Pakistan

A judicial magistrate in Karachi on Monday granted post-arrest bail to Armaghan Qureshi, the prime suspect in the Mustafa Amir murder case, in a case involving an illegal call centre and credit card data theft. Amir, 23, was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by his friends — Armaghan and Sheraz — in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) on Jan 6, 2025. According to the police, the youth’s friends stuffed his body in the trunk of his car and torched it in the Hub area of Balochistan. A final charge sheet against Armaghan in the murder case was filed in August. Besides multiple other cases, Armaghan had also been implicated in the data theft case in a first information report (FIR) registered with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on April 16, 2025. Judicial magistrate (South) took up Armaghan’s bail plea today. Advocate Khurram Abbas appeared as his defence counsel and informed the court that the investigation against the suspect had been completed in 2025. “Not a single shred of evidence was presented...

PTI Chief Whip Amir Dogar, shared with National Assembly (NA) Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Monday documents pertaining to the withdrawal of cases concerning PTI’s Omar Ayub and again demanded Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Chairperson Mehmood Khan Achakzai’s appointment as the opposition leader. The development comes around a month after the NA Secretariat sent a letter to Dogar, seeking details about the status of cases concerning Ayub. The letter said 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. According to a post on the NA’s X account, Dogar presented the documents to Sadiq today, and the two also exchanged views on matters related to the appointment of the opposition leader. Dogar “once again” demanded that the Achakzai be appointed as the opposition leader, the post said, adding that Ayaz gave the assurance that “everything will be done in accordance with the law and the constitution”. The sta...

India’s Supreme Court denied bail on Monday for former student leader Umar Khalid, who has been detained for more than five years on charges of conspiracy to trigger deadly riots. Khalid, 38, was arrested in September 2020 under a sweeping anti-terrorism law and has remained in custody since, aside from brief releases to attend family weddings. His case has become a touchstone for critics who say India’s more than 200 million Muslims face discriminatory treatment in the Hindu-majority nation. Khalid was detained after the February 2020 sectarian riots in Delhi when 53 people were killed — mostly Muslims, but also several Hindus. The Supreme Court in New Delhi dismissed his appeal for bail, saying that “prolonged incarceration” was not grounds to grant him release. It also denied bail on the same grounds to another student activist, Sharjeel Imam. But it approved bail for five others in the same case. Khalid, a former student at Delhi’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University, was charged with rioting with a d...

The Bangladesh government on Monday ordered an indefinite ban on the telecast and promotion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) following the controversy surrounding the removal of Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad, The Daily Star reported. The development comes after KKR said on Saturday they had released the Bangladesh bowler after being told to do so by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Bangladesh are scheduled to play three T20 World Cup matches in Kolkata next month, with the February 7-March 8 tournament being co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. On Sunday, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said after an emergency meeting that it had “formally requested” the International Cricket Council (ICC) shift its team’s games to Sri Lanka. A statement from the ministry of information and broadcasting said that it had “noted that no reason was communicated for the decision behind Mustafizur Rahman’s exclusion [from the IPL]” and that the development ha...

The repatriation of illegally residing Afghan nationals from Pakistan is continuing, with the Ministry of Interior stating that a total of 682,141 Afghan citizens have so far returned to Afghanistan.

Pakistan experienced one of its warmest Decembers in the past 65 years in 2025, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department’s (PMD) monthly climate report.

Minister for Information Technology Shaza Fatima has said the federal government will auction 600 megahertz of spectrum next month to ensure faster and more reliable internet services across the country.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Monday called on lawyers in Islamabad to stand up for an independent judiciary as he continued his efforts to rally support for the PTI’s street movement. The KP CM made the remarks while addressing the legal fraternity at an event organised by the Islamabad Bar Association. After completing a three-day visit to Lahore, Afridi has announced Karachi as his next destination. “If you do not stand up for the supremacy of the Constitution and the law and for an independent judiciary, then future generations will spit on us and you as well,” Afridi said. He urged them to announce a lawyers’ movement, adding that the youth will support them. “Long live resistance,” the chief minister said. “You must support the PTI founder [Imran Khan] against oppression and barbarity. Whose conscience is even one per cent alive will stand against the 26th and 27th Constitutional Amendments, as well as unfair trials — whether of journalists or politicians — and will demand the relea...

