ISLAMABAD: President Donald Trump will receive a classified briefing on Thursday on US military options for the Strait of Hormuz and potential actions inside Iran, as the administration grapples with a punishing naval blockade that has driven energy prices to their highest levels in years and shown no sign of breaking an impasse with Tehran.
Politics
Islamabad keeps lines open to Washington and Tehran, urges immediate reopening of vital oil chokepoint
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office said Thursday that Islamabad remains deeply engaged with both Washington and Tehran in an effort to broker a resolution to their conflict, even as a second round of direct negotiations failed to materialize and the strategic Strait of Hormuz stayed closed for a second month.
Pakistan reassigns three Islamabad High Court judges amid sharp criticism over opaque process
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Law and Justice on Wednesday notified the transfer of three judges from the Islamabad High Court to other provincial high courts, a day after the Judicial Commission of Pakistan approved the moves in a decision that immediately drew sharp criticism from lawyers’ organizations for what they described as a lack of transparency and uniform standards.
Interpol issues red notices for property tycoon Malik Riaz and Son in $2.5 billion money-laundering probe
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau said Wednesday that Interpol has issued red notices for billionaire real estate developer Malik Riaz Hussain and his son Ali Riaz, escalating the anti-graft agency’s years-long effort to extradite the pair from the United Arab Emirates to face money-laundering and corruption allegations totaling more than Rs700 billion, or about $2.5 billion.
Islamabad High Court sets Thursday hearing on Imran Khan’s appeal in £190 million corruption case
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday scheduled oral arguments for tomorrow in the high-profile appeals filed by former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, challenging their convictions in a major corruption case involving £190 million in allegedly misused British crime proceeds.
Afghanistan protests alleged Pakistani strikes in Kunar as Islamabad targets Taliban posts in Chaman
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan on Tuesday summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires in Kabul to protest what it claimed as Pakistani strikes this week on civilian areas and public infrastructure, including the Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani University and residential neighborhoods in eastern Kunar province, the Afghan foreign ministry said.
Trump says Iran is in ‘state of collapse’ and wants Hormuz reopened immediately as White House examines latest proposal
ISLAMABAD: The White House said on Tuesday it was examining Iran’s latest proposal to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, even as Tehran declared that the United States was no longer in a position to “dictate” policy to other nations and President Donald Trump publicly described the Islamic Republic as being in a “state of collapse.”
Pakistan denies striking Afghan university, calls reports ‘blatant lies’ to mask Taliban support for TTP militants
ISLAMABAD: The Information Ministry on Monday rejected as fabrications Afghan media reports claiming that Pakistani forces had carried out airstrikes on a university and residential areas in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province.
Constitutional Court temporarily restores govt power to inactivate passports and ban deportees from traveling
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court on Monday suspended a Lahore High Court ruling that had struck down key provisions of the Passport Rules 2021, temporarily reinstating the federal government’s authority to deactivate citizens’ passports and impose multiyear travel bans on people deported from abroad or suspected of involvement in human trafficking.
Araghchi blames US “excessive demands” for stalled peace talks, consults allies in Pakistan, Oman and Russia
ISLAMABAD: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Russia on Monday after a frantic three-day shuttle through Pakistan and Oman, telling his Russian hosts that Tehran was prepared to resume indirect negotiations with the United States — but only on terms that protect Iran’s core interests in the Persian Gulf and its nuclear program.