ISLAMABAD: Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari stepped into the National Assembly on Thursday with the authority of a man who had extracted concessions from a government desperate for his presence — and used the occasion not merely to endorse a budget compromise, but to deliver a sweeping indictment of how Pakistan’s federation actually functions beneath its constitutional veneer.
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Pakistan maps 130 dangerous glacial lakes as El Niño threatens to deepen climate crisis
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s space agency has identified 130 glacial lakes capable of unleashing catastrophic floods on downstream communities, as the country simultaneously faces warnings of a weakened monsoon season, intensifying heatwaves and drought driven by the onset of El Niño.
Nine-year-old Australian girl struck by ten bullets as police officers open fire on family car in case of mistaken identity
CHAKWAL: A post-mortem examination has confirmed that Hania Ahmed, a nine-year-old Australian national killed during a botched police operation in Pakistan last week, sustained ten gunshot wounds — five bullets, each passing clean through her small body, leaving both entry and exit wounds.
Two Pakistani rights lawyers serving 17-year sentences awarded world’s most prestigious Trarieux prize
ISLAMABAD: Two of Pakistan’s most prominent human rights lawyers, currently languishing in prison after being sentenced to a combined 17 years under the country’s sweeping cybercrime laws, have been awarded the world’s oldest and most prestigious legal human rights honour — the Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize.
PCB overhauls player contracts in bid to revive test fortunes
LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board unveiled a sweeping overhaul of its central contract system on Monday, restructuring the financial framework that governs the country’s professional cricketers into five distinct categories while granting dedicated Test specialists the rare freedom to play first-class cricket abroad — a concession that represents, in the board’s own framing, a deliberate wager on the long-term health of the longest format.
Pakistan braces for a punishing summer as forecasters warn of heat, drought, and floods
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is heading into what government meteorologists describe as a difficult and potentially dangerous summer, with an official three-month forecast projecting below-normal rainfall and higher-than-normal temperatures across much of the country from July through September — a combination that threatens crops, strains water supplies, and raises the specter of flash floods, heat emergencies, and disease outbreaks all at once.
Imran Khan receives fifth eye injection in hospital visit as row over imprisoned former premier’s medical care deepens
RAWALPINDI: Imran Khan was transported from Adiala Jail to a hospital in Islamabad on Monday to receive his fifth course of treatment for a serious eye condition, intensifying a months-long political dispute over the adequacy of care being provided to Pakistan’s most prominent political prisoner.
Police constable charged with murder after nine-year-old Australian girl shot dead in Punjab crossfire
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani police constable has been arrested and charged with murder after a nine-year-old Australian girl was shot dead when officers opened fire on her family’s vehicle during an armed robbery in Punjab province, mistaking the car for one being used by fleeing suspects.
Monsoon storms kill ten across Pakistan as climate funding falls far short of crisis scale
ISLAMABAD: At least ten people have been killed and more than 40 injured across Pakistan after a 72-hour spell of monsoon rains, severe thunderstorms and flash flooding swept through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, leaving a trail of collapsed roofs, overturned vehicles and inundated valleys.
Two pilots killed as Pakistan Air Force trainer crashes near Mardan
ISLAMABAD: Two military pilots have been killed after a Pakistan Air Force trainer aircraft crashed near Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, the military’s media wing announced, in the second fatal aviation accident to strike Pakistan’s armed forces within a week.