Texas Airports review muslim prayer facilities

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday granted one-week protective bail to Noreen Niazi, the sister of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, in a case registered under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA). The court also restrained the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) from arresting her during this period. The relief was granted after Noreen filed a petition seeking protection from arrest. She informed the court that she intended to approach the relevant court for pre-arrest bail but feared that investigators could detain her before she had the opportunity to seek legal remedy. After hearing the arguments, Justice Sardar Akbar Dogar directed the NCCIA not to arrest Noreen for one week. The court also instructed her to appear before the competent court within the given time to seek further legal relief in accordance with the law. The case against Noreen was registered after authorities accused her of sharing content that allegedly contained false, offensive and inflammatory statements on social media. Investigators claimed the material was intended to spread misleading narratives and damage the reputation of state institutions. The allegations are linked to remarks she made during a podcast interview. In the interview, she discussed national security issues and made comments regarding regional political developments. Short video clips from the interview later circulated widely on social media, prompting authorities to launch an investigation. Following the viral circulation of the clips, the NCCIA initiated an inquiry and registered a formal case against her. The agency invoked provisions of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act along with relevant sections of the Pakistan Penal Code related to public mischief and criminal intimidation. Earlier this month, the NCCIA issued a notice directing Noreen to appear before its Cyber Crime Reporting Centre in Islamabad to record her statement. The notice warned that failure to appear before investigators could result in further legal action under applicable laws. During the hearing, Noreen’s legal counsel argued that she had no intention of avoiding the investigation and was willing to cooperate with authorities. However, the defence maintained that immediate protection was necessary to ensure she could exercise her legal right to seek pre-arrest bail without facing detention. The court accepted these arguments and granted temporary relief, preventing her arrest for one week while allowing her to pursue legal remedies before the appropriate forum. The latest court order does not dispose of the case or determine the merits of the allegations. Instead, it provides temporary protection until Noreen appears before the relevant court to seek further relief.

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has stirred fresh political debate after claiming that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is the most powerful minister in the federal government and, in several matters, is not even answerable to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Speaking during a television interview on Monday, Asif delivered unusually candid remarks about Naqvi’s role in the current administration, suggesting that the interior minister operates outside the conventional framework of the federal cabinet. According to Asif, Naqvi has remained largely absent from the government’s routine decision-making process despite holding one of the country’s most influential portfolios. He said he had seen the interior minister attend only “two or three” cabinet meetings since the government took office. The defence minister also questioned Naqvi’s parliamentary presence, claiming the interior minister had appeared in Parliament only seven or eight times. He suggested that if a minister with such influence was publicly expressing dissatisfaction with the existing governance structure, it reflected poorly on the entire government. “If Mohsin Naqvi himself is complaining about the system, then perhaps we should simply go home,” Asif remarked, underscoring what he described as deep institutional weaknesses. His comments came in response to Naqvi’s recent statement warning that Pakistan’s current administrative structure had become too weak to effectively address the country’s long-standing challenges. The interior minister had argued that if the existing governance model continued unchanged, Pakistan could still be facing the same problems a decade from now. He maintained that creating new administrative units or provinces had become essential for improving governance, accelerating development and delivering public services more efficiently. Naqvi said the existing system had outlived its usefulness and was no longer capable of resolving the country’s growing administrative and governance issues. Asif’s remarks have added a new dimension to the ongoing debate over institutional reforms and the balance of power within the federal government. His observations also highlight differing perspectives within the ruling coalition on how Pakistan’s governance challenges should be addressed. The exchange between the two senior ministers is likely to fuel further political discussion, particularly over proposals to create new provinces and reform the country’s administrative framework—an issue that has periodically resurfaced in Pakistan’s political discourse but has remained politically contentious for years.