LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has struck down the federal government’s power to inactivate citizens’ passports and impose travel bans lasting five years or more by placing individuals on the Passport Control List, declaring such measures beyond the bounds of existing law.
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Top judicial body set to recommend high court judge transfers without consent-report
ISLAMABAD: The judiciary is bracing for a significant reconfiguration in the coming weeks, as the Judicial Commission of Pakistan prepares to recommend the transfer of high court judges under a contentious constitutional amendment that strips away the need for their consent, according to sources in the judicial bureaucracy.
UAE’s President Sheikh Mohamed heads to Pakistan on first official visit
ISLAMABAD: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates, will arrive in Pakistan on Friday for his first official visit since taking office, a trip aimed at bolstering economic ties between the two nations amid a backdrop of longstanding alliances and mutual interests in the region.
Imran Khan’s grip from jail complicates efforts to begin dialogue with govt
LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the opposition party founded by the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, announced plans on Thursday to launch a new wave of street protests, even as some of its leaders expressed growing frustration with Khan’s unyielding demand for agitation over negotiations to resolve the country’s deepening political crisis.
Pakistan busts $60m cyber fraud ring, arrests 34 including 15 foreigners
KARACHI: Pakistani authorities have dismantled what they described as an international cyber fraud ring responsible for swindling victims out of an estimated $60 million through elaborate online investment schemes, arresting 15 foreign nationals and 19 Pakistanis in a series of raids last week, officials said on Thursday.
Pakistan secures $730 million ADB funding to fix energy grid, loss-making SOEs
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank signed agreements on Thursday for $730 million in loans aimed at strengthening the country’s overburdened power transmission network and accelerating reforms in its state-owned enterprises, which have long been plagued by inefficiency and financial losses.
Ten militants, including wanted ringleader, killed in twin border operations
ISLAMABAD: security forces killed 10 militants, including a wanted ringleader with a bounty on his head, in two separate operations in the country’s restive border regions, the military said on Thursday, as violence flared anew in the northwest with clashes that wounded three soldiers and at least 20 civilians.
Opposition divided over talks after PM Sharif renews dialogue offer
ISLAMABAD: Opposition leaders in Pakistan signalled conditional openness to dialogue with the government on Wednesday, a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif renewed his invitation for talks, though the main opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, continued to reject negotiations outright.
As Christians celebrate Christmas, Pakistan reaffirms a promise of equality
ISLAMABAD: As Christians around the world marked Christmas on Thursday, Pakistan’s top leaders extended greetings to the country’s Christian minority, emphasising their integral role in national life and invoking the founding principles of religious freedom and equality laid out by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the nation’s founder.
Pakistan approves pilot power auction to foster competition, ends public procurement
ISLAMABAD: The government has greenlighted a pilot auction for 800 megawatts of electricity under a competitive trading model, a move aimed at injecting market forces into the power sector while scrapping future state-led procurement of generation capacity.