Pakistan

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Tuesday announced that the Levies Force has been legally merged into the Balochistan Police.

The Punjab Bar Council (PBC) on Tuesday restored the practising licence of Advocate Mian Ali Ashfaq, who is representing YouTuber Rajab Butt in various legal proceedings.

Human rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday said the 27th Constitutional Amendment was the “crescendo of a concerted and sustained attack on the independence of the judiciary, right to fair trial and the rule of law in Pakistan”, calling for an urgent review of the legislation. The 27th Amendment, passed by Parliament after five days of heated debate, opposition protests, and last-minute revisions, was widely criticised for abolishing judicial independence through the formation of a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) and introducing changes to the military leadership structure by rewriting Article 243 of the Constitution (command of the armed forces). In a statement issued on Tuesday, the rights body said the Amendment was a “crescendo of a concerted and sustained attack on the independence of the judiciary, right to fair trial and the rule of law in Pakistan”. It called on authorities to conduct an urgent review of the Amendment to “ensure that all its provisions fully comply with Pakistan’s internat...

Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry will hold a press conference today (Tuesday).

Adviser to the Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Tuesday that the PTI founder and his wife must strictly abide by court orders, stressing that no individual was above the law.

A 21-year-old student of a private university sustained critical injuries after allegedly attempting suicide by jumping from the second floor of a campus building, police said on Monday.

The federal government is set to seek the rollover of $3 billion in deposits from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), official sources said on Tuesday.

BANNU: The former nazim of Bannu district’s Domel tehsil, Fida Muhammad Khan Wazir, was injured in a bomb blast outside his office on Tuesday. Asif Hassan, the Bannu police spokesperson, confirmed the incident to Dawn, saying that a pre-installed improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated at the office gate in the Domel Bazaar area. Soon after it was reported, a heavy contingent rushed to the scene, cordoned off the area and formally initiated an investigation. Police and local sources said the explosion occurred outside the main gate of the former nazim’s office in Domel Bazaar. At the time of the blast, Wazir was present in his vehicle and sustained minor injuries, they said. As a result of the explosion, his vehicle was completely destroyed, while the office gate and the surrounding area also suffered damage, they added. It is worth mentioning that Wazir has previously played a leading role in peace movements against terrorism and remained at the forefront in forming tribal lashkars to establish peace...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi is scheduled to visit Karachi from January 9 to 11, during which he will tour various parts of Sindh and lead his party’s political activities in the province.

The Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Tuesday suspended a notification transferring powers under Sections 22-A and 22-B of the Criminal Procedure Code to commissioners and deputy commissioners.

The pace of development across Punjab’s cities and villages is set to accelerate further as Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting to review progress on major urban and rural development initiatives.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Monday she plans to return home “as soon as possible,” and slammed the interim president in Caracas. In her first public comments since a social media post over the weekend, when the US military forcibly removed and kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro, the Nobel Peace Prize winner vowed to return to her country. She had left Venezuela last month to travel to Norway to accept the award, and hasn’t returned since. “I’m planning to go back to Venezuela as soon as possible,” Machado told broadcaster Sean Hannity on Fox News, speaking from an undisclosed location. Machado openly rejected the country’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, saying she “is one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, narcotrafficking”. Rodriguez, who has signalled her willingness to cooperate with Washington, was Venezuela’s vice president under Maduro. Machado said Rodriguez is “rejected” by the Venezuelan people, and voters were on the opposition’s side. “In ...

KARACHI: The World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) has called upon the government to keep a vigil on the introduction of exotic fish species in the country and to establish quarantine facilities for keeping fish species imported for aquaculture and aquarium trade. The organisation issued a statement on Monday, describing invasive fish species a looming threat to aquatic biodiversity and fisheries economy after an unusual fish was brought to the Karachi Fish Harbour from Sukkur on Sunday and no one there was able to identify it. “It was an Amazon sailfin catfish. This fish, which has thick armoured body covered with bony plates, is an exotic fish that has an exotic species accidently introduced into natural water bodies and is spread in the provinces of Sindh and lower Punjab,” the WWF-P said, adding that the catfish is native to Latin America and is popular around the world as an aquarium fish. It said: “This species is among the 26 invasive fish species that have been introduced in Pakistan accidentall...