The Pakistan Computer Emergency Response Team (PKCERT) on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with global cybersecurity company Kaspersky to enhance cybersecurity in Pakistan through collaboration. PKCERT is a federal government entity responsible for protecting Pakistan’s digital assets, sensitive information, and critical infrastructure from cyberattacks, cyberterrorism, and cyber espionage. A joint press release issued on Monday said that the agreement marked a major step toward enhancing Pakistan’s national cybersecurity posture through collaboration in threat detection, mitigation, and prevention. “The partnership between PKCERT and Kaspersky focuses on strengthening the country’s cyber resilience through a series of coordinated efforts. These include extensive training and awareness programs designed to enhance operational readiness across all levels of government, industry, academia, and civil society,” the statement said. It added that the collaboration also focused on capacity developme...

Maulana Fazlur Rahim Ashrafi, head of Jamia Ashrafia and a prominent Islamic scholar, passed away after a prolonged illness, drawing condolences from political and religious leaders across the country.

Predictions regarding the likely dates for the sighting of the Ramazan moon and the observance of Eidul Fitr and Eidul Adha in Pakistan have been shared by the Ruet-e-Hilal Research Council, based on astronomical calculations.

The 98th birth anniversary of former prime minister and founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is being observed across the country today (Monday).

Various sections of motorways across Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh were closed on the night between Sunday and Monday as dense fog reduced visibility to dangerous levels, officials said.

The United States could raise tariffs on India if New Delhi does not meet Washington’s demand to curb purchases of Russian oil, US President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “Modi is a good guy. He knew I was not happy, and it was important to make me happy,” Trump said on Sunday. “They do trade, and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly,” Trump said in response to a question on India’s Russian oil purchases. India’s commerce ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The US doubled import tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent last year as punishment for its heavy buying of Russian oil. Despite the hefty tariffs, India’s exports to the US leapt in November. Encouraged by the improved trade data, Indian officials have maintained a firm stance against US trade demands, signalling limited flexibility in areas such as agricultural imports, while data shows India’s oil purchases from Russia have declined. India is asking refiners for weekly disclosures of Russian and US oi...

United States President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the US might launch a second military strike on Venezuela following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro if remaining members of the administration do not cooperate with his efforts to get the country “fixed”. His comments to reporters aboard Air Force One raised the possibility of further US military interventions in Latin America, and suggested Colombia and Mexico could also face military action if they do not reduce the flow of illicit drugs to the United States. “Operation Colombia sounds good to me,” Trump said. He also said that Cuba, a close ally of Venezuela, “looks like it’s ready to fall” on its own without US military action. He also insisted the US was “in charge” of Venezuela after the seizure of Maduro, but was also dealing with the new leadership in Caracas. Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez said at the same time that she was ready to work together with the Trump administration, asking the US leader for a balanced, respectful ...

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar yesterday held separate telephonic conversations with the foreign ministers of Malaysia and Egypt, as well as Bangladesh’s foreign adviser, reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation and maintaining close diplomatic engagement.

ISLAMABAD - The year 2025 will be remembered in Pakistan’s legal history as the country’s judicial map was redrawn through creation of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).

LAHORE: The police booked a singer for performing a song titled “Qaidi No 804” during a government-sponsored cultural event at the Shalimar Gardens here on Sunday. The suspect, a Qawwal, has been accused of giving the event ‘political colour’ as the song was associated with the jailed PTI founder Imran Khan. In the FIR, the complainant, the Shalimar Gardens in charge, Mr Zameerul Hasan, alleged that the singer, Faraz Khan, deliberately tried to exploit the cultural event and instigate people, as the song was associated with a particular political party. He said a music and cultural night was organised by the Walled City of Lahore Authority, which was a non-political event. However, he alleged the singer and his companions sang the song, associated with the PTI leader, on the demand of some audience. He told the police that the suspect should have kept in his mind that the event was open to the public, and was attended by people having affiliations with different political parties. The controversial song posed...

• People’s Unity alleges privatisation bidding process lacked transparency; employees barred from participation • Claims collective bargaining agent has expertise to turn around loss-making flag carrier ISLAMABAD: In what appeared to be a lost battle, the PIA Employees’ Combined Bargaining Agent (CBA), People’s Unity, has asked the government to put on hold the signing of the airline’s share purchase agreement (SPA) and the transfer of management control to the Arif Habib-led consortium until consideration of its reservations and a counter-offer. In a letter to PIA’s board of directors, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Privatisation, the union alleged that the privatisation process culminating in the bidding was non-transparent, claiming that employees were not allowed to participate. It said the CBA had the expertise to turn around the loss-making national carrier through professional management and a competent board. People’s Unity President Hidayatullah Khan said the government was repeating “th...

Beijing slams use of force; Islamabad urges restraint; CPEC, trade ties under spotlight at 7th Strategic Dialogue