Pakistan

Residents accuse authorities of ignoring violations, conducting cosmetic operations

Board has been without chief for three weeks, halting salaries and exam operations

Punjab approves multi-storey structure to ease congestion around Kachehri Chowk

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Strike leaves thousands without breakfast, cripples small eateries

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An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Wednesday issued arrest warrants for eight PTI leaders, including Asad Qaiser, Shibli Faraz, Omar Ayub and Ali Nawaz Awan, in a case registered under terrorism provisions. Today’s hearing was presided over by ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra, with none of the PTI leaders appearing before the court despite being repeatedly summoned. Expressing displeasure over their continued absence, the judge ordered their arrest and directed authorities to produce them before November 11. The hearing was subsequently adjourned until the next date. The case was registered by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) against the PTI leaders under relevant sections of the anti-terrorism act with charges of involvement in activities falling within the ambit of terrorism-related offences. Non-bailable arrest warrants for Gandapur In a separate development, Additional District and Sessions Judge Nasruminallah Baloch issued non-bailable arrest warrants for former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minis...

President Asif Ali Zardari met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Doha on Wednesday and offered to expand bilateral cooperation in the areas of defence and defence production between Pakistan and Qatar, a statement issued by the Presidency said. According to the statement, the Qatari emir “responded positively” to the offer and said he would instruct the relevant authorities to initiate discussions with Pakistan in this regard immediately. The bilateral meeting was held on sidelines of the Second World Summit for Social Development, which is being held in Qatari capital Doha from November 4 to 6. President Zardari is representing Pakistan at the moot. The Presidency’s statement said that the Qatari leader also “expressed satisfaction at the recent Pakistan-Saudi Arabia defence agreement”. “It was a welcome and timely step that should have happened earlier,” the statement quoted al-Thani as saying. He also noted Pakistan’s “unique position as a country maintaining strategic ties with China, th...

Gaza’s Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis on Wednesday said it had received the bodies of 15 Palestinian prisoners under the US-brokered ceasefire exchange deal. “The tenth batch of the bodies of Palestinian martyrs has arrived at Nasser Medical Complex in the Gaza Strip, numbering 15 martyrs,” the hospital said in a statement, noting that 285 bodies were received under the agreement in total. They were returned in exchange for the latest hostage body handed back from Gaza on Tuesday, that of Israeli-American soldier Itay Chen. Under the terms of the US-brokered agreement in effect since October 10, Israel returns 15 bodies of Palestinians for every body it receives of an Israeli hostage who had been held in Gaza. At the start of the truce, Hamas held 48 hostages in Gaza — 20 alive and 28 deceased. The militants have since released all the surviving captives, as well as 21 of the deceased’s remains. Israel has accused Hamas of dragging its feet in returning the bodies of deceased hostages, whi...

A man has been arrested for allegedly groping and trying to kiss Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as she greeted supporters in the country’s capital. The incident occurred on Tuesday as Sheinbaum walked to an event near the presidential palace, shaking hands and taking pictures with people along the way, videos on social media showed. The man approached Sheinbaum, put his arm around her shoulder and with the other hand, touched her hip and chest while attempting to kiss her neck. A member of the presidential security detail pulled away the man, who appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Despite his behaviour, Sheinbaum treated the man politely, agreeing to take a picture with him, then patting him on the back. Security authorities later reported that the man had been arrested. The head of Mexico’s Ministry of Women — a department created by Sheinbaum – commented on the incident. “We condemn the act that our president experienced today,” Minister Citlali Hernandez said in a post on X that a...

Sikh devotees on Wednesday gathered to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, in Punjab’s Nankana Sahib. On Tuesday, Pakistan had welcomed dozens of pilgrims from India in the first major crossing since deadly clashes in May closed the Wagah-Attari border in Punjab between the nuclear-armed neighbours. More than 2,100 pilgrims were granted visas to attend a 10-day festival marking the 556th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, Pakistan’s High Commission (embassy) in New Delhi said last week. Sikh devotees gather around a bus carrying the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book, during a religious procession on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, in Nankana Sahib, in Punjab. — AFP Sikh devotees gather around a bus carrying the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book, during a religious procession on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, in Nankana Sahib, in Punjab. — AFP Sikh pilgrims pay respect...