ISLAMABAD: The picturesque Shakarparian in the federal capital has been left devastated after large-scale tree cutting activities, turning four patches of the area into a “bald and barren” land. This has sparked concerns and unrest among local residents and environmentalists alike. At the length of Shakarparian road, there was a thick forest. However, now trees have almost been completely removed from four patches of the area near Lok Virsa. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) stated that only paper mulberry trees were removed, which had been causing pollen allergy. However, it is hard to believe that there were all paper mulberry trees in the area. CDA says trees removed from the area were exclusively paper mulberry which were causing pollen allergy “I can’t believe that in this area there were overwhelming numbers of paper mulberry, may be there could be large numbers, but other species also existed. Now, this area is giving a look of a barren land,” said a citizen, Mohammad Kaleem. “If CDA is saying th...

A severe cold wave continues to grip Balochistan, including its coastal regions, disrupting daily life in several districts of the province.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said that youth are Pakistan’s future and its most valuable asset, reaffirming her government’s commitment to inclusive development and national cohesion.

Dense fog in the plain areas of Punjab and Sindh during the night between Monday and Tuesday forced the closure of several motorway sections after visibility dropped to hazardous levels, officials said.

CAIRO: Egypt said on Monday it is aligned with Saudi Arabia on the conflicts in Yemen and Sudan, as well as the question of breakaway region Somaliland. During talks in Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan stressed their countries’ “identical” positions on “reaching peaceful solutions to the region’s crises”, an Egyptian presidency statement said. They said solutions must “preserve the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states,” singling out Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and the Gaza Strip. A recent internal conflict in Yemen involves the internationally recognised government and the separatist Southern Transitional Coun­­cil (STC). Sisi welcomes Riyadh’s proposal to host ‘inclusive conference’ for southern groups President Sisi on Monday welcomed Saudi Arabia’s proposal to host an “inclusive conference” for southern Yemeni groups, while Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for de-escalation and a Yemeni-led political settlement. On...

LAHORE/GUJRAT: : Two incidents in Lahore and Gujranwala on Sunday night suggest tough days are ahead even for PTI supporters in Punjab. A sessions court on Monday granted pre-arrest bail to the qawwal after he was booked in a case for performing a song associated with ex-premier Imran Khan during a government-sponsored cultural event. In the first information report (FIR), the complainant, Shalimar Gardens in-charge Zameerul Hasan, alleged that qawwal Faraz Amjad Khan gave the event a “political colour” as he sung “Qaidi No. 804” in reference to former prime minister Imran Khan. Additional District and Sessions Judge Shazaib Dar took up the bail application filed by the artist, who appeared before the court along with his lawyer. Faraz’s counsel submitted that the petitioner had no affiliation with any political party and that he performed the song at the request of participants in the cultural programme. Qawwal gets pre-arrest bail for singing a song linked to party leader; 7 wedding guests detained for rais...

• Motorcycle market on Akbar Road remains shut for third day • 86 shops in auto-spareparts market off M.A. Jinnah Road sealed • Officials say shops to be unsealed after traders give undertaking to not use footpaths, roads for placing their goods KARACHI: After sealing the entire motorcycle market on Akbar Road, authorities on Monday sealed the automobilespareparts market off M.A.Jinnah Road near Tibet Centre, as well as hundreds of shops in other parts of the metropolis. The expansion of the drive against encroachments — from owners of roadside eateries to traders who contribute millions in taxes daily — raised many eyebrows. Officials claimed that as many as 86 shops in the autospareparts market were sealed because vehicles parked in front of the shops for repairs encroached on the main road, causing traffic snarls. A similar reason was given by the authorities for sealing as many as 115 shops in the Akbar Road motorcycle market, which remained shut on Monday, as well as dozens of other shops in the city’s b...