Pakistan

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is set to attend today’s National Assembly session to cast his vote on the 27th Constitutional Amendment, a crucial move for the ruling coalition.

Lahore continues to grapple with dangerously high levels of air pollution, ranking as the second most polluted city in the world, according to global environmental monitoring data.

Australia and Indonesia agreed on Wednesday to sign a new security treaty, which includes closer military cooperation, the two countries’ leaders said following talks in Sydney. Canberra has drawn ever nearer to longtime ally Washington, bolstering its military in an attempt to deter the might of a rising China in the Asia-Pacific region. Jakarta has walked a more neutral path, wary of drawing too close to Washington and far less willing to needle Beijing. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking alongside President Prabowo Subianto at a Royal Australian Navy Base in Sydney, said they had “just substantively concluded negotiations on a new bilateral treaty on our common security”. “This treaty is a recognition from both our nations that the best way to secure … peace and stability is by acting together,” Albanese told reporters. The Australian leader said he hoped to visit Indonesia next year to sign the new treaty. He said the agreement builds on a bilateral defence pact signed in 2024, which pledged closer...

LAKKI MARWAT: Three people, including a minor child, were killed and four suffered injuries in a quadcopter strike in the Sardikhel Janikhel area of Bannu district on Tuesday. A police official said the bodies and the injured were shifted to the district headquarters hospital. He identified the deceased as Habibullah, 5, a resident of Malikhel Janikhel, and Amjad Ali, 35, and Irfanullah, 35, residents of Sardikhel Janikhel, and said the injured included Rukhniaz, 35, Naheedullah, 24, Mohammad Rauf, 33, and Irshadullah, 35, all residents of Janikhel. Similar quadcopter attacks were carried out by terrorists against police installations and civilians in the district in the recent past. Terrorists kill police official; attack on police station repulsed On July 31, six security personnel were injured in a quadcopter attack on Miryan police station amid an operation against terrorists in the Nurar area. In another quadcopter strike that took place four months ago, a woman was killed and three others were wounded i...

Security sources said early on Wednesday that all the khawarij involved in the attack on Cadet College in Wana had been killed. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, the college came under attack on Monday as terrorists rammed an explosives-laden vehicle against the main gate of the college, entered the educational facility and were then “cornered in the college’s administrative block”. Security sources on Tuesday had continued the clearance operation against the terrorists hiding inside the educational institute. Early on Wednesday, security sources said that one suicide bomber and four other khawarij were killed in a successful operation. Fitna al-Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Teh­reek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Security sources said that the college building was currently being cleared due to the threat of landmines. They asserted that no student or teacher at the college was harmed during the successful operation. View this post on Instagram Speaking t...

ISLAMABAD - Security forces successfully rescued all cadets and teachers from Cadet College Wana, according to sources.

UNITED NATIONS: The United States has circulated a revised draft resolution to establish a two-year mandated stabilisation force in Gaza, setting in motion a process it hopes will lead to adoption by the UN Security Council (UNSC). The draft, presented to the UNSC on Monday, triggered a “silence” period until 10:30am on Tuesday. Under this procedure, the council’s 15 members must register objections or propose amendments within the allotted timeframe; if none are raised, consensus is assumed and the resolution proceeds to a vote, likely later this week, on Thursday or Friday. The proposed force wou­ld operate under a Board of Peace (BoP), with Pres­ident Donald Trump as its head. The board would also establish operational entities to oversee Gaza’s reconstruction, economic recovery programmes, and the demilitarisation of non-state armed groups. Washington has embedded the full “20-point” Trump peace plan into the draft, signalling the United States’ dominant role in shaping the international effort. Several s...

• Justice Jawwad asks top court to set aside 27th Amendment • Argues certain constitutional commands can’t be altered in a way that destroys their essence ISLAMABAD: Former chief justice Jawwad S. Khawaja on Tuesday challenged the 27th Amendment, seeking a direction that the Supreme Court (SC) retains exclusive jurisdiction to determine the lawfulness and constitutionality of the proposed amendment. Filed through Advocate Khwaja Ahmad Hosain, the petitioner pleaded before the apex court to strike down or suspend any provisions in any Act of Parliament, including the 27th Amendment, which reduce or abolish any constitutional jurisdiction of the SC or which purport to vest any such jurisdiction in any other court or body. The petition also requested the apex court to set aside provisions of the 27th Amendment, which relate to transfer of high court judges with a request that until a final decision of this petition and as a matter of urgency. The ex-CJ explained that he has filed the petition to save the SC that...

• Twelve killed, 36 injured in suicide bombing outside district courts • Police say attacker came from outside Islamabad; bomber’s route traced with help of AI • TTP claims responsibility; explosive weighed 4kg • Naqvi vows to punish masterminds; PM, president review situation ISLAMABAD: A suicide attack outside the judicial complex housing the Islamabad district and sessions courts on Tuesday killed 12 people and injured at least 36, including four women and four policemen. It was the first such attack in the capital in nearly three years. The blast occurred as Islamabad was hosting several international eve­nts, including the Inter-Parliamentary Spea­kers’ Conference and the 6th Margalla Dialogue, while a tri-nation cricket series featuring Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe is underway, with a match in Rawalpindi on Tuesday. Officials said the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. Police said a lone bomber blew himself up at the main entrance to the comple...

ISLAMABAD: Justice Aminuddin Khan, who currently heads the const­i­tutional bench of the Supreme Court, is expe­cted to be appointed as the Chief Justice of the upcoming Federal Constitutional Court (FCC). Sources told Dawn the FCC would initially comprise six other judges — four from the Supreme Court and two from the high courts — besides the chief justice. The names being discussed for the inaugural composition incl­ude Just­ice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musa­rrat Hilali, Justice Aamer Far­ooq, and Justice Baqar Najafi from the SC, while Justice K.K. Agha of the Sindh High Court and Justice Rozi Khan Bar­rech, the incumbent Chief Justice of Balochistan Hi­gh Court, are being considered from the high courts. Sources said that the initial strength of the FCC would be determined through a Presidential Order, while any subsequent increase in the number of judges would require approval through an Act of the Parliament. The sources further disclosed that the President would administer the oath to the Chief Just...

12 martyred; Police deny bomber entry to G-11 courthouse; Interior minister hints at links to Afghanistan

Says peace and security form foundation of sustainable development

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, together with former New Zealand Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern, inaugurated the Pakistan Pavilion at the COP30 climate conference being held in Belem, Brazil, according to a handout issued by the Punjab information department.

RAWALPINDI - Pakistan Army and UAE Presidential Guards concluded the two-week Joint Counter Terrorism Exercise Jalmood-I at Tarbela.

ISLAMABAD - Closing ceremony of 45th Pakistan Army Rifle Association (PARA) Central Meet 2025 was held at the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU), Jhelum on Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr, Islamabad on Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Alexander Babakov, who is visiting Pakistan to attend the Inter-Parliamentary Speakers Conference Tuesday called on Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq at the Parliament House, Islamabad.

ISLAMABAD - The Prime Minister’s Task Force on Water Scarcity on Tuesday agreed to strengthen inter-provincial coordination and adopt data-driven strategies to ensure equitable distribution of water and protect national food security.

ISLAMABAD - Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said that peace, security and development were inseparable pillars of progress.

ISLAMABAD - In order to make justice delivery more transparent and citizen-centric, the Chief Justice of Pakistan chaired a high-level policy meeting Tuesday to steer progress on the automation and digitization of courts across Pakistan.