UN report warns of escalating heat risks in Asia’s megacities, with Karachi among the most

KARACHI: A new United Nations report released on Wednesday paints a stark picture of escalating heat risks across Asia and the Pacific, identifying Karachi and eight other densely populated megacities as particularly susceptible to extreme temperatures that could intensify in the coming decades, amplifying threats to public health, equity and infrastructure.

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Defence minister Asif says Pakistan abandons hopes of ‘good ties’ with Afghan Taliban

ISLAMABAD: The defence minister said on Tuesday Pakistan was abandoning any hope of productive relations with the Afghan Taliban, accusing the group of betraying decades of Pakistani hospitality and warning that their isolation could lead to collapse, as cross-border accusations of airstrikes intensified tensions between the two neighbors.

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Pakistan slams Hindu flag hoisting at Ayodhya temple as threat to Muslim heritage

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Tuesday condemned the raising of a religious Hindu flag at the newly built Ram Temple in Ayodhya, India, a site long contested as the birthplace of the Hindu deity Ram and the former location of the demolished Babri Masjid mosque, and accused India’s government of fostering discrimination against religious minorities.

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Maulana Fazlur Rehman denounces laws on domestic violence, child marriage and transgender rights

ISLAMABAD: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the influential leader of the conservative and pro-Taliban Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl party, on Tuesday criticised a series of recent legislative measures in Pakistan aimed at curbing domestic violence, prohibiting child marriages and advancing transgender rights, framing them as departures from Islamic principles and undue influences from international bodies.

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Court-appointed lawyer refuses to cross-examine in activist Imaan Mazari trial, citing “dictated” questions

ISLAMABAD: A court-appointed defence lawyer for a prominent rights activist and her husband, who face charges of inciting linguistic divisions and portraying the armed forces as engaged in terrorism through social media posts, refused on Tuesday to cross-examine prosecution witnesses, asserting that he could not pose questions that had been dictated to him.

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