ISLAMABAD: Pakistan formally launched a licensing regime for virtual asset firms on Saturday, a step officials cast as the foundation for a broader effort to route billions of dollars in remittances and trade finance through blockchain-based systems.
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Pakistan raises petrol, diesel prices into the weekend
The government raised gasoline and diesel prices for the weekend, the latest move under a daily pricing mechanism the country adopted last month to keep pace with volatile international crude markets.
Govt refiles challenge to Supreme Court order on Imran Khan’s Shifa hospital transfer
ISLAMABAD: The government is locked in an escalating legal and political dispute with the Supreme Court and the party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, after officials sidestepped a court order to move him to a private hospital and instead took him to a state-run facility for a few hours of tests before returning him to his cell.
Pakistan and seven Muslim nations demand sanctions over Israel’s ‘dangerous’ E1 settlement plan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan joined seven other Muslim-majority nations on Friday in a strongly worded condemnation of Israel’s settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, demanding international sanctions against those responsible and warning that a controversial new building scheme risks permanently dividing the Palestinian territories.
Pakistan draws 11 bids for power distributor Gepco in privatisation push
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s plan to sell control of a second state-owned power distributor attracted expressions of interest from 11 investors, as the government presses ahead with an overhaul of a electricity distribution network burdened by losses and unpaid bills.
Security forces kill 49 militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan operations
ISLAMABAD: Security forces killed 49 suspected militants in a wave of intelligence-based operations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan over the past several days, the military said on Friday, in the latest escalation of a counter-terrorism campaign that has coincided with the bloodiest month of violence the country has recorded this year.
Pakistan’s top leaders promise prosperity from Balochistan’s untapped minerals while confronting rising militancy
QUETTA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has promised that Balochistan’s vast reserves of copper, gold and other minerals will benefit local people before anyone else, as fresh figures revealed a sharp escalation in violence across the resource-rich but restive province.
Opposition to petition Supreme Court over Imran Khan hospital transfer as long march plans firm up
ISLAMABAD: Opposition parties said on Friday they would approach the Supreme Court to demand implementation of its order on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan’s medical treatment, after the government took the jailed former prime minister to a state-run hospital overnight rather than the private facility the court had named.
PTI warns it may quit parliament as Imran Khan’s sister reveals chaotic hospital transfer
ISLAMABAD: Uzma Khan, the sister of jailed former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, gave a detailed and at times bewildering account on Friday of the events surrounding her brother’s overnight hospital transfer, telling reporters in Islamabad that police repeatedly withheld information from her and that she was left waiting in darkened corridors before finally being reunited with him — an account that has fed a sharpening political row, with PTI’s chairman accusing the government of violating a Supreme Court order and warning the party could withdraw from parliament altogether.
Imran Khan returned to Adiala jail after government reroutes court-ordered hospital visit
ISLAMABAD: Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan was returned to Adiala prison in the early hours of Friday after a night-time medical examination, following a chaotic sequence of events in which the government appeared to sidestep a Supreme Court order requiring his transfer to a private Islamabad hospital.