ISLAMABAD: The foreign ministry summoned Norway’s ambassador on Thursday and accused him of breaching diplomatic protocol by attending a Supreme Court hearing involving a prominent human rights activist and her husband, who face charges over controversial social media posts.
Top Stories
Drone strikes kill militants in Mohmand as school bombing hits North Waziristan
PESHAWAR: The security forces carried out two drone strikes in a remote border area of Mohmand district, killing at least eight suspected militants and wounding four others, while unidentified attackers blew up a primary school in North Waziristan, officials said on Friday.
Bhutto-Zardari says no talks on KP governor’s rule , but signals conditions may warrant it
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Thursday there had been no discussion with coalition partner Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) about imposing governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf-led provincial government was heading in a direction that could create conditions for such an option.
Pakistan agrees to tougher tax measures, SOE reforms and mine more IMF conditions to keep bailout on track
KARACHI: Pakistan agreed to 11 new structural benchmarks with the International Monetary Fund, including fresh tax measures and spending cuts, after missing a raft of targets under its $7 billion bailout program, paving the way for a $1.2 billion disbursement.
Pakistan launches final polio drive of 2025 targeting 45 million children
ISLAMABAD: The health minister on Thursday inaugurated the final nationwide polio vaccination drive of 2025, a push to immunise more than 45 million children under 5 in a country that, along with Afghanistan, remains one of the last holdouts where the virus is endemic.
Pakistan welcomes Afghan scholars’ pledge to block cross-border attacks but says guarantees still lacking
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday hailed a resolution by Afghan scholars barring the use of their country’s territory for attacks on other nations as a positive step, but dismissed it as insufficient and renewed demands for formal written guarantees from the Taliban government in Kabul to curb cross-border terrorism.
IMF releases $1.2 billion tranche to Pakistan, lifting FX reserves
KARACHI: Pakistan received $1.2 billion from the International Monetary Fund after the lender approved reviews of the South Asian nation’s bailout programs, providing a boost to its foreign reserves amid efforts to stabilise the economy.
Top court stays proceedings against right activist Mazari, husband in cybercrime case
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday halted trial proceedings against the human rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, in a case involving controversial social media posts, pending the outcome of their appeals in the Islamabad High Court.
Ex-ISI chief Faiz Hameed gets 14-year sentence in rare military court verdict on political meddling
ISLAMABAD: A military court has sentenced Faiz Hameed, the former head of the country’s powerful intelligence agency, to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty of political interference, violating secrecy laws and misusing his authority, the army’s public relations wing said on Thursday.
Pakistan warns UN of ‘gravest threat’ from Afghan-based terrorism
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan warned the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday that terrorism originating from Afghan soil represented the “gravest threat” to its national security and sovereignty, amid a surge in militant attacks that Islamabad attributes to groups harbored by the Taliban government in Kabul.