ISLAMABAD : Pakistan on Friday asserted its authority over the fate of Afghan refugees on its soil, urging Germany to swiftly accept thousands who were promised refuge in Berlin while warning Kabul to crack down on terrorist safe havens across the border.
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Sindh evacuates 109,000 as floodwaters from Punjab move downstream
KARACHI: Authorities in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province have evacuated over 109,000 people from low-lying areas as severe flooding in eastern Punjab, triggered by torrential monsoon rains, swells rivers and threatens downstream regions, disaster officials said on Friday.
Imprisoned ex-PM Imran Khan refuses exile-for-freedom offer, says sister
ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has rejected an offer to leave the country in exchange for his release from prison, choosing instead to remain incarcerated to pursue what he describes as a fight for the rule of law and the constitution, his sister Aleema Khan said in a statement released by Khan’s political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), on social media.
Punjab floods wipe out 30 percent of Pakistan’s wheat stocks, threaten food security – business leader
ISLAMABAD: Catastrophic floods in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province have wiped out 30 percent of the country’s wheat stocks, a senior business leader said on Thursday, raising fears of food shortages and soaring prices in the world’s eighth-largest wheat producer.
Sugar crisis fuels windfall profits for mills linked to Sharif, Zardari, Tareen families
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s political dynasties, including the Sharifs, Zardaris, and Jahangir Tareen, have reaped an estimated Rs300 billion in sugar mill profits since exports were permitted in 2024, official records show, wielding policy influence to shield the industry as half the mill owners hold government or parliamentary posts.
Top court justice decries ‘hybrid system’ as dictatorship, laments judiciary’s failures
KARACHI: Supreme Court Justice Athar Minallah said Thursday that widespread references to a “hybrid system” in Pakistan amount to an admission of dictatorship, blaming a lack of constitutional governance for enabling elite capture to eclipse the rule of law.
Magnitude 5.9 quake rattles Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, no damage reported
ISLAMABAD: A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck Pakistan’s capital region and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday night, sending residents into the streets as tremors reverberated through Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and surrounding areas, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).
US condemns suicide bombing at political rally in Balochistan province
ISLAMABAD: The United States on Thursday strongly condemned a suicide bombing that killed at least 15 people at a political rally in the restive southwestern province of Balochistan, joining Pakistani leaders in denouncing the attack claimed by the Islamic State and pledging continued solidarity in the fight against terrorism.
Bandits kidnap 10 in retaliatory attack on Punjab highway, injuring three
RAHIM YAR KHAN: Bandits armed with assault rifles and rocket launchers ambushed vehicles on a major highway in southern Punjab province on Thursday morning, kidnapping 10 people and injuring three others in an attack that police said was retaliation for a drone strike on a criminal hideout a day earlier.
ADB approves $130 mln loan for Pakistan’s energy sector – ministry
ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $130 million loan for Pakistan’s energy sector to help promote clean energy and upgrade the country’s power transmission and distribution systems, the energy ministry said on Thursday.