Attack near Islam’s holiest site tests new Saudi defence pact — and its limits
ISLAMABAD: Saudi air defences shot down a drone on Tuesday evening as it approached the restricted airspace over Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and the site Muslims worldwide face in prayer five times daily, in what Saudi officials called an attempted attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on the holiest city in Islam.
Pakistan’s military says Saudi-Turkiye defence pact has ‘no regional aspirations’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military has moved to reassure allies and rivals alike that its new defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye carries no hidden ambitions, insisting the trilateral alliance exists purely to deter aggression rather than to project power across the region.
Supreme Court voices unease over Constitutional Court’s bid to seize Imran Khan hospital case, but holds off for three weeks
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday voiced open unease at an attempt by the country’s newly empowered Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) to take over proceedings concerning the hospital transfer of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, but chose to defer its own hearing for three weeks rather than confront the tribunal head-on, saying it could not disregard another court’s directive.
BITES
- Mobile broadband services restored
- LPG prices rise by 29.2pc for February
- Cabinet swells to 75 members
- Govt allows TCP to import wheat via all ports
- World Bank approves $200 million in loan for Punjab’s farm development project
- PM Sharif’s party decides to get tough on hecklers
- Apex court overturns PHC ban on poultry exports
- Shahbaz Gill declined bail
- IHC disposes of PTI employees petition against FIA notices
- Rupee plumbs new lows against dollar
- Punjab gets new policy chief
- Loans under Mera Ghar scheme to continue
- Senior army official shot dead in Balochistan rescue operation
- Bani Gala Firing: Man shot, wounded by PTI leader’s gunman
- Turkish commander calls on CJCSC
- Inquiry commission to probe reasons of energy crisis
- ANP set to fly Sharif’s coop
- Member Communist Party of China calls on COAS
- CHE to be renamed, HQ shifted to Karachi
- Pakistan to import high-quality Afghan coal in rupees
- IHC chucks plea to interfere with legislation
- Saudi Arabia confers King Abdulaziz medal on General Bajwa
- Interior Minister no-show at drugs case hearing
- Pakistan hopes early, successful visit by FATF team
- Pakistan commiserates with Afghanistan over quake, flood destruction
August current account gap narrows to $98 million as remittances surge
The current account deficit narrowed sharply to $98 million in August, the State Bank of Pakistan reported on Wednesday, as a jump in remittances from overseas workers offset a widening trade gap.
Pakistan Hockey Federation refuses to play in India, seeks neutral venue for Asian Champions Trophy
Pakistan has formally asked hockey’s Asian governing body to strip India of next month’s Men’s Asian Champions Trophy or relocate all of Pakistan’s matches to neutral territory, deepening the sporting fallout from the countries’ fraught relationship.