ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: Just days after the sit-in of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) ended at Faizabad and the residents of twin cities took a sigh of relief, main roads in the federal capital and Rawalpindi were blocked again before rallies of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) leaders and workers arrived for a sit-in against rising inflation and inflated power bills on Friday. To avoid road blockades and traffic hassle, the employees of the federal government and private sector in Islamabad were allowed to leave offices by 3:00pm. The Islamabad district administration and police made efforts to ensure that the federal capital remained completely sealed by late afternoon and containers were…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
ISLAMABAD: Amid criticism by the main opposition party, PTI, President Asif Ali Zardari approved the appointment of two ad hoc judges to the Supreme Court on Friday. A statement issued by the Presidency said that the approval had been accorded to the names of retired justices Sardar Tariq Masood and Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel. They will become ad hoc judges of the Supreme Court for one year. Their appointment has been made under Article 182 of the Constitution, which outlines the process to appoint ad hoc judges. The Judicial Commission of Pakistan had already approved the appointment of the two retired…
ISLAMABAD: The PTI submitted the list of candidates for reserved seats for women and minorities in the National Assembly and three provincial assemblies to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday but surprisingly decided to keep the details secret for now. The submission came a day after the ECP partially implemented the Supreme Court’s ruling on reserved seats for the party, notifying 39 of the 80 returned MNAs as PTI lawmakers after an inordinate delay. Sources told Dawn that as per the Supreme Court’s order, the PTI had also submitted the signed statements of 41 independent MNAs stating that they had contested the Feb 8…
KARACHI: An FIR was registered on behalf of the state on Friday in connection with a gunfight between the two groups of the Bugti family that left five people dead and two others injured on both sides in DHA late on Thursday night, police said. South DIG Asad Raza said the case had been registered through a police officer under terror and murder charges. When asked why the case was registered on behalf of the state, the DIG said, “We want to give a strict message to both sides that such an act is not acceptable.” He explained that if a case…
ISLAMABAD: Condemning the circulation of a lewd deepfake video targeting the information minister of Punjab, women lawmakers and other government officials on Friday announced the initiation of a legal battle against those behind the act. The announcement came at a press conference addressed by Minister of State for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja, PM’s aide on climate change Romina Khurshid Alam, MNAs Shaista Pervaiz Malik, Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar and others. A couple of days ago, screenshots from a blurry video were circulated on social media platforms, with several pro-PTI accounts linking it to Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari. The clip was debunked as being a ‘deepfake’…
PESHAWAR: Security forces claimed to have killed a close associate of terrorist commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur in an operation in North Waziristan on Friday. A statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said an intelligence-based operation was conducted on the reported presence of terrorists in the area. Following an intense exchange of fire with security forces, one of the terrorists, whom the ISPR identified as Razzaq, was gunned down. The deceased terrorist was the alleged facilitator of a suicide attack in North Waziristan in May where seven security personnel, including two officers, embraced martyrdom. A group affiliated with Hafiz Gul Bahadur had claimed…
RAWALPINDI: A day after Omar Ayub surprised many by conveying a ‘friendly’ message from his party’s founder to the army chief, Imran Khan’s sister also came out with a similar narrative, leaving many to wonder how the PTI came to have a change of heart regarding the military. The apparent change in the PTI’s stance — which has held the powerful military establishment responsible for the party’s recent misfortunes — comes days after some material against the army chief was posted on the party’s official website. This led to a number of arrests, with party spokesperson Raoof Hasan and some…
LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan has declared the office of opposition leader in the provincial house as vacant in the light of the Supreme Court’s verdict, which overturned the Peshawar High Court and Election Commission of Pakistan’s decisions on the reserved seats’ issue. “The opposition leader (Malik Ahmed Khan Bhachar) had been given the office on the strength of the Sunni Ittehad Council in the house and this platform no longer exists after the Supreme Court verdict, which robbed the Sunni Ittehad Council of its parliamentary status,” the speaker said at a press conference here on Friday. “Since…
Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Saturday warned of expanding its Rawalpindi sit-in to other areas across the country if the government did not accept its demands regarding high power bills and rise in taxes. Addressing the sit-in at Liaquat Bagh, Rehman said, “If the government is thinking that the sit-in would continue on Murree Road only, it is it’s wishful thinking. “If they do not reduce electricity bills in a genuine manner, do not address the matter of IPPs (independent power producers) and do not revoke the [tax] slab on the salaried class, then this sit-in would not…
Jennifer Aniston has recently been spotted with Whoopi Goldberg at Cole Escola’s hit Broadway comedy, Oh, Mary! On July 25, a source spilled to PEOPLE that both Jennifer and Whoopi, who attended the performance at Lyceum Theatre in NYC, “were both telling Cole and the rest of the stars how much they loved the show”. “Jennifer was even talking about how she wants to bring her Morning Show co-stars back to see it, and Whoopi and Sara were joking about wearing their Oh, Mary! T-shirts to work the next day,” stated an insider. The source told the outlet, “Everyone was so joyful.” In the photo…
