ISLAMABAD: Torrential monsoon rains have claimed at least 202 lives, including 96 children, across Pakistan since late June, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reported on Saturday.
People
Senate moves to replace death penalty with life term for certain crimes amid EU trade pact
ISLAMABAD: The Senate passed a bill this week that seeks to abolish the death penalty for harboring hijackers and for publicly stripping a woman of her clothes, a move aimed at aligning the country’s laws with its international obligations under the GSP+ trade agreement with the European Union.
Anti‑terrorism court extends detention of Mahrang Baloch, five BYC activists by 15 days
QUETTA: An anti-terrorism court in Quetta on Friday extended the detention of Dr. Mahrang Baloch, a prominent right activist and the leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), and five other activists for an additional 15 days, a case that has sparked international criticism and and drawn sharp focus on human rights issues in Pakistan’s volatile Balochistan province.
Trump not planning Pakistan trip, White House says
ISLAMABAD: President Donald Trump has no plans to visit Pakistan in mid-September, a White House official confirmed on Thursday, dismissing reports from Pakistani media that had suggested such a trip was imminent.
Deadly floods swamp Pakistan’s Punjab as monsoon rains wreak havoc
ISLAMABAD: Heavy monsoon rains have wreaked havoc across Pakistan’s Punjab province, with Chakwal district bearing the brunt of a cloudburst that dumped 400 millimeters of rain overnight, triggering flash floods that have claimed at least 28 lives and injured scores more.
Court orders probe into alleged online blasphemy entrapment
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court on Tuesday ordered a government probe into allegations that young people are being ensnared in online blasphemy cases, a crime punishable by death and capable of igniting deadly unrest in the Muslim-majority country.
Public satisfaction plummets in PTI-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, survey finds
ISLAMABAD: Public satisfaction in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has cratered, a new Gallup Pakistan survey reveals, as residents point to crumbling infrastructure, rampant unemployment, and a lack of accountability under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, founded by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, which has ruled the region for over a decade.
Gilgit-Baltistan bans new hotels construction to save fragile lakes, ecosystems
ISLAMABAD: Authorities in Gilgit-Baltistan have banned all new hotel construction and expansion near three iconic lakes in Hunza and across ecologically fragile zones in the Baltistan division, a step announced on Monday to shield the region’s delicate ecosystems from rampant development.
Frontier Constabulary soldiers drill on the parade ground at Shabqadar Fort. Their traditions date back to the 1920s, when the British founded this force to patrol what was then part of India.
Pakistan bolsters federal authority with new security force ordinance
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has signed an ordinance transforming the Frontier Constabulary, a border security unit, into the Federal Constabulary, granting the federal government broader powers to tackle national security threats.
Stranded on K2: Climate chaos throws climbing season into disarray
ISLAMABAD: The jagged peaks of the Karakoram Range, home to some of the world’s most formidable mountains, have long beckoned the bravest of climbers. This year, however, the dream of scaling K2, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum I, and Gasherbrum II is fading fast.