ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, in his first telephone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, expressed satisfaction at the current positive momentum in bilateral relations between Pakistan and the United States. According to a press release from the Foreign Office (FO), both sides reiterated their dedication to strengthening bilateral cooperation across all spheres of mutual interest. …

ISLAMABAD: Ten more suspicious letters, some of them laced with “toxic” powder and threatening writings, addressed to judges of the higher courts as well as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz were found by the authorities on Friday. Sources said that of the 10 letters recovered on Friday, six were addressed to the Supreme Court judges, including Chief …

RAWALPINDI: Former information minister in the PTI government Fawad Chaudhry, who had been granted bail by the Islamabad High Court (IHC), was released from Adiala Jail on Friday. On Monday, an IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri granted bail to Mr Chaudhry in a case related to alleged corruption in acquiring land for a dual …

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad on Saturday denounced the “provocative” remarks made by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in a televised interview yesterday, in which he appeared to confirm that New Delhi was carrying out an assassination campaign in Pakistan, as reported by The Guardian. “If any terrorist from a neighbouring country tries to disturb India or carry out terrorist activities here, he will be given …

RAWALPINDI: Security forces killed 10 terrorists in two separate intelligence-based operations (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan and North Waziristan districts, according to the military’s media wing. A statement from the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that security forces conducted an IBO in Dera Ismail Khan on Friday based on the reported presence of terrorists. “During the conduct of the …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif embarked on a three-day visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Saturday. He was accompanied by the ministers for foreign affairs, defence, economic affairs, finance and information, according to a report from state-run Radio Pakistan. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz also accompanied him as he set off from Allama Iqbal International Airport via a commercial …

WASHINGTON / ISLAMABAD: An official of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday that the IMF board will finalise the release of its last tranche to Pakistan by the end of this month. In July 2023, the IMF’s executive board approved a nine-month, $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement for Pakistan to support the country’s economic stabilisation programme. On March 20, the IMF …

ISLAMABAD: A lawyer representing former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday raised concerns over the handling of the cipher case, alleging that the foreign ministry was seemingly unbothered by the document’s disappearance, despite being its custodian, and that the interior ministry had “hijacked the case for no reason”. Presenting arguments before a division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), …

KARACHI: Enjoying a majority so far in Senate, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Thursday nominated its senior leader Yusuf Raza Gillani as its candidate for the post of Senate chairman. The party made the announcement in a brief statement for the upcoming election of the Senate chairman which is expected to be held next week. Mr Gillani was elected a …

ISLAMABAD: Pak­istan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan has appointed four more focal persons of the party. With the addition of four more people to the party, the total number of focal persons has reached seven. Earlier, there were three focal persons: PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Sher Afzal Marwat and Umair Khan Niazi. The four new focal persons …