Author: (PEN)

ISLAMABAD – An accountability court of Islamabad on Wednesday rejected PTI chairman’s pre-arrest bail pleas in the 190 million pound Al-Qadir Trust corruption and Toshaskhana cases. Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir conducted hearing of the applications for pre-arrest bail filed by PTI chairman and Bushra Bibi in the 190 million pound corruption case. Wife of PTI chief appeared before the judge while the former prime minister did not attend the hearing. During the hearing, Judge Muhammad Bashir asked, “Has warrant for Bushra Bibi been issued? Where is the investigating officer? Is this case an inquiry or is it at the…

ISLAMABAD: A formal round of consultation over the nomination for a caretaker premier between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz started Thursday after the latter reached the Prime Minister’s House. Upon his arrival at the PM’s House, Riaz was asked whom he would nominate from his side, to which he said: “I bear three names in mind.” The consultation became due after the dissolution of the 15th NA of Pakistan last night, with President Arif Alvi’s approval of the summary sent by PM Shehbaz. “The president dissolved the National Assembly on…

KAHULUI: At least 36 people have died after wildfires, fanned by winds from a faraway hurricane, devastated much of the resort city Lahaina on Hawaii’s Maui island, the Maui County said in a statement late on Wednesday. Multiple neighborhoods were burnt to the ground as the western side of the island was nearly cut off, with only one highway open and thousands to evacuate as officials told of widespread devastation to Lahaina, its harbor and surrounding areas. Some people fled into the ocean to escape the smoke and flames. “We just had the worst disaster I’ve ever seen. All of…

An additional district and sessions court Thursday rejected the bail plea of judge Asim Hafeez’s wife, Somia Asim, in a case pertaining to the alleged torture of a teenage house help in the federal capital. The harrowing case of brutal treatment of the child surfaced late last month when her parents shifted her to a hospital in Lahore with serious injuries, alleging the judge’s wife had inflicted severe torture on the girl, Rizwana. During the proceeding today, Somia was produced before judge Shaista Kundi’s court wherein her lawyer Qazi Dastgir informed the court the date of the incident was…

Governor Punjab Muhammad Baligh-ur-Rehman has inaugurated the 42 kilometers link road that connects Bahawalpur with M5 Motorway near Jhangra. Speaking on the occasion, he said the project was proposed during PML-N government and was completed with a cost of 4.5 billion rupees. The Governor said the link road was originally a four-lane double road but was converted to a single road by the PTI government. He said the road will be upgraded to its original plan when PML-N gets back into power.

After remaining inoperative for more than a year, the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower project has resumed electricity generation following the restoration of its tail race tunnel. The outgoing Minister for Water Resources Syed Khursheed Shah inaugurated the rehabilitation of the 969-MW Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project near Muzaffarabad. He also inspected the tunnel and lauded the efforts made by WAPDA, the project team, the consultants and the contractors for resumption of electricity generation from the project. On the occasion, Syed Khursheed Shah announced regularization of contract employees of the project. It is pertinent to mention here that WAPDA immediately started remedial works…

TOKYO/GUANGZHOU — China became the world leader in automobile exports in the first six months of 2023, surpassing Japan at the half-year mark for the first time as more Chinese electric cars sold worldwide. Major Chinese automakers exported 2.14 million vehicles from January to June, up 76% on the year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Japan lagged at 2.02 million, for a gain of 17% on the year, data from the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association shows. China was already ahead of Japan in the January-March quarter. Its export growth owes to a booming trade in EVs and gains in the European and…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has approved a commercial agreement to hand over two more seaport terminals to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for 25 years. “The Cabinet Committee on Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions (CCoIGCT) recommended the amended commercial agreement to the Federal Cabinet for approval,” according to a late-night announcement by the finance ministry. The cabinet’s approval to give two more terminals to the UAE will be customary after the stamp of approval from its sub-committee, headed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. The meeting of the CCoIGCT decided that the UAE government-owned firm will pay another US$25 million upfront adjustable against revenue sharing…

Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah said Thursday there is nothing new in a foreign media outlet’s story about the US cipher, which claimed to substantiate former prime minister Imran Khan’s allegations that he was removed under American pressure after his Russia visit. “Though there is nothing new in this story, the investigation needs to held to establish the authenticity of the information or source document,” Sanaullah said after The Intercept claimed to have obtained the secret document that has been at the centre of controversy since March last year. However, the US publication stated that it was not able…

WELLINGTON: Netherlands forward Lineth Beerensteyn pulled no punches about the absent United States squad at the Women’s World Cup on Thursday, saying the two-times reigning champions should have done their talking on the pitch. The Dutch drew 1-1 with the US to finish ahead of them atop Group E. The Americans were then eliminated by Sweden in the last-16, the first time in history they had gone out before the tournament semi-finals. “The first moment when I heard that they were out, I was just thinking yes, because from the start of this tournament they have already a really big…