Pakistan

LAHORE: Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court, on Saturday deplored that successive governments in Pakistan had shown little interest in improving the lives of ordinary citizens, saying policymaking remained trapped in “elite capture”. “Everything that is done is elitist to satisfy or protect industry or perhaps pressure groups, but an ordinary person is not in the picture,” he said, speaking at Breathe Pakistan’s session “Judicial Activism and Litigation for Clean Air in Pakistan.” Senior lawyer Faisal Siddiqui conducted the session. The judge said he realised, during his whole career as a lawyer and a judge, “the ordinary person is not relevant.” View this post on Instagram Says environmental watchdog fully captured by govt Justice Shah, who is known for his work on public interest and the environment, said he was not against development, but it should be done in an intelligent way. He lamented that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the regulatory body to control p...

FAISALABAD - Minister of State for Interior Senator Talal Chaudhary on Saturday emphasized the government’s commitment to providing modern facilities to the public at their doorsteps by upgrading departmental services and addressing grassroots issues.

KARACHI: The business and industrial community has raised concerns over inflated gas bills for the month, which have been calculated using peak-hour charges instead of off-peak rates. This has led to significant financial distress, particularly among industries already grappling with economic challenges. Industrialists have pointed out that, had the gas consumption been assessed using off-peak rates, the cost per unit would be around Rs238. However, the bills reflect charges nearly double or up to two and a half times higher than this amount. The misapplication of peak-hour charges has led to widespread complaints from industrial consumers, who argue that this billing method is both incorrect and unjustified. Karachi chamber raises concerns over peak-hour charges, demands uniform 24-hour tariff In a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Businessmen Group (BMG) Chairman Zubair Motiwalla and Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Jawed Bilwani called the inflated charges unaffordable and w...

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved financing of $235 million for the Lahore Water and Wastewater Management Project. This funding aims to ensure a sustainable supply of safe water and alleviate the environmental damage caused by untreated sewage discharge in the city. The loan, approved by the Beijing-based institution on Thursday, will also support the Lahore Water and Sanitation Agency (LWASA) in improving its institutional capacity, enabling it to provide better services to the residents of Lahore while becoming a financially sustainable entity. Lahore faces a dual challenge of inadequate clean water and untreated wastewater overflow, both of which require urgent attention from the provincial government. The AIIB financing will be directed towards addressing these issues in a coordinated manner. The Punjab government had requested the AIIB’s support for the construction of infrastructure to divert water from the nearby Banbawala Ravi Bedian Depalpur (BRBD) Canal, as wel...

• China retaliates with port fees as US tariff dispute escalates • Beijing residents dismiss US pressure, see limited impact on daily life BEIJING: China will begin levying port fees on US-built, owned, operated, or flagged vessels from Tuesday, in a direct response to similar char­ges being introduced by the United States on China-linked ships the same day, the Chinese transport ministry said on Friday, as reported by Reuters. Later that day, US President Donald Trump announced an increase in tariffs on all Chinese exports to the US, raising them to 100 per cent from Nov 1, and unveiled new export controls on strategic software. The move came in response to China’s recent curbs on exports of rare earth minerals. Although few US-flagged or built ships are engaged in international trade, China’s new port fee regime casts a wider net by targeting vessels where US-domiciled funds hold 25pc or more in shares or board seats. Analysts say this will significantly broaden the scope of affected companies, particularly...

• Emergency crew restore power to many parts of Ukraine after attack on grid • US, UK, and Nato conduct air patrol along Russia’s border KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged US President Donald Trump on Saturday to use the diplomatic success he achieved in the Middle East as a model to end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, saying that if Trump could stop one war, “others can be stopped as well.” The appeal came during a phone call between the two leaders, just a day after Moscow launched what Ukrainian officials described as a large-scale attack targeting critical energy facilities across 10 regions, including the capital Kyiv. “If a war can be stopped in one region, then surely other wars can be stopped as well, including the Russian war,” Zelen­sky wrote on Facebook, describing what he characterised as a “very positive and productive” conversation with Trump. The timing of the appeal underscores Ukraine’s growing concern that its nearly three-year conflict with Russia has slipped down the inter...

