ISLAMABAD: As the country celebrated the 148th birthday of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah on Wednesday, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to build a Pakistan that reflects Jinnah’s vision of inclusivity and rights for religious minorities. The day dawned with gun salutes in the federal and provincial capitals followed by a change of the guard’s ceremony …
PESHAWAR: Pakistani fighter jets bombed four locations, said to be camps of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province, killing and wounding several suspected terrorists, security officials said on Tuesday night. Sources said that TTP camps in the Murgha and Laman areas of Bernal district were targeted, including one that was used by Sher Zaman alias Mukhlis …
ISLAMABAD: Senior PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah announced late Tuesday that the government was willing to accommodate PTI’s demand for a time frame in ongoing talks, following PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan’s conveyance of former premier Imran Khan’s demand for a defined timeline. Since Imran’s incarceration last year in several cases, PTI’s relations with the government and the establishment have …
RAWALPINDI: Incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan said on Tuesday that for the talk between his party and the government to reap meaningful results, he needs to meet his negotiation team to understand the issues properly. Since Imran’s incarceration last year based on several cases, his party’s relationship with the government, as well as the establishment, has turned exceedingly sour. The …
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday asserted that the recent sanctions placed by the United States on four Pakistani firms for their alleged involvement in the country’s ballistic missile programme had “no justification”. The statement came after the US imposed sanctions on the Islamabad-based National Development Complex and three Karachi-based entities last week, saying that the White House will …
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Tuesday announced that it had made significant strides in enhancing international connectivity through new submarine cable systems. On August 21, the PTA attributed the nationwide slow internet to a “faulty submarine cable” and clarified that no firewalls were being installed, after drawing criticism from both lawmakers and the public. A few days later, …
WASHINGTON: After the European Union and the United Kingdom, the United States has also raised concerns over the recent sentencing of 25 civilians by military courts for their involvement in the nationwide May 9 riots last year. The series of concerns come after a military court last week sentenced 25 PTI activists to imprisonment ranging from two to 10 years …
PESHAWAR / KURRAM: As Kurram remains cut off from the rest of the country due to violent clashes that have claimed more than 100 lives since October, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has formulated a comprehensive peace plan involving a special force, security checkpoints, deweaponisation, and a crackdown on inflammatory social media. As the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ali …
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari held a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday, where both leaders agreed to move forward with legal reforms and make decisions through consultations with all political stakeholders. The meeting took place amid an environment of acrimony between the PPP and PML-N, the two major parties in the ruling coalition. Last week, key leaders …
LAHORE: The PTI’s parliamentary party in the Punjab Assembly says it is nothing but “hypocrisy” that the PML-N government, on the one hand, is holding talks with the opposition party’s leadership, while on the other “fascism” is being unleashed on its MPAs, leaders and workers, including women. “The parliamentary party leadership demands the Punjab government should immediately stop its fascism …