Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday said the country could not be dictated and would consider only its own interests in decision-making, ruling out reservations of the United States on the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline. Responding to a question on the project during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, FM Dar said: “We have to watch our interests, look at our commitments and the government has to make decisions while keeping Pakistan’s interest in mind about what we will do, when will we do and how will we do [no matter] what the US or ot ..read more

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday rubbished the notion that a proposed extension in the retirement age was to favour “one particular institution”, adding that the move would be implemented across the board if approved. The rebuttal comes in the wake of media reports claiming that the government was mulling changes to the Constitution to fix the tenure of the chief justice. Currently, judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, retire after attaining the age of superannuation, i.e. 65 years, as stipulated in Article 179 of the Constitution. While giving his opinion r ..read more

Hours after a press conference by the military spokesperson on the events of May 9 and the PTI’s involvement in them, party spokesperson Raoof Hasan termed it as being “full of contradictions”. Earlier today, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Maj-Gen Ahmed Sharif said that any dialogue with the PTI could happen only if it “earnestly apologises in front of the nation, promises to adopt constructive politics and forgoes politics of anarchy”. The DG ISPR made the remarks in a lengthy press conference in Rawalpindi just two days before May 9 — a day that holds significan ..read more

The Afghan Taliban said on Tuesday they have quelled protests in a northern province over security forces’ attempts to eradicate opium poppy cultivation which generates income for many impoverished farmers. Taliban authorities were holding meetings in Badakhshan, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a Whatsapp message, after several days of protests, in which two people were killed. Mujahid said in a separate statement that a delegation from Kabul, led by the defence chief of staff, would this week travel to Badakhshan to investigate, a rare official acknowledgement of civil disturbance since ..read more

Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Maj-Gen Ahmed Sharif on Tuesday said that any dialogue with the PTI could happen only if it “earnestly apologises in front of the nation”, promises to adopt “constructive politics” and forgoes “politics of anarchy”. The DG ISPR made the remarks in a lengthy press conference in Rawalpindi just two days before May 9 — a day that holds significant importance in the country’s political landscape as it was on this day last year when military installations came under attack following PTI founder Imran Khan’s arrest, which formed the basis ..read more

Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Maj-Gen Ahmed Sharif on Tuesday said that any dialogue with the PTI could happen only if it “earnestly apologises in front of the nation”, promises to adopt “constructive politics” and forgoes “politics of anarchy”. The DG ISPR made the remarks in a lengthy press conference in Rawalpindi just two days before May 9 — a day that holds significant importance in the country’s political landscape as it was on this day last year when military installations came under attack following PTI founder Imran Khan’s arrest, which formed the basis ..read more

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Maj-Gen Ahmed Sharif addressed a press conference in Rawalpindi on Tuesday. The army spokesperson’s press conference came just two days before May 9 — a day that holds significant importance in the country’s political landscape as it was on this day last year when military installations came under attack following PTI founder Imran Khan’s arrest, which formed the basis of a severe state crackdown against him and his party. In the question and answer sessions, Gen Sharif was asked about May 9, to which he said: “Firstly, May 9 is not ..read more

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Maj-Gen Ahmed Sharif is addressing a press conference. The DG ISPR started the press briefing by addressing the tensions with Afghanistan and attacks mounted by terrorists from its soil into Pakistan. He said the plot that killed five Chinese engineers in an attack on a convoy in Bisham tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla on March 26 was hatched in Afghanistan. “A sad incident took place on March 2 in Bisham where a suicide bomber targeted a car of Chinese engineers working on Dasu dam, as a result of which, five Chinese citizens ..read more

Al Jazeera will look to pursue all possible legal action “until the end” to challenge Israel’s ban on its operations there, the TV network’s news director told AFP in an interview. The Qatar-based station was taken off air in Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government voted on Sunday to shut it down over its coverage of the Gaza conflict. Speaking on Monday, Al Jazeera English news director Salah Nagm said the network would “follow every legal path”, adding: “If there is a possibility of challenging that decision we are going to pursue it until the end.” Under a cabinet decisi ..read more

Justice Athar Minallah on Tuesday remarked that the “truth was hidden for 76 years” as the Supreme Court resumed hearing a suo motu case pertaining to allegations regarding interference in judicial matters. A six-member bench — headed by Chief Justice of Pa­­kistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and also including justices Minallah, Mansoor Ali Shah, Jamal Khan Mando­khail, Musarrat Hilali and Naeem Akhtar Afghan — is hearing the case about a letter penned by six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges alleging meddling in judicial affairs by the country’s security apparatus. The proceedings are being streamed ..read more