Nearly 300 Afghan refugee families are living under the open sky in Islamabad’s Argentina Park, just miles from Islamabad’s ‘Red Zone’, the heavily secured government and diplomatic district in the federal capital. They sleep on the wet ground under plastic tarps, with no access to sanitation, medical care or legal protection — caught between Pakistan’s intensifying deportation campaign and the Taliban regime they fled. The day after rain showers swept through parts of Islamabad on September 18, teenager Uswa Kohistani sits alone under a tree, writing poetry in Dari about the crisis unfolding around her. Families spread soaked clothing across the grass to dry. Passports and school certificates lie damp inside a mosquito net. “We can neither go to work nor buy food from the markets,” says Kohistani, 19. “The police arrest us and forcibly take us to the border for deportation to Afghanistan.” Caught between Pakistan’s intensifying campaign to expel Afghans and the Taliban regime many of them fled, nearly 300 fa...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday night lauded the security forces after the Pakistan Army responded to unprovoked attacks by Afghan Taliban forces on border posts. Clashes between the two sides were reported in multiple areas along the Pak-Afghan border. “Firing by Afghan forces on civilian population is a blatant violation of international laws. Pakistan’s brave forces have given a prompt and effective response that no provocation will be tolerated,” said the interior minister in a post on X. “Pakistan’s forces are alert and Afghanistan is being answered with stones for bricks. The people of Pakistan stand with the brave armed forces like a lead wall. Afghanistan will also be given a befitting reply like India.” Earlier, security sources confirmed that Pakistani forces deployed at the international border “targeted several Afghan border posts”. There are reports of significant damage inflicted on multiple Afghan posts and militant formations, security officials added. Artillery, tanks, light and he...

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Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) supporters have camped at Muridke for the night as they continued attempts to reach Islamabad to stage a protest in ‘solidarity with Palestinians’. Punjab Police, in an attempt to stop the march towards the federal capital, have reportedly dug a trench on the road. Earlier in the day, clashes between supporters of the religious party and police were reported in the Shahdara area of Lahore earlier today. At least 40 police personnel have been injured today, while the TLP claims that more than 10 of its workers have been killed in clashes with law enforcers. TLP began its protests in Lahore on Thursday and announced plans to march to the US embassy in Islamabad to voice its opposition to the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after two years of conflict in Gaza. The demonstrations turned violent on Friday, with police launching baton charges and firing tear gas at protesters who had pelted them with rocks, AFP journalists saw. Arrests in Karachi Police in Karachi arr...

Former US president Joe Biden is undergoing radiation and hormone therapy to fight prostate cancer that was revealed in May, a spokesperson said Saturday. “As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment,” the spokesperson said. In May, the 82-year-old ex-president’s office announced that Biden had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that spread to his bones after he experienced urinary symptoms and a prostate nodule was found. “Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places,” Biden, whose son Beau Biden died of cancer in 2015, said at the time in a post on X. “Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.“ Biden’s health had been in the spotlight due to a new book detailing his declining health as he campaigned last year for a second presidential term against Donald Trump. In July 2024, Biden announced he was dropping out of the race after...

The Foreign Office (FO) on Saturday night censured Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi for remarks during his visit to India and said “deflecting” the responsibility of controlling terrorism could not absolve the Afghan authorities of their responsibilities towards regional peace. Muttaqi visited India earlier this week, marking India’s first high-level engagement with the Taliban government since it took power in 2021. Speaking about a Thursday night explosion in Kabul during a press conference in New Delhi a day ago, Muttaqi had condemned the incident and Pakistan for its alleged role in it, saying: “Whatever the problems are in each country should be solved by themselves.” He said there was no terrorist organisation or group left in Afghanistan. “If other countries achieve peace themselves as we did in Afghanistan, then there will be peace in the entire region. Since the last eight months, there has not been even a small incident in Afghanistan. In four years, no one has been harmed from Afghanistan’...

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Secretariat has announced the official schedule for electing a new Chief Minister after the resignation of Ali Amin Gandapur.

Experts at a conference on tackling the issue of air pollution brought attention to its transnational threat and urged greater regional cooperation to tackle it. The moot was held at the Expo Centre in Lahore on Saturday as part of DawnMedia’s ‘Breathe Pakistan’ initiative. The conference was held with the aim of shedding light on actionable solutions, fostering high-level dialogue, and driving collective action for cleaner air in Pakistan. Sessions covered a broad range of themes, including governance and policy frameworks, financing clean air, smog and industrial responsibility, judicial activism, public health impacts, nationwide air quality standards, and regional cooperation on transboundary pollution. A press release issued said: “Concluding the event, participants agreed that Pakistan’s fight for clean air must now move from promise to policy and from data to delivery. DawnMedia reaffirmed its commitment to continue convening dialogue through Breathe Pakistan, keeping the spotlight on collective action...