Posts

Federal Constitutional Court asserts it is not bound by Supreme Court rulings

• Justice Rizvi says ‘precedential hierarchy’ stands restructured after 27th Amendment • Court will follow earlier jurisprudence if not incompatible with evolved constitutional values ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has dispelled the impression that it was unconditionally bou­nd by Supreme Court pronouncements, a position that was not necessarily required under the constitutional framework. Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi explained that frequent references to Supreme Court judgements in FCC decisions might otherwise create a mistaken belief that the FCC was irrevocably bound by such rulings. The judge had made these observations in a judgement upholding the validity of a marriage between a Christian woman and a Muslim man, while dismissing a habeas corpus petition filed by her father seeking the recovery of his daughter. The judgement explained that Article 189 of the Constitution, which formerly accorded binding force to the judgements of the Supreme Court upon ...
Post a Comment
Read more

War Diary Day 27: Multifront escalation appears imminent as Trump’s 5-day pause expires

On 27th day of the US-Israeli war on Iran, the conflict has continued to be fully kinetic with no sign of de-escalation, even as US President Donald Trump’s five-day pause expires on Friday. Meanwhile, the overall trajectory of the conflict points towards an imminent widening of hostilities across multiple theatres. Over the past 24 hours, direct strikes inside Iran intensified. Multiple explosions were reported across central, southern and eastern Tehran, with air defence systems activated across the capital, while additional strikes hit Khorramabad, triggering blackouts and being followed by rescue operations. Reports also indicated damage in areas where residences and infrastructure are located in Mashhad. Iran’s response, both directly and through its regional network of allies, showed a marked escalation in tempo and scale. Missile and drone strikes continued against Israeli targets, with reports suggesting improved penetration rates against air defences and expanded targetin...
Post a Comment
Read more

US judge questions block on Maduro’s use of Venezuelan funds for defence

A US judge questioned on Thursday whether the US can bar Venezuela from funding Nicolas Maduro’s legal defence without violating his US constitutional rights, but stopped short of dismissing drug-trafficking charges against the ousted Venezuelan president facing trial in New York. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, wore beige prison garb to the hearing in Manhattan federal court over two months after US military forces captured them in a surprise raid on Caracas and ferried them to American soil. Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, have pleaded not guilty to charges including narcoterrorism conspiracy and have been jailed in Brooklyn pending trial. They had asked US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to dismiss the charges, saying their inability to rely on Venezuelan public funds due to US sanctions on Venezuela was interfering with their right to have a lawyer of their choosing under the Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution. All criminal defendants in the US have constitutional rights ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Heritage sites at risk of landing on Unesco ‘danger list’

• Complaint shared with Pakistan’s delegate in Paris highlights demolition, repair work at Mohra Moradu and Sirkap • DOAM official terms use of cement a serious violation of rules • Punjab archaeology dept rejects claims, says it restored ‘at risk’ sections ISLAMABAD: Following restoration work by the Punjab archaeology department at two World Heritage sites in Taxila, which has allegedly compromised their authenticity and integrity, the sites are at risk of being placed on Unesco’s ‘List of World Heritage in Danger’. According to Unesco, this list is designed to inform the international community of conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List, and to encourage corrective action. The caution comes after a third party recently shared information and photos with Pakistan’s Permanent Delegate to Unesco in Paris regarding two such sites in Taxila. The concern highlights how interventions may affect the authenticity ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lebanon must not become next Gaza, says UN chief

• Guterres warns war in Middle East is ‘out of control’; calls for immediate halt to hostilities between Israel, Hezbollah • Israeli strikes kill nine more in Beirut, southern areas • Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez condemns US-Israeli actions UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that fighting between Israel and Hezbollah must not condemn Lebanon to the same fate as Gaza, the Palestinian territory decimated by years of conflict. “The Gaza model must not be replicated in Lebanon,” Guterres told reporters, also saying the wider war in the Middle East is “out of control”, as the United States, Israel and Iran have carried out strikes for more than three weeks. “Across the region, and far beyond, civilians are enduring serious harm and living under profound insecurity. I witnessed some of these consequences firsthand during my recent visit to Lebanon,” he said. “There, too, the war must stop. Hezbollah must stop launching attacks into Israel. And Israel mu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Petroleum dealers postpone strike in light of Middle East conflict

KARACHI: Petroleum dealers announced on Wednesday that they were postponing a strike they planned to begin on March 26, keeping in view the situation resulting from the ongoing Middle East conflict, which has given rise to a global fuel crunch and supply uncertainties. Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) Chairperson Abdul Sami Khan told Dawn that “we have postponed the strike, keeping in view the hardships consumers will face if the war escalates and leads to a supply chain crisis of petroleum products”. Asked if the PPDA would call a strike in the near future, he said, “I cannot confirm right now as the situation is highly volatile.” The association had announced the strike on March 13 and given the government until March 26 to revise the petroleum dealers’ margin from 2.59 per cent to 8pc in the wake of a Rs55 per litre hike in diesel and petrol rates. The decision to raise the prices was announced on March 6 as Pakistan felt the first direct economic impacts of the...
Post a Comment
Read more

US-Israel war on Iran may increase food prices worldwide: UN

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said that the prolonged disruption to trade through the Strait of Hormuz triggered by US/Israeli attack on Iran could create cascading impacts across energy markets, fertiliser supply chains and global agrifood systems, raising production costs, tightening agri­­cultural supply and increasing food prices worldwide. While global food markets remain more stable than during previous crises, the current war underscores the vulnerability of interconnected energy and agrifood systems and the importance of coordinated international action to stabilise markets, maintain open trade routes, and protect vulnerable populations from rising food insecurity, the FAO said in its report titled, Global Agrifood Implications of the 2026 Conflict in the Middle East. A coordinated policy response is urgently needed to mitigate these risks and build resilience. In the short term, alternative trade routes, market monitoring, targ...
Post a Comment
Read more