ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday urged the Afghan Taliban to rid their country of all militant groups, while Iran stressed the need for regional cooperation, rather than foreign intervention, at a multinational Afghanistan-focused meeting in Tehran. The calls for action came during a meeting of Special Representatives for Afghanistan from neighbouring countries, plus Russia. The Taliban were invited to participate, but …
SYDNEY: A Pakistan-origin man living in Sydney has said he had received death threats and was “terrified” to leave his home after his photo was widely shared online as the gunman responsible for the Bondi Beach shooting, it emerged on Monday. Two gunmen on Sunday had opened fire at a Hanukkah gathering in Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing 15 in Australia’s …
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance clarified, in a statement on Sunday, that there is nothing new in the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) conditionalities. It stated that the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) is a continuation of the agreed reform agenda being implemented in a phased manner for the country’s economic stability and sustainable growth. At the start …
KOHAT: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi asked PTI supporters on Sunday to “be ready” in case a call was made for a protest, adding that “we will together seize [our] Haqiqi Azadi (true freedom)” from the country’s current rulers. Afridi’s intimation came during a PTI rally in Kohat, where he reminded the crowd that incarcerated PTI founder …
ISLAMABAD: Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Bilal Bin Saqib has said that the no-objection certificates (NOCs) issued to global cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and HTX were not a “blanket approval” but the “first step under a risk-mitigated, phased, supervised entry framework”. Saqib’s video statement, televised on Sunday, comes after Pakistan gave initial clearance for Binance and HTX …
QUETTA: Former chief minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri alleged on Saturday that military-led political engineering in Balochistan had caused the fall of his elected provincial government and damaged democratic norms. Mr Zehri, a senior PPP leader, said in a statement that recent accountability measures against former spymaster Faiz Hameed had revived long-suppressed realities about interference in the province’s politics. Reacting …
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said Pakistan had pulled itself out of severe economic distress through the collective efforts of his government and its economic team, recalling that the country was on the brink of financial default when the government assumed office. Addressing the launch ceremony of the National Regulatory Reforms, the prime minister said runaway inflation, a …
LAHORE: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday held ex-spymaster Faiz Hameed responsible for the ouster of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 2017, adding that more charges against him were to come soon. The minister’s remarks come two days after Hameed, in a first, was sentenced to a 14-year jail term after being convicted on four counts related to violating …
LAHORE: President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday tasked PPP lawmakers and members with commencing preparations for the local body polls in Punjab. The local body polls are likely to be held in Punjab next year after some amendments to the local government law. Under Article 140-A of the Constitution and Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, the Election Commission of …
RAWALPINDI: Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir said on Saturday that the Pakistan Army remained fully focused on both internal and external challenges, including hostile hybrid campaigns, extremist ideologies, and divisive elements seeking to undermine national stability. According to a statement issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), he made the remarks …