Inflation seen near 11 percent in August as floods, credit slump threaten growth

ISLAMABAD: Inflation is projected to hold in a range of 10% to 11% in August, as global commodity and energy costs continue to pressure consumer prices even as the country contends with a slump in foreign investment and a deepening contraction in private-sector lending, the Finance Division said.

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Petrol up, diesel down as Mideast war keeps pump prices on knife edge

ISLAMABAD: The government raised the retail price of petrol by 77 paisa a litre while cutting high-speed diesel by Rs1.03, the Petroleum Division said on Monday, the latest in a run of daily adjustments that have become the norm since the outbreak of the Iran war roiled global crude markets in late February.

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Lawmakers challenge Pims fire probe over missing footage, disputed infant count

ISLAMABAD: Lawmakers in both houses of the parliament pressed officials on Monday over gaps in the investigation into a nursery fire that killed 14 infants at a major Islamabad hospital, with committee members in the National Assembly and Senate raising pointed questions about incomplete surveillance footage, uncertain casualty figures, and the qualifications of hospital leadership.

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IHC seeks govt response on social media age limits for children

ISLAMABAD: A senior judge on Monday ordered five government ministries and two regulatory bodies to explain, within two weeks, what they intend to do about children’s access to social media — the latest sign that Pakistan’s courts, not its parliament, have become the venue of choice for those pushing to rein in how minors use the internet.

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Supreme Court won’t fast-track Imran Khan contempt petition; Islamabad court says private care isn’t a prisoner’s right

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday rebuffed a second attempt by the sister of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan to accelerate contempt proceedings against government officials accused of defying a court order to move him to a private hospital, even as a separate court in the capital rejected pleas from three other inmates seeking the same treatment.

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Second autopsy contradicts suicide finding in Mir Raza Ali’s death

KARACHI: A second post-mortem examination has found that the gunshot wound that killed a 25-year-old businessman in Karachi last month is inconsistent with suicide, contradicting the theory police pursued for weeks after his body was discovered — and reigniting a legal battle over who should investigate his death.

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The internet married Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. He would like a divorce

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari spent the weekend watching the internet marry him off. By Monday, the chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party had heard enough. In a video statement posted to social media, he said that he is not engaged, is not getting married, and has never met the Austrian noblewoman the rumors had already fitted him for a wedding suit alongside.

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