Pakistan

• A Tando Adam ginner is found mixing cotton waste into high-grade lint • Stakeholders say malpractice has pushed textile mills towards costly imports, deepening financial woes • Investigators allege armed men assault PCGA team LAHORE: A startling case of large-scale cotton adulteration has surfaced in Sindh, where a ginning factory in Tando Adam was allegedly found mixing cotton waste into high-grade lint to produce what industry insiders are calling “burger cotton.” According to reports, a four-member monitoring team of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) — formed to curb such malpractice — raided the factory after receiving credible complaints. However, the operation turned violent when the factory owner allegedly summoned nearly a hundred armed men who assaulted and detained the visiting committee members for several hours on Sunday. The incident has sent shockwaves through the cotton ginning industry nationwide. In protest, an emergency meeting of the PCGA’s monitoring committee and Sindh-base...

Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi has been named the Pakistan men’s One-day International (ODI) team captain, the country’s cricket board announced on Monday. The national side’s pace spearhead will lead Pakistan in the upcoming three-match series against South Africa. Shaheen replaces Mohammad Rizwan as the Pakistan ODI skipper after the wicket-keeper led the team during a disastrous ICC Champions Trophy campaign before series losses in New Zealand and the West Indies. Rizwan, handed captaincy in 2024, had led the team to series wins in South Africa, Australia and Zimbabwe in his early days as captain, however. But the recent failures apparently were a decisive enough factor for the Pakistan Cricket Board to sack Rizwan. For Shaheen, it’s going to be a second stint as the Pakistan captain, the left-armer having been snubbed after a short spell — five T20Is against New Zealand — at the helm after replacing Babar Azam in late 2023 following Pakistan’s dismal World Cup campaign. The 25-year-old, who has been capt...

ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday removed the registrar office’s objections on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s peti­tion seeking permission to meet PTI founder Imran Khan in Adiala Jail.

ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Mon­day gave police three days to recover the deputy director of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), who was allegedly abducted from the federal capital last week.

LAHORE - The Election Commis­sion of Pakistan (ECP) has released a revised schedule for by-elec­tions in Punjab, with polling set to take place on November 23, 2025.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari yesterday extended warm greetings to the Hindu commu­nity in Pakistan and around the world on the joyous occasion of Diwali — the festival of lights, hope, and renewal.

ISLAMABAD - Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Monday is­sued non-bailable arrest warrants against sever­al leaders of PTI includ­ing Zartar Gul, Omar Ayub, Zain Qureshi and Ali Bokha­ri in protest and riots case.

ISLAMABAD - The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday announced a ban on the post­ing and transfer of govern­ment officers in Faisalabad and Sahiwal districts, aiming to ensure free, fair, and trans­parent by-elections in the re­spective constituencies.

ISLAMABAD - Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi called on Pa­kistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at Bilawal House in Karachi.

LAHORE - The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday acquit­ted a death row inmate, Maqbool Hussain, who was convicted of killing a man over a financial dis­pute.

LAHORE - An anti-terrorism court on Monday granted a fur­ther 10-day physical remand of Pir Zaheerul Has­san Shah, the deputy chief of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) , in a case pertaining to an inflam­matory speech against a senior judicial figure.

ISLAMABAD - The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday adjourned the hearing of multiple petitions challenging the imposition of super tax until Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD - The federal government on Monday dismissed the claim of newly elected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi that the bullet proof ve­hicles recently gifted by the Centre to the provincial police were defective and outdated.

DEPALPUR /LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday announced Rs100 billion pack-age for the rehabilitation of flood victims across the province, pledging complete transpar-ency and swift assistance to every affected family.

PM PM calls for promotion of cottage SMEs to achieve industrial developmentcalls for promotion of cottage SMEs to achieve industrial development.

