Category: FEATURED

A suspect who was arrested for the assassination attempt on Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Sunday evening has a declared affiliation with the Tehreek-i-Labbaik, it emerged late last night. In a preliminary report sent to the Punjab chief secretary hours after the attack, the Narowal deputy commissioner reported that the suspect had identified himself as Abid Hussain, son of Mohammad Hussain, a resident of Verum village, Tehsil Shakargarh of Narowal district. “He further showed his affiliation with Tahrik-e-Labbaik [sic],” the DC’s letter read. A copy of the letter sent to the chief…

ISLAMABAD: A day after Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the upcoming general elections would be conducted by ‘aliens’, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday dismissed the insinuation terming it against the spirit of the Constitution and ECP mandate. ECP spokesman Altaf Khan said at a press briefing that the commission was fully prepared to hold the elections in line with its mandate under Article 218 of the Constitution. Under the Constitution and the Elections Act 2017, the ECP was fully independent in discharge of its legal and constitutional…

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif owned the Avenfield properties while he was a public office holder, the investigating officer (IO) in the corruption reference against the Sharif family informed an accountability court on Wednesday. Imran Dogar stated that Sharif used offshore companies Nielsen and Nescoll Ltd to buy the properties in London while he was the actual owner of the apartments. He said that during investigations, the accused were unable to provide their sources of income and that the properties have been in ownership of the Sharifs since 1993. He…

The Punjab government has distanced itself from misogynistic remarks issued by PML-N leaders Rana Sanaullah and Tallal Chaudhry against female participants of a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) rally held in Lahore on Sunday. Sanaullah, while speaking to reporters outside the Punjab Assembly yesterday, made inappropriate comments about the women who attended the rally, saying: “The women who attended the rally were not from honourable families because their dance moves implied where they had actually come from.” Chaudhry, at a separate press conference, had said: “We don’t ask whose house you [Imran Khan] stay…

Islamabad police on Monday registered a case for reckless driving against a motorcyclist, who was injured the previous night after being hit by a US embassy official’s car. On Sunday night, the US embassy’s Second Secretary Chad Rex Auburn hit a motorcycle, injuring the rider, Nazakat Islam, and his pillion passenger. The diplomat initially refused to come out of the car but upon the police’s arrival, he stepped out and identified himself. Auburn was later taken into custody and shifted to the Secretariat police station. Police also impounded the vehicle and took…

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar on Sunday reprimanded Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Ghulam Mahmood Dogar and summoned his own son-in-law to provide an explanation regarding the DIG’s attempt to seek undue influence in a child custody case against his ex-wife. Canadian-national Mirjam Aberras Lahdeaho had contracted marriage with DIG Dogar on March 6, 1997, in Lahore and stayed in Pakistan for over 12 years along with their three children, including a daughter, before they moved to Canada as permanent residents in 2009. The DIG used to visit his…

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said on Saturday that the PML-N government has no plans to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package before the end of its tenure. Speaking at a post-budget press conference in Islamabad, the newly-appointed finance minister said the measures taken by the government since December of last year including changes brought to the currency markets will help it avoid seeking another bailout. Ismail revealed that the government has secured a $1 billion financing today which will help raise the level of forex reserves…

SIALKOT: After the disqualification of Khawaja Muhammad Asif by the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the PML-N is facing the daunting task of finding his replacement who could counter its opponents in the politics of the city and the area. The local political circles are keenly observing every move of the PML-N as it has landed in dire straits after the apparent ouster of a seasoned politician who stood by it in hard times during the Musharraf regime when many of party bigwigs had abandoned it. Some local independent political observers think the…