ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered power authorities to hold electricity outages to no more than two hours in any part of the country, moving to contain public anger over blackouts that officials tied directly to the fallout from the war between the US and Iran.
top-politics
Family detentions mark escalating crackdown ahead of PTI march
ISLAMABAD: Police in Punjab province have detained elderly parents and siblings of opposition activists who evaded arrest, including a 93-year-old man held until officials were informed of his failing health, as authorities mount an escalating campaign to stop a nationwide protest planned for Sept. 27, local media reported.
PM Sharif to press for Iran diplomacy as UN gathering opens under war’s shadow – report
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will travel to New York later this month to address the United Nations General Assembly, where he is expected to press the case that the war between the United States and Iran should end at the negotiating table rather than the battlefield — a message Islamabad has delivered, with mixed results, since the conflict reignited this summer.
Pakistan welcomes 12-nation push to curb trade with Israeli settlements
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has welcomed a coordinated decision by Britain, France and Canada to impose trade restrictions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, as Israel responded to the move by ordering the closure of the UK’s consulate in Jerusalem and barring a dozen British parliamentarians from entering the country.
Thousands of Afghan medical students told to leave Pakistan as deportation drive widens
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s medical regulator has ordered thousands of Afghan nationals studying at medical and dental colleges across the country to return home, in one of the most far-reaching measures yet in Islamabad’s escalating campaign against Afghan citizens living within its borders.
As province fight sharpens, President Zardari cuts short London visit
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan will cut short a visit to London and return home Sept. 8, according to people familiar with his travel plans, as a dispute over restructuring the country’s provinces threatens to strain the ruling coalition.
Afridi vows to stay in until Karachi rally is held
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said on Sunday night he would not leave Sindh without holding a planned Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf rally in Karachi, raising the possibility that the standoff over the gathering could stretch into a second day.
Pakistan army chief visits Balochistan amid surge in militant violence
QUETTA: Pakistan’s top military officer travelled on Saturday to Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, delivering a message of solidarity to a region convulsed by one of the most violent stretches of insurgent activity it has seen in years — even as questions persisted about how many people have actually died in the government’s response.
Pakistan says 48 militants killed in Balochistan crackdown as violence surges
ISLAMABAD: Security forces had killed 48 militants over the previous three days in a series of raids across Balochistan province, the latest and largest tally in a counterterrorism campaign that has intensified as the country’s southwest sinks deeper into violence.
Pakistan says 15 terrorists killed in 36-hour battle to stop Afghan border infiltration
ISLAMABAD: Security forces killed 15 militants during a 36-hour operation to repel an infiltration attempt along the country’s border with Afghanistan, in the latest flashpoint in a relationship between the two neighbours that has grown increasingly strained over cross-border attacks.