Pakistan

Rawalpindi - Aleema Khan and two other sisters of Imran Khan, founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, on Tuesday evening started a sit-in near Adiala jail along with the party workers after they were denied to meet the ex-prime minister.

BERLIN: More than 250 human rights groups and other NGOs renewed pressure on the German government on Tuesday to take in hundreds of Afg­hans stranded in Pakistan who had been offered sanctuary by Berlin. The organisations, inclu­ding Amnesty Interna­tional, Save the Children, Human Rights Watch and church groups, urged the government to bring the roughly 1,800 Afghans to Germany from Pakistan before the end of the year. Those affected must be evacuated in the coming weeks to protect them from deportation back to Afghanistan, the groups said. The Afghans were accepted under a refugee scheme set up by the previous German government, but have been stuck in Pakistan since conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office in May and froze the programme. Around 350 people on the scheme have been able to come to Germany after winning legal challenges against the government in German courts. UNHCR survey shows only 1.2m of 2m Afghans in Pakistan are registered According to the open letter sent to the German governm...

ON Human Rights Day, the pitiful state of basic liberties in Pakistan — which is combating militancy, climate shocks and a damaged economy — conveys that the country has little to celebrate. Additionally, an outdated criminal justice system and institutional overreach contribute to civil rights violations. What lies ahead for Pakistan’s children is the more pressing aspect. Not only are millions without essential services — food, education and health — they are also forced into labour and illicit trade. Even their existence is ignored by the state: The Human Rights Review noted that only 42pc of children under five were registered at birth. Pakistan, with some 26m children out of school, has allowed the education emergency to persist. Education statistics show that 40pc of children have only a slim chance of acquiring a primary education. This is worsened by the displacement and destruction wrought by both extreme weather patterns and turmoil in KP and Balochistan. According to a World Bank report, poverty ca...

A sit-in led by Aleema Khan, the sister of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, continued on Tuesday night near Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail after she was once again denied a meeting with the ex-premier. The sit-in continued into the night, with party leaders and supporters present on Adiala road as of midnight. Senior party members, including PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and PTI KP Provincial President Junaid Akbar Khan, also joined the demonstration earlier tonight. The PTI has made multiple attempts to meet the incarcerated party founder, being denied an audience each time by jail authorities despite a court order allowing meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, last week, the authorities allowed Uzma Khan, another one of Imran’s sisters, to meet her incarcerated brother. After the visit, she said he was “perfectly fine”. Speaking in video statements as she made her way to the prison today, Aleema alleged that the state had been breaking the law, while maintaining that the PTI had done nothing ...

A High Court judge in the United Kingdom has ordered YouTuber Adil Raja to publicly apologise to Brigadier (retd) Rashid Naseer following a defamation case. Raja, who runs a YouTube channel and has positioned himself as a whistleblower, was accused of making multiple defamatory statements on social media, including allegations of corruption, electoral interference, judicial manipulation, and human rights abuse, all of which Brigadier (retd) Naseer strongly denied. Judge Richard Spearman KC directed that the apology must remain on Raja’s social media accounts and website for 28 days. The court also ordered Raja to pay £50,000 in damages and £260,000 in legal costs by December 22. The order was issued after Raja lost a defamation case in October, in which the court ruled that allegations he made against Brigadier (retd) Naseer were unfounded. The judge had earlier directed Raja to publish a summary confirming that the statements were defamatory and that the retired military official had succeeded in his claim. ...

Police, procurement, judiciary rank highest in corruption perceptions

The sun burned with a fierce, summer-like intensity on the winter morning but it couldn’t temper the spirit of the competitors gunning for glory at the National Games on Tuesday. The open field at the athletics venue hummed with simultaneous action — discus flying in one sector, hurdlers pacing in another. On the track, athletes bobbed and stretched, their shadows short under the midday blaze. In the stands, a scattered crowd fanned themselves, eyes darting between events. The pool offered some respite from the blazing sun as swimming began at the Games on a day headlined by Commonwealth Games gold medallist Inam Butt extending his remarkable legacy by clinching his 18th national title — the most by any wrestler — and a national record for discus thrower Faryal Farooq. Faryal’s feat was the culmination of a four-years effort; those long days of lonely training meeting minutes of razor-edged opportunity. Through her first four throws, she was nowhere near the mark. The record, it seemed, would elude her once m...

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday said that the country’s economy cannot be run with force and suggested that the federal government allow provinces to collect taxes to bolster the economy. Speaking to journalists after meeting with the business community at the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Bilawal also suggested that the provinces could directly collect sales tax, in view of independent reports about a Rs3 trillion leakage. “Wherever you need our help at the level of the president of Pakistan, our governors, we are ready to do so for your district-wise economic uplift plan,” the PPP chief said. “The prime minister also desires to work for this, but the difference between their approach and ours is that they believe in centralisation and we focus on decentralisation,” he added. Bilawal acknowledged the business community’s concerns about high tax rates, but maintained that his party believes in collecting more taxes to strengthen the economy. “Though the goal i...

ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday declared a petition challenging degree of Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri as maintainable.

ISLAMABAD - The top election regulatory authority yesterday announced the long-awaited schedule for local government polls in the Islamabad Capital Territory.

ISLAMABAD - Inspector General of Police (IGP) Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi chaired an important meeting to review citizen-facilitation measures, traffic management, and the use of modern technology across federal capital.

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar yesterday held a telephone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to review bilateral relations and regional developments.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday ruled that dismissing an employee without proper evidence is contrary to the principles of justice.

LAHORE - The scope of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s digital governance vision has been extended to municipal services, allowing citizens across Punjab to pay bills and other charges from the convenience of their homes.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review progress in the province’s agriculture sector, where Punjab and China signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) aimed at modernisation, technology transfer and enhanced research collaboration.

RAWALPINDI - Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, NI (M), HJ, called on President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto at Islamabad on Tuesday.

SUKKUR - At least nine alleged bandits were killed in a shootout with police near Manchhar Shah Graveyard in Shikarpur on Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Indonesia on Tuesday agreed to enhance bilateral trade, expand cooperation in health, agriculture, information technology, science, and education, and deepen coordination on regional and global issues, including Palestine.

LAHORE: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addresses members of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Peshawar - An important meeting of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sohail Afridi, here at the Chief Minister Secretariat, on Tuesday.