Pakistan

All candidates contesting the Senate elections from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been elected unopposed following a mutual understanding between the provincial government and the opposition parties.

United States President Donald Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion on Friday over the publication of a bombshell article on his friendship with the infamous alleged sex trafficker of underage girls, Jeffrey Epstein. The defamation lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, saw the 79-year-old Republican hitting back at a scandal threatening to cause serious political damage. “We have just filed a powerhouse lawsuit against everyone involved in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, fake news ‘article’ in the useless ‘rag’ that is The Wall Street Journal,” Trump posted on Truth Social late on Friday. The Journal reported on Thursday that in 2003, the then-real estate magnate wrote a suggestive birthday letter to Epstein, illustrated with a naked woman and alluding to a shared “secret”. The lawsuit, which also names two reporters, the Dow Jones corporation and Murdoch’s parent company News Corp as defendants, claims that no such letter exists and tha...

The fourth spell of monsoon rains is set to begin across Pakistan from tomorrow, with heavy rainfall and thunderstorms forecast for Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan, according to the Meteorological Department.

The Pakistan Airports Authority has extended its airspace ban on Indian aircraft for another month, now effective until August 23, 2025.

The Pakistani government has announced a five-year ban on the construction of new hotels around scenic lakes in Gilgit-Baltistan, aiming to curb environmental degradation in the ecologically fragile region.

ISLAMABAD: Five senior judges of Islamabad High Court (IHC), who challenged the transfer of the incumbent Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar from the Lahore High Court (LHC), have been sidelined in the recent reshuffling of key committees. The IHC has constituted a new administrative committee, comprising four judges, in the light of amendments to the High Court Rules that have significantly reshaped the court’s internal power structure. According to a notification issued by the registrar’s office with the approval of the chief justice, the newly-formed committee will be headed by Justice Dogar himself, while Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro and Justice Azam Khan will serve as members. The formation of the new committee follows a major administrative reshuffle at the IHC which has notably curtailed the powers of senior puisne judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani. Previously considered one of the most influential judges in the court, Justice Kayani has been excluded from the a...

Karachi - Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, while addressing the inauguration ceremony of newly constructed buildings at NED University and the distribution of Chromebooks to top performers of the People’s Information Technology Programme (PITP), emphasized his government’s dedication to higher education, digital.

ISLAMABAD - Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan on Friday filed an Intra-Court Appeal in the Supreme Court, challenging the ruling of a constitutional bench that upheld the transfer of high court judges under Article 200 of the Constitution.

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Thursday that it opposed Israel’s strikes in Syria, a day after Washington helped broker a deal to end violence. “The United States did not support recent Israeli strikes,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters. “We are engaging diplomatically with Israel and Syria at the highest levels, both to address the present crisis and reach a lasting agreement between the two sovereign states,” she said. She declined to say if the United States had expressed its displeasure with Israel or whether it would oppose future strikes on Syria. Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced concern when asked about the Israeli strikes, which included attacking the defence ministry in Damascus. Fresh clashes rock Druze heartland He later issued a statement that did not directly address the Israeli strikes, but voiced broader concern about the violence. Israel said it was intervening on behalf of the Druze community after communal clashes. Fresh clashes Meanwhile, Bedouin tribes an...

SUKKUR: A bunch of unarmed women fought off a gang of dacoits armed to the teeth merely with sticks and bricks when the criminals stormed two houses in Sheikh locality near Pir Zahir Zakria in Bagarji town, Sukkur district, late on Wednesday night. Shocked and frustrated at the unexpected resistance, the dacoits’ associates standing outside vented their anger at the walls and fired indiscriminately at all houses in the locality, wounding a passer-by, said local sources. The sources said that over 15 members of notorious Rajab alias Rajjo Jatoi gang barged into the houses of Mohammad Ali Sheikh and his brothers and tried to rob the inmates when the men were at work. However, to their utter surprise, the unarmed women bravely resisted them by using sticks, bricks and anything they could lay their hands on. Finally, they succeeded to push back the intruders and lock themselves up in their houses, they said. During the ensuing commotion, the other dacoits standing outside fired indiscriminately at all the houses ...

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council was the only guarantee of the rights of the Kashmiris and peace in the region.

ISLAMABAD - Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan Armed Forces Lieutenant General Saddam Khalifa Abu Qasim Haftar along with his delegation called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif met, at the Prime Minister House here Friday and discussed matters of mutual interest.

KARACHI: Confusion gripped the business community on Friday as key trade and industry bodies appeared divided over whether the countrywide strike scheduled for Saturday would go ahead or had been postponed. Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Senior Vice-President Saquib Fayyaz Magoon claimed that chambers and trade associations had agreed to defer the strike following a meeting with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Industries Haroon Akhtar Khan, attended by various chambers via Zoom. The strike call was initially issued by the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), backed by trade bodies, industrial area associations, petroleum dealers, transporters, and chain store operators. “We have not supported the KCCI strike as it was announced by one chamber alone,” Mr Magoon said. He maintained that the FPCCI, representing chambers from across the country — including Faisalabad, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Multan, Khanewal, Sheikhupura, Sargodha, Quetta, an...

100,000 electric bikes and 300,000 loaders will be given to people under easy loans scheme.

ISLAMABAD - Lieutenant General Saddam Khalifa Haftar, Commander in Chief of Libyan Armed Forces called on Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, NI (M), Chief of Army Staff at General Headquarters, on Friday.

Indus River at Kalabagh facing medium-level flood while low-level flooding observed at Tarbela Dam, Chashma Barrage and Guddu and Sukkur barrages National death toll reaches 193 with 63 in Punjab alone amid continued rescue and relief operations in affected districts Warnings issued for more rain spell from July.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Friday strongly reiterated its unwavering commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, calling for objective and collective global action against the menace.

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minis­ter Mohsin Naqvi said the government is considering a proposal to appoint a senior serving or retired army officer to head the ministry’s civil armed forces wing. During an interaction with a select group of reporters on Friday, Mr Naqvi said the plan was meant for the smooth coordination of the civil armed forces, which fall under the interior ministry, with the military and other stakeholders for effective counterterrorism operations. One of the proposals was to ap­­point a retired or serving two-star general to head this wing, he added. The minister noted that paramilitary and civil armed forces including the Frontier Corps, Rangers, Pakistan Coast Guard, Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts and newly established Federal Constabulary that fall under the administrative control of his ministry were involved in counterterrorism and counter-insurgency operations across Pakistan. “There is a need for smooth coordination of the civil armed forces department with all stakeholders to improve delivery,...

PESHAWAR - The 35th meeting of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cabinet was held here on Friday, with Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur in the Chair.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif visited the Provincial Disaster Management Authority headquarters in Lahore on Friday.