Pakistan's outgoing government has acknowledged that it provided grants of Rs 687 billion to the powerful military for security-related spending that were in addition to the annual defence budgets.
In a move apparently aimed at preventing the airing of soaps and serials from countries like India and Turkey, a Pakistani parliamentary panel has asked the government to ban all foreign content in any language during prime time on television channels.
Two days before the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government completes its term, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf today proposed the names of former finance minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, economist Ishrat Hussain and retired judge Mir Hazar Khan Khoso for the post of caretaker premier.
The Pakistani military on Saturday dismissed as "absurd and baseless" a British newspaper's report that the Inter-Services Intelligence agency was behind a defamation campaign against Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Pakistan People's Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party took an unassailable lead over its rivals in landmark general elections that witnessed a huge turnout despite Taliban threats and bomb attacks.
The parliament unanimously adopted a resolution asking the government to declare teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai, the target of a recent assassination attempt by the Taliban, as the "Daughter of Pakistan".
Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has claimed that he would reveal the names of the killers of former premier Benazir Bhutto and other little-known details of her 2007 assassination in his forthcoming book, according to media reports.
Pakistan People's Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday reacted to the desecration of an Ahmadi graveyard and the demolition of a Hindu temple by saying that such incidents, if left unchecked, would pose a threat to the existence of Pakistan.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif has denied his request for a visit though he had once played a key role in saving the former premier from being hanged during the regime of military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
A sprawling private residence for President Asif Ali Zardari, complete with a runway for small jets and blast proof building, in Lahore is nearing completion.
Weeks after calling off a scheduled visit to India amidst mounting tensions over ceasefire violations along the Line of Control, Pakistan's Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim will travel to New Delhi later this month for bilateral talks.
A man has filed an application in a Pakistani court against President Asif Ali Zardari for addressing a political gathering in Punjab province in alleged violation of a Supreme Court order.
Pakistan Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim has called off a scheduled visit to India to attend a business meet later in January, against the backdrop of tensions between the two countries over ceasefire violations along the Line of Control.
A Pakistan court on Monday asked President Asif Ali Zardari not to take part in political activities till the next hearing on March 29 of a petition challenging his holding of the post of head of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
Slain former premier Benazir Bhutto's 24-year-old son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday made his formal entry into Pakistani politics, pledging to protect his country and its fledgling democratic system from dictators and terrorists.
President Asif Zardari has said that he should have quit his position and led the Pakistan People's Party's campaign in order to ensure a better performance in the just concluded general election.
Pakistan People's Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has left on a foreign trip and will not be present in the country when it goes to polls on May 11, according to a media report. Bilawal, 24, will not address any rallies or meetings ahead of the general election due to threats to his life, sources in the PPP were quoted as saying in the report.
Former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said he would prefer going to jail rather than appear before Pakistan's anti-corruption watchdog that is investigating graft charges against him.
The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party on Tuesday asked its workers to remain calm following Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's disqualification by the Supreme Court as the party leadership decides its future course of action in consultation with its coalition partners.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari is intent on launching his son Bilawal's formal political career before the general election early next year though he will not achieve the minimum age of 25 for contesting polls till September 2013.
Amid controversy over Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's dual office, a Pakistani court has constituted a larger five-judge bench to hear a contempt petition against him on September 5 for not relinquishing his political post of co-chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari visited former premier Yusuf Raza Gilani in his hometown of Multan on Friday to allay his concerns about being abandoned by the ruling Pakistan People's Party in the face of several challenges. Zardari visited Gilani a day after the former premier's sons complained in the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament that the federal government was not reining in Federal Investigation Agency officials.
A delegation of leading Pakistan parliamentarians and traders on Wednesday left for a four-day visit to India to promote peace and trade between the two countries.
Pakistan Peoples Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday returned to the country after spending over a week in Dubai but will not lead the party's campaign for the May 11 general election, one of his close aides said.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari embarked on a two-day visit to Dubai on Saturday amidst reports that the trip was aimed at persuading his son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, to return to the country and lead the Pakistan People's Party's election campaign.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is facing a challenge from within her party, with Pakistan People's Party leader and parliamentarian Jamshed Dasti saying he will contest the next general election from her constituency in Punjab.
Pakistan Peoples Party's firebrand leader Faisal Raza Abidi has accused Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry of misusing his authority to favour his son and asked him to resign, contending that the country was virtually under a "judicial martial law". Asking the chief justice to resign, Abidi, a member of the Senate or upper house of Parliament, demanded a probe against Chaudhry by Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, a distant relative of former premier Yusuf Raza Gilani.
Former Inter-Services Intelligence chief Asad Durrani has acknowledged that he and military intelligence officials had distributed Rs 140 million among politicians to prevent the Pakistan People's Party coming to power in the 1990 general election.
At least seven persons were killed and 10 others injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire at a rally on Sunday in Sindh province that was being addressed by senior Pakistan People's Party leader Nafisa Shah, officials said.
Political observers see in the continuing executive and parliament versus judiciary clash in Pakistan all the necessary conditions for a derailment of the democratic dispensation once again, reports Amir Mir from Islamabad
Pakistan appears headed for another political crisis as the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party has decided not to exclude the clause of presidential immunity from a letter to be sent to Swiss government on reopening graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari despite the supreme court's objection to it.
The Pakistan Muslim League N chief Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday demanded early general elections, saying the country's problems would increase as long as the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government remains in office.
Pakistan's main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has swept the country's last by-polls ahead of next year's general election, winning seven out of eight provincial and national assembly seats that went to the polls in Punjab province.
The Pakistan Supreme Court on Monday suspended a Pakistan Peoples Party leader's membership of Parliament on the ground that he possesses dual nationality, taking the number of lawmakers suspended so far to six.
The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party on Saturday nominated former premier Yusuf Raza Gilani's son to contest the by-poll in his parliamentary constituency following his father's disqualification by the Supreme Court.Four days after the apex court disqualified Gilani due to his conviction of contempt, the PPP said his son Abdul Qadir Gilani would contest the by-poll in Multan constituency scheduled for July 19.
Pakistan's mighty military establishment and a defiant judiciary seems to have joined hands to give a tough time to a fragile Pakistan People's Party government at a critical time -- just before the election of the new prime minister following the disqualification of Yousaf Raza Gilani by the supreme court on contempt charges. Amir Mir reports.
Faced with a non-bailable arrest warrant against Makhdoom Shahabuddin, its first choice for prime minister's post, ruling Pakistan Peoples Party on Thursday fielded senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira at the last minute besides a "covering" candidate.
A Pakistani court on Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Pakistan Peoples Party prime ministerial candidate Makhdoom Shahabuddin in connection with alleged irregularities in the import of a large amount of the controlled drug Ephedrine during his tenure as health minister.
Leaders of the ruling Pakistan People's Party believe that the allegations of corruption levelled against Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry's son have some link to the Supreme Court's decision to disqualify Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
The ruling Pakistan People's Party has nominated senior leader Makhdoom Shahabuddin for the post of premier following the Supreme Court's disqualification of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. Shahbuddin is also a Sajjada Nashin or the descendant of a Sufi saint like his predecessor Yusuf Raza Gilani.
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