Pakistan

Restrictions drive Punjab mills towards shutdown while K-P mills expand

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Refuse FBR directives to install POS systems in clinics

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BANNU: A target killing incident occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district on Sunday, where unknown assailants riding a motorcycle opened fire on a policeman, killing him on the spot. According to a police statement, the incident occurred in the district’s Mamma Khel area, which falls within the jurisdiction of the Haved Police Station. It added that the martyred policeman was deployed at the Mazanga police checkpoint when he was attacked. District Police Officer (DPO) Yasir Afridi said, “The martyred policeman, identified as Iqbal, was in his native village of Akhund Mamma Khel, when he was shot.” “After offering evening prayers, he was on his way back home when motorcycle riders opened fire on him in front of his house, killing him on the spot,” the DPO added. Following the incident, a heavy contingent of police reached the scene, cordoned off the area, and launched a search operation, while further investigation into the incident is underway. The security situation in KP has worsened over the last th...

ISLAMABAD: Concerned citizens and experts speaking at a webinar raised apprehensions over the growing environmental crisis in Islamabad, caused by rapid, unplanned and largely irreversible urban development by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and various housing societies, often in violation of zoning rules and regulations. Speakers stressed that the city’s green spaces were steadily being replaced by concrete due to weak governance, elite capture and a persistent conflict between populist decision-making and professional, science-based planning. A key outcome of the discussion was a strong call for a new, collaborative approach to sustainable urban development through the establishment of a dedicated Islamabad-focused think tank. Participants emphasised the need to bring together independent professionals, policymakers, civil society and creative communities, including architects, designers and artists, to develop long-term, people-centred solutions. The webinar underscored that environmental degradat...

Iranian authorities have said they are considering “gradually” restoring internet access after imposing a communications shutdown 10 days ago, as nationwide protests in the country began to subside following a crackdown by security forces. Demonstrations sparked in late December by anger over economic hardship exploded into protests widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years. Iranian officials have said the demonstrations were peaceful before turning into “riots” and blamed foreign influence, namely from Iran’s foes, the United States and Israel. The rallies subsided after the crackdown carried out by security forces amid a communications blackout that started on January 8 as the protests grew in size and intensity. Government officials have said calm has been restored, with schools reopening on Sunday — Iran’s weekend falling on Thursday and Friday — after a week of closure. Late Saturday, the Tasnim news agency reported “the relevant authorities announced that internet access wo...

United States President Donald Trump has invited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to become part of the Gaza Board of Peace, a body being formed to address the ongoing crisis in the Palestinian territory.

The Netherlands’ foreign minister on Sunday said that US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose new tariffs on European allies until they agree to sell Greenland to the United States is “blackmail”. “It’s blackmail what he’s doing … and it’s not necessary. It doesn’t help the alliance (Nato) and it also doesn’t help Greenland,” David van Weel said in an interview on Dutch television. In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said additional 10 per cent import tariffs would take effect on February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Great Britain countries that have agreed to contribute personnel to a Nato exercise on Greenland. Van Weel said the Greenland mission was intended to show the US Europe’s willingness to help defend Greenland, and he was opposed to Trump making a connection with diplomacy over the island and trade. Trump has insisted he will settle for nothing less than full ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, which he ...

Pakistan on Saturday reaffirmed its desire for peace and stability in Iran and the wider region, as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a telephonic conversation with his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting of his ruling coalition partners on Sunday after objecting to the composition of a Gaza advisory panel formed by the White House, according to an official and media reports. The White House announced this week the setting up of a “Gaza Executive Board,” which would operate under a broader so-called “Board of Peace” to be chaired by US President Donald Trump as part of his 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza. The executive board, described as having an advisory role, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi, alongside other regional and international officials. Late on Saturday, Netanyahu’s office objected to the composition of the executive board. “The announcement regarding the composition of the Gaza Executive Board, which is subordinate to the Board of Peace, was not coordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy,” the office of Netanyahu said. “The prime minister has instructed the foreign affair...

This piece was originally published on July 1, 2024. At the far corner of the pediatric unit at Karachi Burns Center, a woman desperately tries to latch her daughter for feeding. The infant, covered in gauze, fails to hold on as her shrill cries fill the room, cutting through the white walls of the facility. Two-year-old Fariha Hassan bears the burns of a fire that ripped through her apartment in Kharadar last week. The story is not unheard of; a gas cylinder explosion that engulfed her family into flames. The incident, one of many reported across the metropolis every week, was preventable if only a handful of safety rules and regulations were followed. According to an analysis of five-year data compiled by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), at least six fires erupt in the city daily. The reasons behind these fires may vary from case to case, but the casualties and injuries that arise from them are easily preventible if only the authorities and citizens themselves take some basic precautions. Doctors...

