Pakistan News

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye on Friday signed the “Makkah Joint Defence Agreement” aimed at strengthening collective deterrence against any act of aggression, the Foreign Office (FO) said. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the pact, “reflecting the three states’ shared commitment to further strengthening their collective security and to promoting peace, security, and stability in the region and beyond, in pursuit of a secure and prosperous future”, the FO said. Earlier in the day, PM Shehbaz, accompanied by Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, met with the Saudi crown prince in Makkah on Friday. PM Shehbaz arrived in Saudi Arabia on a three-day official visit on Thursday. The Foreign Office (FO) has noted that although the visit was taking place amid heightened tensions in the Gulf, it carries “signifi...

US President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday in a new but narrower attempt to curtail birthright citizenship, once again challenging a provision of the US Constitution even though the Supreme Court rejected his previous effort. Limiting birthright citizenship has been one of the top priorities in the Republican president’s crackdown on immigration, with the White House taking particular aim at what it calls “birth tourism,” in which pregnant foreigners travel to the US to give birth. After his June 30 setback in the Supreme Court, Trump called on Congress to act, but on Thursday he opted for executive orders, which set policy but do not carry the same weight as laws passed by Congress. The Supreme Court had struck down as unconstitutional Trump’s earlier executive order , which targeted a wide swath of immigrants in the country illegally or temporarily. The administration argues the new directive falls outside the purview of the Supreme Court ruling, as it se...

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Election Commission on Friday revised the schedule for the third phase of elections in the region, saying polling in seven of the 11 constituencies of Poonch Division had been postponed due to concerns over the law and order situation in those areas. However, the electoral process will go ahead as planned on August 10 in the division’s Bagh and Haveli districts, the Election Commission said in a press release. Amid tensions between protesters and the authorities, elections are being held across the region in three phases , with those in Mirpur and Muzaffarabad divisions held on July 27 and August 2, respectively. The third phase in Poonch division is set for August 10. Poonch Division comprises 11 constituencies — three in Bagh, one in Haveli, five in Poonch and two in Sudhnoti district. In its press release, the AJK Election Commission said polling will be held in the three constituencies of Bagh and one of Haveli on August 10 as per the previou...

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...

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...

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...

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...