Amazon’s cloud services unit AWS was struggling to recover on Monday from a widespread outage that knocked out thousands of websites along with some of the world’s most popular apps — Snapchat and Reddit — and disrupted businesses globally. The turmoil marked the largest internet disruption since last year’s CrowdStrike malfunction hobbled technology systems in hospitals, banks and airports, and highlights the vulnerability of the world’s interconnected technologies. After more than nine hours of disruptions, some applications were gradually coming back online as of 1pm ET (10pm PKT). But AWS acknowledged that elevated errors were still affecting several AWS services and that it was working on recovering connectivity. AWS was down for more than 9,300 users as of 1pm ET, according to outage tracking website Downdetector. That figure is higher than the earlier peak of about 5,800 reports at 3:48am ET (12:48pm PKT). Lambda, one of AWS’s computing services, was experiencing errors due to issues with an internal s...

Veteran Bollywood comedy actor Govardhan Asrani died after a prolonged illness on Monday at the age of 84, Indian media outlets reported. A post on his Instagram account confirmed his demise, saying: “The news of the demise of Asrani ji, the king of laughter, ruling over millions of hearts has immersed us all in deep sorrow. He gave a new identity to Indian cinema with his unique acting, simplicity and humor. The life they put into every character, will live in our memories forever. Their departure is not just for the film industry, but the loss of everyone who ever smiled at their acting.” View this post on Instagram Indian wire agency ANI reported that his last rites were performed at Santacruz Crematorium in the presence of his family. His manager, Babu Bhai Thiba, told the outlet that Asrani died at 3pm at Arogya Nidhi Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra. “He is survived by his wife, sister, and nephew,” the manager added. The outlet added that over his long and successful career, Asrani became one of Hindi cin...

After a week of violence, residents on the frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan are hoping a new ceasefire deal will end the clashes and revive crucial cross-border trade. While the crossings remain closed, life has regained a semblance of normality, with bakers kneading bread, fruit and vegetable sellers wheeling out their carts, and customers frequenting shops. “People can breathe and feel relieved. (But) before that, gunfire damaged a few houses in our village,” said Sadiq Shah, 56, a shopkeeper from Baizai on the Pakistani side. Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan broke out after explosions in Kabul on October 9. The Taliban government blamed the blasts on its neighbour and launched a retaliatory border offensive, prompting Islamabad to vow a strong response. After further clashes left soldiers and civilians dead, the two sides declared an initial 48-hour ceasefire on Wednesday. New Pakistani strikes hit Afghanistan on Friday, with Islamabad saying it was targeting armed groups that the Taliban...

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Monday that the ceasefire agreement between Islamabad and Kabul was linked to the Afghan Taliban’s ability to rein in terrorists attacking Pakistan from neighbouring soil. The two countries agreed to a ceasefire in Doha at the weekend after days of border clashes that killed dozens, the worst such violence since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021. Ground fighting between the one-time allies and Pakistani airstrikes across their contested 2,600-kilometre frontier were triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul control terrorists it says operate from safe havens in Afghanistan. “Anything coming from Afghanistan will be [a] violation of this agreement,” Asif said in his office at Parliament in Islamabad. “Everything hinges on this one clause.” The Taliban administration and Afghanistan’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. “In the agreement signed by Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkiye and Qatar, it was clearly spelled out that there wo...

Saudi Arabia joined other nations on Monday in welcoming the ceasefire agreed between Pakistan and Afghanistan after days of border hostilities, affirming its support for efforts aimed at promoting peace and stability between the two countries. The ceasefire was agreed early yesterday morning during talks between Afghan and Pakistani delegations in Doha with the mediation of Qatar and Turkiye. A next round of negotiations between the two sides is scheduled to be held in Istanbul on October 25. A statement posted on the Saudi foreign ministry’s X account said it “expresses the kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s welcome of the signing by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Afghanistan of an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability between the two countries, during the round of negotiations held in Doha.” “The kingdom affirms its support for all regional and international efforts aimed at promoting peace and stability, and its continued commitment to ensuring sec...