ISLAMABAD: Turkish and Qatari mediators are continuing discussions with the Afghan Taliban delegation on Pakistan’s demands to end cross-border terrorism, as efforts intensify to reach an agreement before the scheduled conclusion of the ongoing talks. At the weekly media briefing on October 17, 2025, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said Pakistan had presented its case to the mediators “in …
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Friday condemned remarks by the province’s Chief Minister, Sohail Afridi, “disparaging the security forces and assailing counter-terrorism operations in KP.” Speaking to reporters outside Adiala Jail a day prior, the CM alleged that security forces in KP would bring dogs into mosques and tie them down there, thereby violating the sanctity of …
ISLAMABAD: The PPP agreed on proposed amendments to Article 243 of the Constitution, which deals with the powers of the armed forces, during a meeting of its Central Executive Committee (CEC), which continued on Friday. Last night, the party indicated conditional support for limited amendments to Article 243 governing federal control of the armed forces. Announcing decisions of the party’s …
ISLAMABAD: A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Friday to challenge the “attempts to do away with the constitutional jurisdiction of the superior judiciary”, apparently by means of a 27th Constitutional Amendment. The proposed changes to the Constitution have raised concerns that the move could roll back some powers devolved under the landmark 18th Constitution Amendment and further …
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif departed on Friday for a two-day official visit to Azerbaijan at the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev. In a post on social media platform X, state-run PTV said that Information Minister Attaullah Tarar was also accompanying the premier. Earlier today, the Foreign Office (FO) said PM Shehbaz would undertake the visit to participate in events …
ISLAMABAD: A Faisalabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) sent Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) chief Sahibzada Mohammad Hamid Raza to jail on Friday, directing that he serve his 10-year jail term in a case pertaining to violent protests in the country on May 9, 2023. Hamid was convicted in the case along with several PTI leaders on July 31. According to his brother, …
ISLAMABAD: Expounding on an earlier ruling, the Supreme Court on Thursday held that participation of women in the public sphere was not a benevolent concession, but a realisation of a right long denied. “When women contribute across education, administration, policy, health, and justice, institutions draw upon a broader spectrum of experience, enhancing the quality, legitimacy and responsiveness of governance,” observed …
ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Thursday sought meetings with the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and with PTI’s party’s patron-in-chief Imran Khan but failed. Speaking to journalists outside the IHC, he said he had wished to ask the chief justice who was “pressurising the courts”. He complained that PTI cases were not being scheduled …
The British Army’s Chief of the General Staff (CGS) Gen Sir Charles Roland Vincent Walker on Thursday met Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir in Rawalpindi, where the two discussed boosting bilateral defence cooperation. The meeting between the army chiefs took place at the General Headquarters (GHQ), a press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. …
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held meetings with the delegations of multiple parties on Thursday in what appears to be efforts by the government to prepare the ground to get a 27th Constitutional Amendment approved by Parliament. Among those he met was a seven-member delegation of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), which was led by party Convener Dr Khalid Maqbool …