Pakistan

Releases over 1,800 individuals, family members from detention centres

Officials recover 11.2kg of high-grade hashish, arrest member of global drug cartel

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ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Dr. Musadik Malik has taken notice of the reported killing of a deer in Islamabad’s Margalla Hills National Park after a shocking video of the incident emerged on social media. Terming the act brutal and intolerable, the minister ordered a thorough investigation and directed authorities concerned […]

The United Kingdom is re-establishing full ties with Syria following the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, foreign minister David Lammy said during a visit to Damascus on Saturday. “After over a decade of conflict, there is renewed hope for the Syrian people. The UK is re-establishing diplomatic relations because it is in our interests to support the new government to deliver their commitment to build a stable, more secure and prosperous future for all Syrians,” Lammy said in a statement. The statement came following Lammy’s meeting with Syria’s leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, the Syrian presidency said, in his first visit since Assad’s ouster. Interim President Sharaa received Lammy alongside Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, according to photos of the meeting released by the presidency. The talks addressed “bilateral ties … and ways of strengthening cooperation, as well as regional and international developments”, Sharaa’s office said in a statement. The Syrian foreign min...

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Rescuers were on Saturday searching for more than 20 girls missing from a riverside summer camp in the US state of Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating flooding that killed 24 people — with more rain on the way. “At this point we’re at about 24 fatalities,” Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha told an evening […]

India’s six‑match white‑ball cricket tour of Bangladesh next month has been postponed to 2026, both cricket boards said on Saturday. The series, including three one-day and three T20 matches, had been due to start on August 17 in Dhaka. Political relations between India and Bangladesh have turned frosty since a mass uprising last year in Dhaka toppled the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have “mutually agreed to defer” the series, the statement read. It said the decision was made “taking into account the international cricketing commitments and scheduling convenience of both teams”, without giving further details. It added that Bangladesh’s BCB “looks forward to welcoming India in September 2026”, with exact fixtures to be released later. There is deep anger in Dhaka at the fate of Hasina, who escaped a student-led uprising by helicopter in August 2024 and flew to New Delhi. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and Au...

The central government debt of Pakistan has swelled by 12 per cent compared to last year to reach nearly Rs76.05 trillion at the end of May, according to statistics released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). In its debt bulletin issued on Friday, the SBP reported the central government debt at Rs76.045tr, showing an increase of more than Rs8.31tr (12.3pc) in a year, when it stood at Rs67.73tr in May 2024. The domestic debt stood at Rs53.46tr, posting a year-on-year growth of 15.9pc. The external debt was stated as nearly Rs22.59tr, 4.52pc higher than the same month last year. In just a month from April to May, the central government debt grew by Rs1.11tr, slightly higher than the Rs1.035tr increase recorded in the same period of 2024. Pakistan’s total debt and liabilities had stood at Rs89.83tr at the end of March, according to the data released by the SBP in May. The SBP data showed that Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) contributed around Rs35.24tr to the public debt — surging from Rs27.70tr in May 2024 —...

The Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) said on Saturday it had killed five terrorists and successfully thwarted a terror plot in Taunsa Sharif in a “major counter-terrorism breakthrough”. There has been a recent uptick in terror attacks in Pakistan over the past year. The CTD regularly carries out operations to prevent and investigate terrorism-related activities and gather intelligence. A press release issued today by the CTD said that an intelligence-based operation took place near the Tri-Border Village. According to a CTD spokesperson, the operation was launched following “credible intelligence reports” about the presence of alleged armed terrorists in the area. Although the operation aimed to apprehend them, they opened fire on the CTD team, leading to a retaliatory crossfire. The press release detailed that the exchange of heavy fire continued for several hours, during which five terrorists were eliminated, while five others sustained injuries and escaped into the nearby forest. “The CTD teams ac...

At least one person was killed and three others were injured after armed assailants attacked a jirga in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district, police said on Saturday. Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities recently, especially in KP and Balochistan after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022. Bannu police spokesperson Kashif Nawaz told Dawn.com, “The Sardi Khel community had organised a jirga in the Mandi Khel area, which was attacked by militants who attempted to take away the jirga leader, Malak Eid Nawaz Sardi Khel, resulting in a clash with the jirga participants.” He said that the armed men opened fire at the participants, killing one person and injuring three other people, including a police constable. Nawaz further said the injured were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital Bannu for treatment. A police party had gone to the crime scene and searched for the terrorists while making efforts to maintain peace in the area, h...

Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, speaking to the media outside Lahore’s Data Darbar, said Pakistan delivered a powerful and unforgettable response to Indian aggression on May 9 and 10, asserting that the country emerged victorious in the eyes of the international community.

Despite a U.

Pope Leo on Saturday appointed a French archbishop as the new leader of the Vatican’s commission on clergy sexual abuse, in the US pontiff’s first public move to confront an issue that has damaged the global Church’s credibility. Thibault Verny, 59, will be president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors while also remaining the archbishop of Chambery in southeast France. The Vatican commission was created by Pope Francis in 2014 in an effort by the late pontiff to respond after sexual abuse scandals affected the Church in countries across the world. The scandals have damaged the Church’s standing as a moral voice, led to lawsuits costing millions in countries across the globe, and resulted in a number of resignations of bishops. Verny said he was committed to improving the Church’s safeguarding measures. “We will promote the […] equitable sharing of resources so that all parts of the Church, regardless of geography or circumstance, can uphold the highest standards of protection,” he said ...

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi on Saturday visited the entry and exit points of the central 9th Muharram procession at Imambargah Asna Ashri in Sector G-6 to personally inspect and supervise the security arrangements.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, met on Saturday with Dr.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Monday criticized the absence of an air ambulance during the recent tragic incident in Swat, revealing that although an air ambulance had been prepared, it was reportedly unavailable at the time.

The Dalai Lama said on Saturday he hopes to live until he is more than 130 years old, two decades longer than his previous prediction, following his assurance to followers that he would reincarnate as the spiritual head of the faith upon his death. The Nobel Peace Prize winner was speaking during a ceremony organised by his followers to offer prayers for his long life, ahead of his 90th birthday on Sunday, and as China insists it will choose his successor. The Dalai Lama told Reuters in December he might live to 110. “I have been able to serve the Buddhadharma (the teachings of Buddhism) and the beings of Tibet so far quite well,” he said between prayers, clearing his throat now and then. “And still, I hope to live over 130 years,” he said, sparking applause and cheers among his followers. The 14th Dalai Lama, already the longest-lived head of Tibetan Buddhism, spent about 90 minutes at the prayers in his temple. The ceremony was attended by thousands of followers from around the world who gathered in the nor...

Turkiye arrested three more opposition mayors early on Saturday as part of an investigation into alleged graft, officials from the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) said, denouncing it as a “political operation”. The early morning arrests were the latest move targeting elected officials of the CHP as the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan puts increasing pressure on the party, which won a huge victory against his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the 2024 local elections and is rising in the polls. The arrests were linked to an investigation into alleged graft which resulted in the removal in March of Istanbul’s powerful opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, whose jailing sparked mass protests in Turkiye’s worst street unrest since 2013. Imamoglu is Erdogan’s biggest political rival and the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential race. Earlier this week, police arrested more than 120 people as part of a probe into alleged graft in the opposition stronghold of Izmir, Turkiye’s t...

The federal government has officially notified a 10 percent increase in salaries for its employees, including personnel from the armed forces and civil armed forces.