Pakistan

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Suspect wounded in gunfire exchange with police, dies of injuries

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President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday constituted the 11th National Finance Commission (NFC) to announce a new award for the sharing of federal divisible resources between the Centre and the provinces. According to a notification from the Finance Division, the president constituted the commission with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb as the chairman and the four provincial finance ministers as its members. The commission also includes former bureaucrat Nasir Mahmood Khosa as a member representing the Punjab government, economist and researcher Asad Sayeed as a member representing the Sindh government, former bureaucrat Dr Musharraf Rasool Cyan as a member representing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and Farmanullah as a member representing the Balochistan government. The commission will make recommendations to the president on the distribution between the federation and the provinces of the ““net proceeds of the taxes mentioned in clause (3) of Article 160 of the Constitution”, it read. The taxes are taxe...

At least 200 people were rescued after a glacier burst in Gilgit-Baltistan blocked the Ghizer River, threatening the downstream areas, Rescue 1122 said on Friday. A glacial burst, or glacial lake outburst flood (Glof), refers to an outburst of water from a glacial lake which could lead to severe flooding downstream, effectively blocking or overwhelming rivers in its path. Pakistan is home to over 13,032 glaciers, the largest reservoir of glaciers outside of the polar regions. However, experts have warned that about 10,000 glaciers in Chitral and GB have been reported to be receding due to climate change–induced temperature rise. A statement from Rescue 1122 said, “200 people have been rescued from flood-affected areas and have been shifted to Ghizer’s Yangal and Samal areas.” “Several people have been traumatised after [their] houses were destroyed. Medical assistance is being provided to the affected people,” it added. In another statement issued earlier today, Rescue 1122 said, “A terrible incident of glaci...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Friday directed all relevant departments to stay on high alert ahead of a possible eighth spell of monsoon rains.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued a report outlining the devastating impact of monsoon rains and floods across Pakistan.

Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister (DPM/FM), Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, on Friday underlined the government’s commitment to ensuring price stability, maintaining adequate supplies of essential goods, and protecting the interests of consumers across the country.

Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) has formally called for the creation of new provinces in the country, aimed at improving governance, public service delivery and overall administrative structure.

Four more people were confirmed on Friday to have died in a fire that broke out in a warehouse in Karachi the previous day, bringing the total death toll to six, according to rescue officials. A massive explosion took place inside a warehouse in a densely populated area near Karachi’s Taj Medical Complex on MA Jinnah Road yesterday afternoon, in which 33 people were injured and two were confirmed to have lost their lives. Rescue 1122 said today that the number of deaths from the incident had risen to six after a fourth body was retrieved. South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza said earlier today that two people had died during treatment, while three bodies were recovered from the site. Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn.com that the deaths occurred because of “multiple crush injuries and suffocation”. She said one died owing to suffocation, and two other deaths occurred from multiple crush injuries, while the autopsy of two other bodies could not be conducted. Meanwhile, Rescue-1...

Pakistani teams on Thursday displayed their prowess at the Amerigol Latam Cup ice hockey tournament in Coral Springs, Florida in the United States with the men’s team clinching the Division III championship and the women’s team claiming the Division II bronze medal in their debut appearance. The tournament is designed to showcase talent from regions where ice hockey is a growing sport and “break barriers and unite non-traditional hockey markets in a thrilling display of skill, passion, and camaraderie”, according to the organisers’ website. A press release from the National Hockey League (NHL), stated that this year’s Latam Cup features 62 women’s, men’s and youth teams and over 1,450 players representing 17 countries and territories. The tournament started on Sunday and will continue through August 24. The NHL stated that Pakistan’s men’s team went undefeated throughout the tournament and playoffs, defeating Peru 6-1 to win the championship for the first time. The Pakistani Ice Hockey Team wrote in an Instag...

Two days before his wedding, Noor Muhammad had a long phone call with his mother, just hours before devastating floods in Pakistan killed her along with 23 family members and relatives. “I cannot explain how happy she was,” he said standing by the rubble of his family’s large 36-room house, perched on the bank of a floodwater channel in Qadir Nagar village. The village in mountainous Buner district has been the worst hit by recent massive rain in the country, accounting for over 200 deaths out of nearly 400 in floods in the northern areas since August 15. Buner is a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Islamabad. “Everything was finished,” sobbed Muhammad, 25, as mourners sat at his damaged house to offer condolences, saying there was nothing left when he got home except for rubble and heavy rocks, which swept down from the mountains along with mud and raging flood waters, smashing into houses, markets and buildings. “The flood came, a huge flood came, it swept away everything, home, mother, sister, brother, my u...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said that he will convene a meeting over the illegal constructions on rivers soon, as monsoon rains caused catastrophic floods in northern parts of the country. Record rains in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which started on August 15, have wreaked havoc on different parts of the province. Last week, the provincial government declared an emergency as torrential rains ravaged homes, displaced families, and left a trail of destruction across Buner, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra, and beyond with the death toll at 393. Speaking during a federal cabinet meeting today, PM Shehbaz said, “I will call a meeting over the illegal constructions on rivers, such as hotels, restaurants and houses.” He highlighted the concerns over such structures, which reflected “catastrophic beauty”, and over the cutting of trees in Galiyat, where plazas and houses have been constructed. “There is no room for man-made disasters,” he said, adding that the meeting will be called on an all-Pakistan basis to discuss the...

A fact-finding committee formed by police investigating the death of senior DawnNews reporter Khawar Hussain Bajwa has ruled that he died by suicide, according to a copy of its final report available with Dawn.com. The senior journalist was found dead in his car last week, parked on Hyderabad Road in Sanghar under what police termed “mysterious circumstances”. The body was found in the driving seat, with a gunshot wound to the head. The day after the incident, police said that they were probing the incident “from all possible angles” and a fact-finding committee had been formed to probe Hussain’s death. This committee, led by Sindh Additional Inspector General of Police (IGP) (Counter-Terrorism Department) Azad Khan, comprised Karachi West Zone Deputy IGP Irfan Baloch and Sanghar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abid Baloch. The committee reached its conclusion based on a detailed examination of the crime scene, interviews of witnesses, examination of postmortem and forensic reports and analysis of CCTV ...

The Foreign Office on Friday dismissed reports of a possible meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in China, confirming that no such engagement is scheduled.

Lieutenant General Md Faizur Rahman, Quarter Master General of the Bangladesh Army, met Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza at the Joint Staff Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the military’s media wing said on Friday.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan has said Pakistan is ready for a comprehensive and composite dialogue with India to address all outstanding issues, including terrorism.

Federal Information Minister Atta Tarar on Friday said Pakistan’s historic victory against India had significantly enhanced the country’s global standing, emphasizing that the nation remained united “shoulder to shoulder” in the battle of narratives.

At least five Iranian police have been killed in an ambush in the restive Sistan-Baluchestan province, Iranian media reported on Friday. The unidentified assailants struck two units on patrol near the town of Iranshahr, the Fars news agency said, citing local police. “In this terrorist act, five servants of security and peace were martyred,” it quoted police as saying. Sistan-Baluchestan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has long been a flashpoint for clashes between security forces and armed groups, including drug traffickers and separatists. The province, which is home to a large Sunni Muslim Baloch minority, is one of the poorest regions of the Shia-majority country. Police said the officers had been on routine patrol when they came under fire. Iranian media published an image of a bullet-riddled police pickup with bodies lying on the ground nearby. An operation was underway to “track down and identify” the assailants, Fars said. No group immediately claimed responsibility. Iran regularly reports de...