Pakistan

Islamabad, Oct 4 (AFP) Pakistan has ordered international charity ActionAid, which supports a range of development and women's rights projects, to shut down its operations in the country, the aid group said on Thursday.

A letter from Pakistan's interior ministry sent to ActionAid, and shared with AFP by the group, said it must cease its work within 60 days.

No representative of the interior ministry was immediately available for comment.

By Lalit K Jha

Washington, Oct 4 (PTI) Pakistan wants the US to facilitate talks with India as the two nations are not engaging bilaterally, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said, warning that the absence of dialogue could lead to escalation of tension.

Islamabad, Oct 2 (PTI) Irked by former dictator Pervez Musharraf's failure to come back to Pakistan and face ongoing cases against him, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar on Tuesday warned that if the "courageous commando" does not appear soon, he may be forced to return in a disgraceful manner.

Chief Justice Nisar made the remarks when Musharraf's lawyer told the three-judge bench that his client "respects the court" but was unable to return due to his medical condition and reservations over the provision of security, Dawn newspaper reported.

Islamabad, Oct 2 (PTI) Pakistan has slashed the Chinese investment in railways by USD 2 billion citing a huge burden of loans, giving credence to reports that the new government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan may scrutinise the multi-billion dollar CPEC, a media report said Tuesday.

Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad said that the share of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the railways has been reduced from USD 8.2 billion to USD 6.2 billion.

Islamabad, Oct 1 (PTI) Pakistan's former dictator General Pervez Musharraf is "growing weaker rapidly" due to a new unspecified illness and cannot return to face the treason case now, a senior leader of his party has said.

Musharraf, 75, who has been living in Dubai since 2016, is facing the high-profile treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007.

Lahore, Sep 24; PTI: The Lahore High Court Monday summoned Nawaz Sharif on October 8 during the hearing of a petition seeking action against the deposed prime minister for claiming that those involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack belonged to Pakistan.

Sharif, for the first time in May, publicly acknowledged in an interview to Dawn that militant organisations are active in Pakistan and questioned the policy to allow the "non-state actors" to cross the border and "kill" people in Mumbai.

By Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, Sep 24 (PTI) Pakistan on Monday launched a massive nationwide anti-polio vaccination drive touted as the final push against the crippling disease to cover 38.6 million children under five years of age.

The drive will last for three days but a 2-5 day catchup campaign will be launched following the initial drive so that no one was left out.

Dr Rana Safdar, chief of anti-polio campaign, said that the campaign has started in all parts of Pakistan.

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan; 20 Sep 2018; AA: Pakistan on Thursday renewed its offer for dialogue with India to resolve all outstanding issues.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Prime Minister Imran Khan sent a letter to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi seeking a resumption of talks between the two nuclear powers.

Khan responded to a letter written by Modi in late August to congratulate Khan on his election as premier of Pakistan.

18 Sep 2018; DW: On Sunday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced a plan to offer citizenship to Afghan and Bangladeshi refugees who were born in Pakistan.

Khan told local media that Pakistan would will give passports and IDs to Afghans whose children have been raised in Pakistan and who were born there.

"We will also give them citizenship," said Khan.

Islamabad High Court has suspended the sentences of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar. They will be released from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi after completion of formalities

Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Safdar were sentenced by the accountability court on July 610, 10, 7 and 2 years imprisonment respectively in the Avenfield properties case..