, resulting in the likely closure of about 200 ongoing development projects. This was announced at a press conference by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who disclosed that an indicative budget ceiling (IBC) of Rs921bn for the next year provided by the Ministry of Finance was over three times lower than Rs2.9 trillion demanded by the Planning Commission based on requirements of various ministries for development projects. The figure is also around 16pc lower than the current year’s revised allocation of Rs1.1tr, slashed on the instructions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from Rs1.4tr approved by the parliament as part of the federal budget 2024-25. The minister said he would conte...

Dera Ghazi Khan - District Police Officer (DPO) Syed Ali has emphasized that operations against criminal elements must continue with full force to ensure the protection of citizens’ lives and property.

MUZAFFARGARH - Rescue 1122 Muzaffargarh, under the directives of the district administration, successfully conducted a large-scale mock war exercise at the Muzaffargarh Thermal Power Station to evaluate emergency preparedness and institutional response capabilities in wartime scenarios.

Vehari - Deputy Commissioner Vehari Imrana Touqeer chaired important meetings which focused on upcoming anti-polio campaign, emergency preparedness, and axle load management enforcement.

MULTAN - Emergency response drills are ongoing by different services across south Punjab to ensure a swift response in any emergency situation as India continued to escalate situation following its unprovoked missile attack that was responded by Pakistan swiftly and smartly.

Vehari - Training drills were conducted in various schools and colleges across the district on the directions of the Government of Punjab and Deputy Commissioner Vehari, Imrana Tauqeer.

The UN appointed Spanish diplomat Miguel Angel Moratinos Cuyaube on Wednesday as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ special envoy to combat Islamophobia. Moratinos will continue in his current role as High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC), which he has held since 2019, according to a statement by the UN spokesperson’s office. “Moratinos brings decades of diplomatic experience and leadership on multilateral issues, including dialogue among civilisations and combating discrimination,” it said. “Moratinos has reinforced UNAOC’s role as a global platform for dialogue and bridge-building.” A seasoned diplomat, Moratinos served as Spain’s foreign minister from 2004 to 2010, during which his country held the presidency of the Security Council and led several international organisations, including the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe. On X, Moratinos uploaded a statement expressing his gratitude and stating he was truly honour...