KARACHI: As many as 21 eateries on the famous Burns Road Food Street have been sealed by authorities for occupying footpaths and walkways. District South Deputy Commissioner Javed Nabi Khoso said that the restaurants and other food shops had been sealed because they had placed their furniture on the walkways. He said that the sealed outlets would be unsealed after payment of fines and undertaking by the restaurant owners to fully comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs). Mr Nabi said that the commissioner had directed all deputy commissioners to take strict action against the “soft encroachments” that hindered the vehicular and pedestrian movement in any part of the city. He said that most of the shops and eateries were sealed in Arambagh sub-division where Burns Road Food Street was also located. The DC said that all shopkeepers would have to pay fines and submit written assurances of compliance with the SOPs. He said that some of the restaurants and shops sealed two days ago would be allowed to ...

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has taken notice of the tragic fire at Gul Plaza in Karachi and ordered an immediate inquiry into the incident.

PESHAWAR: The federal government’s instructions to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to stop issuing permits for hunting non-exportable trophies in the province is causing unrest in the provincial wildlife department and local communities, which insist the move has threatened the over $1 million permits already sold. The controversy over the hunting permits for markhor and grey gorals emerged when the wildlife department received minutes of a recent meeting with the climate change and environmental coordination ministry where minister Musadik Masood Malik was in the chair. “The chair directed that a legal opinion be obtained to clarify the matter and that a subsequent meeting be convened to finalise the non-exportable quota in line with relevant international conventions. Till that time, no quotas for non-exportable trophies will be allocated by any province,” reads minutes of the meeting available with Dawn. Sources in KP wildlife department told Dawn that the federal ministry of climate change and environme...

Concerned citizens and environmental experts have raised serious concerns over a growing environmental crisis in Islamabad, blaming rapid, unplanned and largely irreversible urban development carried out by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and private housing societies in violation of zoning laws.

LONDON: Taking paracetamol, known as Tylenol in the US, during pregnancy is safe, a group of European researchers have said, after compiling data in response to US President Donald Trumps claims of a link to autism last year. In a review published in the British journal The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Womens Health on Saturday, the team said they had focused on amassing the best-quality evidence to address the claims. Paracetamol is safe to use in pregnancy, said lead author Asma Khalil, professor of obstetrics and maternal foetal medicine at City St Georges, University of London. The key message is reassurance: When used as recommended, the best available evidence does not support a causal link with autism, ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) or intellectual disability. President Trump claimed last year the painkiller could be linked to autism in children if taken during pregnancy Khalil said she had been asked about the popular pain medication also known as acetaminophen by her patients aft...

WHILE the US may want regime change in Iran, and Israel the collapse of the established order, internal strife and chaos, it appears that Tehran has stayed safe from US-led military strikes, for the time being at least, because any such action seems less imminent now than it did earlier this week. Speculation abounds about what made US President Donald Trump change his mind — from entreaties by Gulf friends, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman, to a seemingly bizarre New York Times report that claimed that the apartheid state’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also asked the US leader not to launch military strikes for the time being. However, in Trump’s own words “nobody” made him change his mind and it was the staying of 800 hangings of protesters that Iran had supposedly planned that was the main reason he had called off the strikes and also because the protesters’ “killing has stopped”. Whatever led to the pause, temporary or permanent, it is a welcome development for the region, which seemed to be sl...

IRAN’S clerical regime seems to have weathered yet another wave of internal resistance, exploited, as always, by its external rivals. But the human losses have left a deep new wound on the Iranian psyche. The immediate threat of a US-Israeli strike has also dispersed. Washington and Tel Aviv, backed by most Gulf capitals, recalibrated their stance after strategic assessments highlighted the danger of a wider regional war and the absence of any realistic plan for a post-regime change scenario. Inside Iran, resistance against the establishment still struggles to form a unified front or leadership. However, this does not mean the US, Israel or their allies have dropped the goal of political change in Tehran. Instead, they are adjusting their methods. Media reports indicate the regime will not collapse quickly due to a strong security apparatus, loyal institutions, and backing from a sizable segment of the population. Even so, external actors, along with internal resistance networks, are unlikely to allow the reg...