The United States Supreme Court is due on Wednesday to hear arguments over the legality of Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs in a case with implications for the global economy that marks a major test of the Republican president’s powers and the willingness of the justices to let him push the limits of his authority. The arguments are set to begin at 10am EST (1500 GMT) after lower courts ruled that Trump’s unprecedented use of a 1977 federal law meant for national emergencies to impose the tariffs exceeded his authority. The challenge involves three lawsuits brought by businesses affected by the tariffs and 12 US states, most of them Democratic-led. Trump has heaped pressure on the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to preserve tariffs that he has leveraged as a key economic and foreign policy tool. The tariffs could add up to trillions of dollars for the US over the next decade. If the justices strike them down, “we would be defenceless, leading perhaps even to the ruination of our nation”, ...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has cancelled all official visits of ministers and parliamentarians in view of discussions surrounding the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Wednesday demanded that local governments (LGs) be given autonomy in the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment. After the PPP revealed key features of the proposed amendment for which the government sought its support, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said yesterday that the legislation for the tweaks will soon be tabled in Parliament. MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar presented his party’s demand today while addressing a press conference in Islamabad, alongside party leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. Sattar asserted that after provincial autonomy had been granted under the 18th Amendment of 2010, the “next step naturally is local autonomy, so it’s turn must come”. “The important thing that we also said at the time of the 26th Amendment, that our constitutional amendment package be included,” he said, referring to its agreement with the PML-N to empower local governments. “But it did not happen,” Sattar lamented, calling for the matter to be included in the 27th Amendme...

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday issued a notification announcing that the deadline for taxpayers filing returns using manual forms rather than its web portal has been extended until November 30. According to the notification, the tax body stated that it is discontinuing the use of manual forms to file returns in favour of digitising all of its data. However, it recognised that until last year, a “small fraction of people” were still filing tax returns manually. “As a special dispensation, it has been decided that a cell in each tax office of Pakistan dealing with such taxpayers (manual filers) will provide all legal and technical support to such taxpayers,” the notification read. “Such taxpayer’s return filing date is hereby extended till [November 30], in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 214A of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, for smooth completion of the process.” The notification requested that taxpayers filing manually contact their respective tax offices, where they would re...

An Islamabad court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for human rights activist and lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, in a case related to controversial social media posts. The National Cybercrime Investigation Agency had registered a case against Mazari and Chattha, accusing the two of attempting to incite divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts and of creating the impression that the armed forces were engaged in terrorism within the country. Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Muhammad Afzal Majoka had indicted the two in the case last week. Both had denied the charges. The court had summoned all prosecution witnesses for today’s hearing. The judge presided over the hearing today in which Chattha expressed a lack of confidence in the court, to which ADSJ Majoka said the case could have been transferred if the lack of confidence had been expressed before the couple’s indictment. He added that only the high court could transfer the case ...

After years of captivity at the Karachi Zoo, 24-year-old female brown bear Rano was flown to Islamabad on Wednesday, where she was moved to a sanctuary for a second chance at life. According to Sindh Wildlife Conservator Javed Ahmed Mahar, Rano was transported to the capital on a Pakistan Air Force C-130 aircraft, which took off at 8:30am and landed at the Nur Khan Airbase a little after 11:30am. From the Karachi Zoo, the bear was first taken to Faisal Base in a wooden brown crate on a cargo pickup truck, which Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) officials said she entered willingly and without having to be sedated. “At just three calls, she walked from the sleeping area in her enclosure and into the crate,” said Sana Raja of the IWMB in a video. She added that Rano did not show any signs of distress and was also eating well. The wooden crate in which Rano is being transferred. Meanwhile, Mahar said that the team continuously monitored the bear on the flight, while Rano, despite the roar of the C-130 e...

Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democratic socialist, won the New York City mayoral race on Tuesday, capping a meteoric rise from a little-known state lawmaker to one of the United State’s most visible Democratic figures. According to CBS, Mamdani received 1,035,645 votes (50.4 per cent) against 854,783 (41.6pc) for former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and 146,127 (7.1pc) for Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani will become the first Muslim mayor of the largest US city. He defeated Democratic former Governor Andrew Cuomo, 67, who ran as an independent after losing the nomination to Mamdani in the primary election. The campaign served as an ideological and generational contest that could have national implications for the Democratic Party. Democrats won two key state governor races, sending an early warning signal to Republican President Donald Trump ahead of the 2026 midterms. The clean sweep among several ballots nationwide has boosted morale among Democrats bruised by Trump’s return to the White House ...

The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Wednesday received a comprehensive briefing from the Foreign Secretary and concerned officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on regional developments and forthcoming international engagements.