Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Pakistan's Imran Khan to seek vote of confidence after election setback

PAKISTANI prime minister Imran Khan will seek a vote of confidence in parliament after the government's finance minister lost his bid for a Senate seat in an election on Wednesday (3), the foreign minister said.

Khan's ruling Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its political allies were bidding to wrest control of Pakistan's Senate from opposition parties in indirect elections to 37 seats in the 104-member upper house of parliament.


Complete results have yet to come in, but local media reports suggest that the PTI and its allies gained ground in the Senate, possibly enough to gain a majority.

However, an election official announced that Khan's finance minister, Abdul Hafiz Sheikh, had not succeeded in winning the seat he was contesting.

The loss represents a significant blow to Khan and the government, because the electoral college in Sheikh's case was the lower house of parliament, which chooses the prime minister of the country and in 2018 handed a majority to Khan.

Sheikh is also leading crucial talks with international lender the IMF aimed at stabilising the economy. He can continue as finance minister, however, meaning the political damage is largely symbolic at this stage.

"Imran Khan and his party has reached a consensus decision that Imran Khan will take a vote of confidence from the parliament," foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a news conference.

Information minister Shibli Faraz told Geo News that the move was to show Khan's political opponents that he still had the confidence of parliament and it was the "sign of a brave man."

The Senate contest was designed as a gauge of confidence in Khan's administration, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, head of the independent research organisation PILDAT, told Reuters.

Pakistani financial advisory house Topline Securities said in an advisory note immediately after the result of Sheikh's seat was announced that the loss was likely to increase pressure on the ruling party.

Opposition parties, which have united behind a mass protest campaign aimed at ousting Khan, called for a dissolution of the government and fresh elections.

If Khan and his allies do gain a majority in the Senate when final results are in, it could help him pass key legislation that has stalled in the chamber and slowed progress in talks with the IMF.

More For You

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

FILE PHOTO: Keir Starmer (L) with Narendra Modi. (Photo: Getty Images)

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

INDIA's prime minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to the UK by the end of this month for a visit that could see both sides formally sign the landmark India-UK free trade agreement and explore ways to expand bilateral ties in the defence and security sphere, diplomatic sources said.

Both sides are in the process of finalising the dates for Modi's visit to the country by the end of July or the first part of August, they said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

Rishi Sunak. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

FORMER prime minister Rishi Sunak has returned to the banking world as senior adviser at Goldman Sachs group, with plans to donate his salary to the education charity he recently established with his wife Akshata Murty.

The US-headquartered multinational investment bank, where Sunak worked before entering politics, made the announcement on Tuesday (8) after the requisite 12-month period elapsed since the British Indian leader's ministerial term concluded following defeat in the general election on July 4 last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Post Office Horizon

A Post Office van parked outside the venue for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House on January 11, 2024 in London.

Getty Images

Post Office scandal linked to 13 suicides, says inquiry

Highlights:

 
     
  • Public inquiry finds up to 13 suicides linked to wrongful Post Office prosecutions.
  •  
  • Horizon IT system faults led to false accusations, financial ruin, and imprisonment.
  •  
  • Sir Wyn Williams says Post Office maintained a “fiction” of accurate data despite known faults.

A PUBLIC inquiry has found that up to 13 people may have taken their own lives after being wrongly accused of financial misconduct by the Post Office, in what is now described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK ramps up drought response following driest spring

The EA has begun conducting more compliance checks on high-usage industries

Getty Images

UK ramps up drought response following driest spring since 1893

Key points

  • Spring 2025 was England’s driest and warmest in over 130 years
  • Reservoirs across England only 77% full, compared to 93% average
  • Environment Agency increases monitoring and drought planning
  • North-west England officially declared in drought

Water conservation measures stepped up ahead of summer

The UK government has increased efforts to manage water resources after confirming that England experienced its driest and warmest spring since 1893. The Environment Agency (EA) reported that reservoirs were on average only 77% full, significantly lower than the usual 93% for this time of year.

The announcement came after a National Drought Group meeting on Thursday, which reviewed the impact of continued dry weather on crops, canal navigation, and river flows. Poor grass growth and dry soil conditions were noted as threats to food production and livestock feed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Norman Tebbit

Following Thatcher’s third general election victory in 1987, Tebbit stepped back from frontline politics to care for his wife. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Former minister, Thatcher ally Norman Tebbit dies at 94

Norman Tebbit, a close ally of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and a former Conservative Party cabinet minister, has died at the age of 94. His son William confirmed the news on Tuesday.

"At 11:15 pm on 7th July, 2025, Lord Tebbit died peacefully at home aged 94," William Tebbit said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less