ISLAMABAD: A missile strike that Iranian officials say tore through a wedding celebration in a small coastal town, killing four people and wounding dozens more, thrust the six-month-old war between the United States and Iran into a bloodier and more volatile phase this week, as retaliatory fire from Tehran reached military installations in four separate countries.
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Weekend downpours threaten new flooding across Islamabad, Kashmir, and northern Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: The weather authorities warned on Wednesday that a fresh band of monsoon rain was moving into the country’s northern regions, threatening to compound flooding that has already turned Rawalpindi streets into standing ponds this week and raised water levels in a major seasonal stream running through the capital.
Sindh High Court rejects push for special probe team in Mir Raza Ali murder case
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday turned down a petition from the family of Mir Raza Ali asking judges to order the formation of a joint investigation team to probe the young businessman’s death, ruling that the decision to create such a body belongs to the provincial government, not the courts.
PIA to fly London daily as comeback from flight ban gathers pace
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines Corp. will operate daily flights to London starting next month, the clearest sign yet that the state carrier’s new private owners are moving to reclaim ground lost during a five-year exile from European and British airspace.
OGDCL taps Baker Hughes to squeeze more oil from aging fields
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s largest state-owned energy explorer is turning to Baker Hughes to wring additional output from oil and gas fields that have been pumping for decades, part of a broader push by Islamabad to narrow its reliance on imported fuel.
Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan sign pact to lift trade to $200 million
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to raise bilateral trade more than tenfold to $200 million annually within two years, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pressed ahead with an effort to position his country as a gateway between South and Central Asia.
Pakistan turns down BP’s costly sole LNG bid, deepening energy squeeze
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan rejected the only bid submitted for an emergency cargo of liquefied natural gas, deeming the price too high even as the South Asian nation scrambles to plug a supply gap left by halted shipments from Qatar.
Terror attacks surge 38 percent in August, but deadlier July casts long shadow
ISLAMABAD: Militant violence across the country intensified in August, with the number of terrorist attacks climbing 38 percent from the previous month, even as the human toll of that violence — the dead and the wounded — declined, according to new data from a security research group.
Pakistan selector defends brutal mid-series overhaul after Afridi calls it ‘most shocking decision ever’
KARACHI: Pakistan’s chief selector has mounted a defiant defence of the cricket board’s decision to tear up its Test squad and coaching staff midway through the England series, insisting the wholesale changes were forced by a team that had simply stopped competing — even as the fallout threatened to consume the selection process itself.
Petrol, diesel prices rise as Mideast tensions keep oil elevated
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan raised retail fuel prices for a second consecutive day on Tuesday, as the government’s new daily pricing mechanism continued to pass through volatility from renewed fighting between the United States and Iran that has rattled global oil markets.