Pakistan

Tomlinson makes £4,000 donation to former One Direction bodyguard who battles severe arterial disease

.

.

Opposition leaders say govt tried to hide damning report

.

.

.

Pak, EU reiterate resolve to broad-based partnership

19,200-km system adds 4tbps immediately, lifts digital capacity

Pushes for accelerated reforms, public-private partnerships across the sector

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and the European Union, Saturday, reaffirmed their commitment to a broad-based, multidimensional and forward-looking partnership anchored in shared values, the UN Charter, multilateralism, and the principles of mutual respect and cooperation.

ISLAMABAD - The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Satur­day barred media outlets from broadcasting unof­ficial results of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab by-elections until one hour after the close of polls.

LAHORE - Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Ameer Engr Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman has said family enterprise and cult based politi­cal parties can’t bring change in the so­ciety.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Sat­urday said that Paki­stan’s dignity at world level after victory in Operation Bunyanum Marsoos has reached unprecedented level.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said that the railway system in any country served as backbone of economy and communication network.

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD - By-elections in six National Assembly (NA) and seven Punjab Assembly (PA) constituencies are being held today amid tight security arrangements as opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) warns of massive rigging during the voting.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said 21 people were killed and dozens more wounded in multiple Israeli air strikes on Saturday, as Hamas and Israel again traded allegations of violating the fragile ceasefire. Saturday was one of the deadliest days since the US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect on October 10, after two years of war. The Israeli military claimed an “armed terrorist” had crossed the so-called Yellow Line within the Gaza Strip, behind which Israeli forces have withdrawn, and fired at Israeli soldiers. In response to the incident in southern Gaza, which it said was on a route used for humanitarian aid deliveries in the territory, the Israeli military said it “began striking terror targets in the Gaza Strip”. Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency which operates under Hamas authority, told AFP there were “21 martyrs this evening in five separate Israeli air strikes, in a clear violation of the ceasefire in Gaza”. They included seven killed and more than 16 injured ...

Internet connectivity is set to get a boost after the launch of the South-East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe (SEA-ME-WE) 6 cable, the information technology ministry said on Saturday. “Pakistan has strengthened its global digital connectivity with the deployment of the SEA-ME-WE 6 submarine cable system, a 19,200-km high-capacity fibre network linking Pakistan to countries between Singapore and France,” said the statement from the ministry. The cable has a total capacity of over 100 terabit per second and it will provide “one of the lowest-latency routes between Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Western Europe”. It added that Pakistan has been allocated a total of 13.2tbps, with 4tbps being activated immediately — expanding the country’s international bandwidth capacity and enhancing support for cloud services, data centres, fintech, e-commerce, streaming, and the broader digital economy. The press release added that SEA-ME-WE 6 features “more fibre pairs and more than double the capacity” of previous SE...

The Karachi police launched a preliminary investigation on Saturday after reports surfaced of two individuals allegedly threatening a journalist at his residence. A statement from the Crime Reporters Association (CRA) condemned what it said were “threatening activities of two suspicious persons” at the house of senior journalist Faraz Khan, associated with The News International, in Federal B Industrial Area. Referring to a video of the alleged incident making the rounds on social media, the CRA said: “The two persons can be clearly seen in the CCTV footage, who knocked on the door of the house and threatened the family of serious consequences, which caused panic and fear among the family.” It said the incident had caused “serious concern” among the affected family and wider journalist community, adding that it had immediately informed the police and high-ranking officials. “Taking immediate action, Federal B Industrial Area station house officer has reached the house … where the police authorities have taken...

Over 900 passengers ride inaugural train but commuters call for better facilities, smoother service