Pakistan

United States President Donald Trump failed to secure a Ukraine war ceasefire at a high-stakes summit with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, but insisted on Saturday that he would now target a full peace agreement to end the conflict. Three hours of talks between the White House and Kremlin leaders at an Alaska air base produced no breakthrough, but Trump and European leaders said they wanted a new summit that includes Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Speaking to top officials in Moscow a day after the talks in Alaska, Putin said he discussed ways of ending the conflict “on a fair basis” during the meeting. He also said the summit with Trump had been “timely” and “very useful”, according to images published by the Kremlin. Zelensky said he will now go to Washington on Monday, while European leaders said they were ready to intensify sanctions against Russia after Trump briefed them on the summit and they held their own protracted talks. European leaders have also been invited to attend Monday’s meeting...

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Orders release of Rs3 billion for emergency assistance, rehabilitation in six districts

Seeks report on damaged hospitals, health facilities

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Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Malakand district emir Mufti Kifayatullah was injured while two, including his daughter, were killed on Saturday in a shooting at his home in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Malakand Division, according to officials. Malakand Deputy Commissioner and Commandant Malakand Levies Hamid Ur Rehman confirmed to Dawn.com that Mufti Kifayatullah had been injured in the attack. “Today, around 1pm, JUI Malakand district emir Mufti Kifayatullah, along with his two daughters, was shot within the limits of Chowki Batkhela, Levies Post Batkhela area,” a statement by the KP Police said. The statement added that one of his daughters was killed in the shooting, and a Levies sepoy was also killed. Another daughter was injured and is undergoing surgery, according to the statement. Levies in large numbers are carrying out raids to arrest the attackers. Further investigation is in hand, the statement added. Last month, at least three people were killed and four others, including a woman, were injured in an...

Hurricane Erin, the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season, could become a Category 5 hurricane, with additional strengthening expected this afternoon, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said on Saturday. The storm is currently 375 kilometres east-northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, with maximum sustained winds of 250 kilometres per hour. Swells generated by Erin will affect portions of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and the Turks and Caicos Islands through the weekend, the NHC said. The swells will spread to the Bahamas, Bermuda and the east coast of the US early next week, it said. Erin is expected to produce areas of heavy rainfall through Sunday across the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, the centre said.

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Three suspects killed, 12 arrested; vehicles, fake faith healers' loot recovered

Additional contingents of the Pakistan Army have been deployed to Buner to support ongoing flood relief operations, with specialised equipment from the Corps of Engineers being used to rescue the injured and recover bodies trapped in mudslides.

Pakistan Railways has launched an ambitious plan to restore several non-functional railway routes across the country, aiming to enhance connectivity and stimulate commercial activity in various regions.

The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) has dismissed all complaints filed against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja and two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Nisar Ahmad Durrani and Shah Muhammad Jatoi.

YouTube has started using artificial intelligence (AI) to figure out when users are children pretending to be adults on the popular video-sharing platform amid pressure to protect minors from sensitive content. The new safeguard is being rolled out in the United States as Google-owned YouTube and social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok are under scrutiny to shield children from content geared for grown-ups. A version of AI referred to as machine learning will be used to estimate the age of users based on a variety of factors, including the kinds of videos watched and account longevity, according to YouTube Youth director of product management, James Beser. “This technology will allow us to infer a user’s age and then use that signal, regardless of the birthday in the account, to deliver our age-appropriate product experiences and protections,” Beser said. “We’ve used this approach in other markets for some time, where it is working well.” The age-estimation model enhances technology already in pla...

The Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) on Saturday confirmed the successful deployment and operational readiness of the country’s latest Remote Sensing Satellite, launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC), China, on July 31.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar on Saturday reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to further enhancing cooperation with Bangladesh in political, economic, and cultural spheres.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said that a military operation in an area can only be successful when the people living there themselves identify the terrorists, according to a statement issued by the military’s media wing on Saturday. The security situation in Balochistan has worsened in recent months, as militants, long involved in a low-level insurgency, have stepped up the frequency and intensity of their attacks. In February, nearly 62 per cent of the total terrorism-related deaths in the country occurred in Balochistan. “An operation in any area is successful when the people themselves identify the terrorists,” Lt Gen Chaudhry was quoted as having said. The DG ISPR was speaking at a session with students in the ongoing internship programme organised by the military’s media wing. During the session, there was a lively discussion regarding Pakistan, especially Balochistan, the statement said, adding that Lt Gen Chaudhry also gave detailed answers to...

The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) announced the dismissal of complaints against the chief election commissioner (CEC) and two members of the Election Com­mission of Pakistan (ECP), it emerged on Saturday. The SJC is a judicial body comprising of Chief Justice of Pakistan, two most senior Judges of the Supreme Court and two most senior Chief Justices of High Courts, according to the Supreme Court’s website. A press release dated Aug 15 read that complaints against “CEC Mr Sikandar Sultan Raja and members of ECP, Mr Nisar Ahmed Durrani and Mr Shah Muhammad Jatoi, have been dismissed by the SJC in its meetings held on Nov 8, 2024 and Dec 13, 2024”. The SJC’s statement did not provide any details regarding the complaints. The five-year terms of CEC Raja, Sin­dh Member Durrani and Baloch­istan Member Jatoi ended on Jan 26, but they will continue to hold the offices under the 26th amendment made in the Constitution in October last year. The controversial amendment allowed the CEC and the members to continue till t...

Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said that the actions of a single terrorist should never endanger innocent civilians, stressing that counter-terrorism operations are intelligence-based to ensure precision and civilian safety.

China’s top diplomat will visit India next week for talks about their shared boundary, Beijing’s foreign ministry said on Saturday, as the two countries eye resuming border trade five years after halting it. “From August 18 to 20 … (Chinese foreign minister) Wang Yi will upon invitation visit India and hold the 24th special representatives meeting on the China-India border issue,” a spokesperson said in a statement. Past trade between the neighbours across icy and high-altitude Himalayan border passes was usually small in volume, but any resumption is significant for its symbolism. It stopped following a deadly 2020 clash between border troops. Indian media had reported earlier in the week that China’s Wang was expected for talks in New Delhi on Monday. His Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, visited Beijing in July. The two major economic powers have long competed for strategic influence across South Asia. However, caught in global trade and geopolitical turbulence triggered by US President Donald T...

Yes, there were centuries to savour, spells to admire, and a finish that quickened the pulse. And yet, I write this not because of that excitement, but in spite of it because there are higher roads to the same high, and this series took the service lane. I remain stubbornly stuck in my fool’s paradise, expecting every over-staffed Test team administration to conjure a Wasim Akram, manage a Shane Warne, unleash a Shoaib Akhtar, and luck into a Jacques Kallis. I want to treat a Siraj-like spell not as heroic, but as the expected. I’ve arranged my life so that summers in Oxford are given over to batting — being at the crease, chasing that brief illusion of batting immortality as time dissolves and the scoreboard feels like it could climb forever. This season, that spell has been snapped by hostile bowlers, unyielding wickets that make every innings feel fragile and fleeting. Which is why watching five Tests played on pitches engineered to grant batsmen eternal life, supported with such generous slip fielders, ha...