ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has warmly welcomed a group of Palestinian students to Pakistan, offering them free education and support during their stay in the country. Speaking at a ceremony in Islamabad on Wednesday, the PM reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to assisting Palestinians, particularly those affected by the ongoing conflict in Gaza. “Pakistan is your second home, and we will …

WASHINGTON: Pakistan is advancing economic ties with China, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye, as Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb held high-level discussions on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings in Washington DC. The meetings focused on debt reprofiling, trade cooperation, and joint ventures to strengthen Pakistan’s economic prospects. Aurangzeb revealed a “promising response” from China over Pakistan’s request to …

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday granted bail to Bushra Bibi, the wife of PTI Founder Imran Khan, in the new case related to an expensive Bulgari jewellery set obtained from the Toshakhana at a throwaway price. On October 4, the IHC notified the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Bushra’s petition seeking post-arrest bail. According to the prosecution, …

NEW YORK: United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Turk was “concerned” that the 26th constitutional amendment would “seriously undermine” the judiciary’s independence, his office has said. The newly enacted 26th Constitutional Amendment has brought numerous changes pertaining to the judiciary — including taking away the Supreme Court’s suo motu powers and empowering parliamentarians to nominate the next chief justice of …

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the allegations levelled by Opposition Leader Omar Ayub Khan about the presence of the “personnel of the intelligence agencies in the uniform of assembly’s security officials” inside the house during the proceedings related to the 26th Constitutional Amendment bill aimed at bringing drastic changes to the judicial system. …

ISLAMABAD: Justice Yahya Afridi, who was nominated by a Special Parliamentary Committee (SPC) last night, is set to take oath as the next chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) on Saturday. CJP Qazi Faez Isa is set to retire as the top judge on October 25. Following the passage of the 26th Amendment, the top judge was to now be “appointed …

ISLAMABAD: The PTI on Tuesday issued show-cause notices to four lawmakers who reportedly went “off the grid” at the time of passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment. The legislators who were issued notices included MNAs Zain Qureshi (NA-150, Multan), Miqdad Ali Khan (NA-86, Sargodha), Riaz Fatyana (NA-107, Toba Tek Singh) and Aslam Ghumman (NA-74, Sialkot). It may be noted Mr …

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the newly appointed Special Parliamentary Committee (SPC) to nominate the next chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) from among the three most senior Supreme Court judges has been delayed for later tonight after members associated with the PTI-Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) skipped proceedings. CJP Qazi Faez Isa is set to retire as the top judge on October …

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa on Tuesday said that the implementation of the Supreme Court’s July 12 verdict in the reserved seats case was not binding since the appeals against it were not decided. In its July 12 short order, the Supreme Court had explained that the 41 returned candidates — of the total of 80 MNAs …

KARACHI: Lawyers’ leaders have vowed to launch a protest movement against the 26th Constitu­tional Amend­ment along the same lines as the one in 2007 for the judges’ restoration. While talking to reporters after appearing before a Supreme Court bench on Monday, senior counsel and PTI leader Hamid Khan said a National Action Committee, similar to what had been done in …