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IHC restrains NCCIA from harassing journalist Asad Toor during inquiry

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday restrained the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) from harassing vlogger and journalist Asad Toor during the course of its inquiry. The agency had issued a notice to Toor on July 29 for an inquiry into “alleged dissemination, transmission and/or public exhibition of false/fake information” by him. He was directed to appear before the NCCIA Cybercrime Reporting Centre in Islamabad at 11am on July 31. Toor had challenged the summons in the IHC the following day, arguing that the NCCIA had failed to fulfil the legal requirements while issuing the notice and had not provided details of the allegations against him. The court had subsequently directed the agency to provide Toor with details of the allegations against him; his counsel argued that the agency had not specified the accusations, making it impossible for him to respond to the inquiry. On Thursday, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro heard the petition. During the...
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'Growing pattern of media curbs': HRCP, PFUJ express concern over new rules for foreign press

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) have expressed concerns regarding media freedom after the government mandated foreign media personnel to seek permission for travelling to any city outside Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi for news coverage. “The requirement that journalists obtain state approval to report from large parts of the country sends a chilling message: that critical reporting is unwelcome,” HRCP noted in a statement on Wednesday about the ‘Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines 2026’. Expressing its deep concern, the commission said the rules would “invariably institutionalise bureaucratic control over news gathering and risk deterring independent reporting on matters of public interest” rather than facilitate journalism. “This is the latest in a growing pattern of restrictions on media freedom in Pakistan. From arbitrary curbs on reporting and increasing censorship to legal and administrative barriers, the spa...
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LHC disposes of PTI petition for rally at Minar-i-Pakistan after DC refuses permission

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday disposed of a petition filed by PTI seeking permission to hold a public rally at Minar-i-Pakistan after it was informed that the deputy commissioner had denied the request. The PTI announced it would stage countrywide protests today (Wednesday) to mark three years since the imprisonment of party founder Imr­an Khan and demand his release, with a gathering in Peshawar serving as the centrepiece of its campaign. On Wednesday, Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf heard the petition filed by PTI Lahore President Mian Akram Usman seeking permission for the Minar-i-Pakistan rally. At the outset of the hearing, the judge directed a law officer to seek instructions from the deputy commissioner. When the hearing resumed, the law officer appeared before the court, saying the deputy commissioner had rejected the petitioner’s application at a high-level meeting. He argued that permission for the rally could not be granted in view of potential terrorist t...
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IHC moved over delay in presidential nod for judicial appointments

ISLAMABAD: A writ petition was filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday, challenging President Asif Ali Zardari’s delay in assenting to a summary forwarded by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for the appointment and confirmation of judges to various high courts. The petition, filed by advocate Luqman Zafar Chaudhary through his counsel Zahid Asif Chaudhry, urged the court to direct the president to approve the summary forwarded by the prime minister for the appointment of 19 additional judges and the confirmation of five judges to the Islamabad, Lahore, Sindh, Balochistan and Peshawar high courts. The JCP, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, recommended the names during meetings held on July 20 and 21 after following the procedure laid down under Article 175A of the Constitution. The summary was subsequently forwarded by the prime minister to the president for assent under Article 48 of the Constitution. According to the petiti...
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The viral videos that inspired tens of thousands to swim from Morocco to Spain’s Ceuta

Last week’s rush of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta began with a trickle. Encouraged by a handful of viral videos, ​including some posted by a Spanish news outlet intended to highlight the burden of migration pressures, the movement of a few dozen youths quickly turned into ‌tens of thousands swimming en masse by last Thursday. More than 80 people drowned or were crushed in a stampede, according to official tallies. A catalyst came three weeks earlier, when Spain’s Supreme Court published a ruling saying migrants caught at sea could not be immediately pushed back at the border of Spain’s North African territories of Ceuta and Melilla. The ruling does not preclude their summary return afterwards, legal experts said. View this post on Instagram Ceuta has long drawn ​migrants hoping to build a new life in Europe. But as misinterpretations of the ruling spread — including claims anyone who reached Ceuta, by sea or land, could...
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Bangladesh asks India to clarify stance on ousted PM Hasina's planned speech in New Delhi

Bangladesh has asked India to clarify its stance on exiled former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s planned virtual address from New Delhi, warning that allowing political activities by a fugitive could hurt improving bilateral relations. The remarks were Bangladesh’s first official response to Hasina’s planned appearance at an August 5 event hosted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in New Delhi, marking the second anniversary of the student-led uprising that toppled her government. The issue comes as Dhaka continues to seek Hasina’s extradition from India, where she has lived since fleeing Bangladesh in August 2024. Despite multiple cases against her, Hasina told Reuters in an interview that she plans to return to Bangladesh in December. “We are moving forward with India with a forward-looking approach. We don’t want that progress to be affected,” Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam told reporters late on Monday. “India has to be clear ...
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Trump's Board of Peace reassures Israel after Tel Aviv's objections on Gaza pullout

US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace on Monday assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza would only begin after Hamas’s complete disarmament , following his objections. Two members of Netanyahu’s security cabinet had urged a vote to tear up the deal championed by Trump after the board released a text that called for Israel to begin a phased withdrawal. Netanyahu’s office said it had raised concerns to the United States, after Trump on Friday hailed as a “major milestone” an agreement by Hamas to hand over weapons to a nascent Palestinian governing committee. Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza under the Board of Peace, met with Netanyahu on Monday for what he acknowledged was difficult work. But the board said it had reached a “common understanding of the shared objectives” with Israel. Israel’s withdrawal beyond the Yellow Line, which demarcates the area in which Hamas still has control, “will take place only once d...
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